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View Full Version : Left or Right Zipper Theory



dadecker
02-01-2007, 13:04
I was at my local gear store a few days ago looking for a sleeping bag. The clerk asked "Do you want a right or left zipper?" I replied, "It doesn't really matter." More than once i've heard that people are quite particular on having a zipper on their perferred side. My theory is the preference originates from your bed at home and which side you get up on. I understand that i have too much time on my hands to think of or even post a thread on this subject but I wanted an opinion from others. -
Darrel

Smile
02-01-2007, 13:17
I've heard some say left if you are right handed, and vice versa.
Get in the bag close your eyes, and feel it out for yourself :)

max patch
02-01-2007, 13:23
I've heard some say left if you are right handed, and vice versa.
Get in the bag close your eyes, and feel it out for yourself :)

Exactly. Also makes a diff if you want to mate a couple of bags.

Touch of Grey
02-01-2007, 13:33
Well having spent many nights in sleeping bags, I'll add my 98 cents worth on this.

First I am right-handed and in some cases am fully capable of using my left-hand to do the same with it as I do with the right. My preference is to use my right though.

That said, in mummy bags where the fabric is close to your shoulders and body, the common or not so common thinking is to use the zipper on your opposite side. Thus I would choose a left sided zipper. Think about it for a moment, would you feel comfortable contorting your right arm and hand to reach a zipper up at your right shoulder and down along side your right-side or is it easier to cross across your body and fluidly zip up or down.

In rectangular bags the issue is still the same but because of the generally larger or more generous sizing of the bag it in some cases does not matter because the room is generally physically there to manipulate the zipper with minimal contortions.

As always, you may feel differently about the subject and thus as has already been leveled at you, the best idea is for you to physically tryout a few different bags and zipper arrangements for yourself.

Ultimately it's not me or anyone else who has to contort or struggle with the bag you chose to sleep in so get what is comfortable for you both figuratively and literally.

TOG

highway
02-01-2007, 13:35
You are not the only one who does not know.

Manufacturers produce 75% more right side zippers designed for left handed folks, yet only 25 % are left handed, because, when asked, 75% of folks guess incorrectly. Since they are right handed, they ask for a right handed bag. :rolleyes:

Be smart and get one in the best place of all-down the middle.Its so much easier to keep track of if it's there during the night while snuggled under your chin instead of rolled under you when you toss and turn in your sleep. You'll have less fumbling looking for the d**ned thing when you want to exit it. You can work it easily with either hand, instead of using one well and the other like some contortionist. I always thought it was one of the few equipment designs that Uncle Sam did correctly, with their old, heavy(5ish pounds), part feather/part down mountain bags, by having it manufactured with the zipper down the middle. But that one had a break-away zipper for quick exit so you didn't have to fumble for the zipper any way:D

OtherwiseLeft/right handers; right/left handers.

highway
02-01-2007, 13:42
Exactly. Also makes a diff if you want to mate a couple of bags.

Thats is the hidden key, I suspect. I have always suspected that herein lies the key for the bags having the zippers down the sides because once, so many long years ago, when most bags were rectangular, there was a preference for the option of couples wanting to mate two of them together.

Some would argue that since hot air rises, the best place for the weakest part is the zipper on the side. But this is easily solved by all bags now manufactured with with those flaps built into the bag, behind the zipper, to seal in the hot sleeper's air, and keep it inside the bag, whether left, right, center (where it should be, but so seldom is)

Footslogger
02-01-2007, 14:04
I worked at an outfitter for several years and when that question came up with a customer I had them take off their shoes, crawl into a sleeping bag and zip it up. Then I asked them to get into the position that they MOST OFTEN slept in. Next I asked them to (WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT) reach for the zipper.

THAT'S THE SIDE ZIPPER I RECOMMENDED TO THEM ...

'Slogger

dadecker
02-01-2007, 14:17
I am comfortable with either side really. I was wondering why others were so passionate about it.

highway
02-01-2007, 14:18
I worked at an outfitter for several years and when that question came up with a customer I had them take off their shoes, crawl into a sleeping bag and zip it up. Then I asked them to get into the position that they MOST OFTEN slept in. Next I asked them to (WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT) reach for the zipper.

THAT'S THE SIDE ZIPPER I RECOMMENDED TO THEM ...

'Slogger

yep, thats part of the problem.

SalParadise
02-01-2007, 14:31
wow, never thought about this and hadn't realized it was an issue. generally when I roll my bag goes with me or the zipper just ends up in a different place evey time, whether it's left or right.

Singe03
02-01-2007, 14:34
I never considered what hand I use or what position I sleep in...

If my bag is in my tent, I want the zipper to be the side closest to the flap so its easier to crawl in and out of. In my case, tent flap is on my left if I am sleeping on my back, so I want a left zip sleeping bag.

troglobil
02-01-2007, 18:35
I prefer a left hand zipper. When I sleep, I generally roll over to my left side. With a right hand zipper, I tend to pull that portion of my bag tight and create cold spots, even with a baffle.

Programbo
02-02-2007, 19:01
Here is something to consider (And a way to tell if your saleman knows his stuff)....A lot of manufacturers make left and right hand zip bags assuming they will be zipped together..In doing so the draft tube which covers the zipper to prevent heat loss will come down from the top on say the right hand zip bags and will come up from the bottom on the left hand zip bags..This is fine if you are zipping two together..But if you don`t zip them together and get the left hand zip bag the draft tube ends up falling downward away from the zipper and you lose heat out thru the zipper.....Some of the better makers have the draft tube coming down from the top on both sides so as to prevent this since almost no one zips mummy bags together and the choice of sides is simply for personal preference

saimyoji
02-02-2007, 23:26
Two more things to consider:

1. All bags are a little different in cut. This means access to the zipper will be different: easier, or more difficult depending on the cut. I've found that colder weather bags have thicker draft collars, making access to the zipper a little more cumbersome. Try out the bag.

2. Some bags have less insulation on the bottom portion of the bag (some have none at all...ala Big Agnes system. Its probably a good idea to keep the bottom of such bags under you at all times, utilizing the insulation above you. When you sleep, learn how to roll/toss/turn inside the bag, without bringing the whole thing with you. It may make for a more comfortable nights sleep, you'll always know where the zipper is, won't make a difference if its right/left over time.

YMMV

GlazeDog
02-03-2007, 11:09
I'm a righty, but good grief, if I couldn't unzip a zipper with my left hand I don't know if I'd be fit to walk into the wilderness with such gross lack of coordination. I do, coincidentally prefer a left zip. I sleep on my right side usually. When I roll/toss myself onto my right side inside the bag I don't rotate the bag with me. This allows for venting my back--I've learned that the back vents better to cool you down than the front---atleast for me. This may seem odd, but there could be evolutionary reason for it---we were at one point on all fours. I know polar bears can vent better by having more blood circulate above the fat on their backs (???wow).

That's my theory--it works for me. In the end it's all just what works for you. But, please don't buy into the right-left or left-right thing. It's as if people would say, I'm right handed I can only drink a glass of milk with my right hand--scary thought.

happy trails--
GlazeDog