Andinia.com - Product Review: Backcountry Store

Backcountry Store - Sleeping Bags

Backcountry Store offers sleeping bags for all weather conditions and temperatures.

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In addition to purchasing a sleeping bag, you should seriously consider carrying some sort of redundant equipment in order to supplant lost, damaged or destroyed equipment during your trips into the wilderness. In this case, we recommend you to supplement your sleeping bag with a poncho, because this particular piece of equipment is very adaptable and may help you in circumstances such as the loss of a tent or sleeping bag, and for which it would be impractical to carry full spares or replacements.

If it rains or snows and you don't have anything else left, a poncho will be essential for your survival, providing you with an improvised tent or shelter, and with a sleeping bag to keep you warm and dry as long as it takes. And if you place some clothes inside the folded and closed poncho, or some tree leaves, weeds, grass or whatever plant you find comfortable, what you will get will be comparable to a quality sleeping bag in comfort, albeit not as transportable.

Put two ponchos one over the other, close their sides with duct tape or something like that, stuff them with these things, and you will really enjoy your emergency situation. However, you will not need to carry the whole thing with you, but just the ponchos; as for what you may stuff inside them, it is just a matter of collect the thing around your campsite.

There are many poncho models; the best ones are military-grade and water and rain proof. The best way to carry them with you is to place them in some very accessible part of your backpack so that if you get in to bad weather, you will be able to quickly cover yourself and your gear with it.

It is better not to place redundant items together, so that if something affects them (for example, fire) at least one of those things intended to replace each other will survive the incident. If you place both things together, that would conspire against the whole idea.

As a survival item, the poncho is almost unique; however, like any other thing or piece of gear, it will not work better than you make it to. Your equipment is not miraculous and depends on your ability to use it.

Use your sleeping bag to sleep at home from time to time, and take your poncho into the rain whenever you have to venture outside your door. In this way you will get to know these things better when mistakes would not cost you too much.