Greek Wool Sleeping Bag, Surplus

Is it a sleeping bag or a wool blanket? No, it’s the Greek adaptation of the US WWII mummy sleeping bag made from coarse wool, which combines the best of both worlds. This is as delightfully coarse steel wool as it sounds. It will keep you alert and ready for those nightly enemy attacks. But you won’t leap out as gracefully as action-flick heroes. An excellent choice for old-time bushcrafters and everybody who is interested in maximizing their misery in a historical way. Also perfect as extra insulation for a bigger sleeping bag, as a straightjacket, and for sex dungeons.

Features

The original American WWII sleeping bag is actually a sleeping bag system that consists of the woolen sleeping bag, the wind-resistant and water-repellent case, and the sleeping bag liner. An old Quartermaster Supply Catalog mentions that you don’t have to use the liner. However, any sane person does. It makes it far more comfortable and easier to keep clean. Furthermore, the system includes down and feather-filled arctic and mountain sleeping bags.

The original bag is said to be as warm as two 4-point Hudson Bay Company blankets when used with the water-repellent case. If you aren’t familiar with this temperature unit, they also mentioned that it works down to +4 degrees Celsius (+40 F).

This Greek version has probably also had the case and the liner, but they aren’t included in this batch. So, you will only get the wool sleeping bag, which is made of dense wool frieze. The consistency of the fabric isn’t mentioned, so it can be pure wool or some wool blend of Spartan goat and coprolite. It feels quite wool-rich in any case. Available in two colors: a lighter olive drab and darker green.

The sleeping bag has a very sturdy mid-body-length zipper with pulls both on the outside and the inside. The zipper stitching has been reinforced with heavy fabric, so the zip should not rip out that easily. In addition to the zipper, there is a drawstring system for attaching the case and the bag together, but because the cords aren’t attached to the sleeping bag, we cannot guarantee that they are included, which might be better for your sanity. You can loop a new cordage in there quite easily. At the foot end, you’ll find so-called compression straps.

Use

As we mentioned above, these are at their best when used together with a water-repellent case and a liner, but you need to purchase them separately. The market is full of suitable liners, and you can put the sleeping bag inside e.g. a bivy bag. Anybody with some sewing skills can also make more period-correct cotton ones in a jolly DIY fashion. And rugged folks survive without the case. A tip for all dominas out there, make the sub crawl into one of these nekkid without the liner, it will be titillating. Everybody else, keep the clothes on or use the lube… I mean liner.

On top of the zipper, there is a cordage system that is designed for attaching the sleeping bag to the water-repellent case. For some strange reason, at least on some of these, it has been fastened weirdly crosswise so that it closes the bag. The smartest use for this version might be to make sure that your patrol buddy that croaked inside the bag in the dead of the night won’t get reanimated, climb out of the bag, and eat you. If you strap yourself this way, you won’t get out of your bag to pee without a knife either. If you have a suitable case, you might wanna attach it in daylight. Then again looping the cords on and off in darkness is sort of meditative. If you manage to do it without any curse words, you will probably reach a higher level of consciousness.

Size info

This batch has only one-size sleeping bags that definitely don’t fit all. The length of a bag when flat is c. 193 cm (76”) and the shoulder width c. 64 cm (25”). The bag tapers down quite aggressively towards the foot end, and because these are made from quite coarse wool, you won’t slide in effortlessly without a liner. With lots of huffing and puffing, we managed to squeeze in a 183 cm (6’) tall and 100 kg (220 lbs) guy and even were able to close the zipper. However, despite the high comedy value, we cannot recommend this to anybody who isn’t fairly averagely sized. So probably max. 175 cm (5’9”) and 75 kg (165 lbs). Of course, if you enjoy a straightjackety feeling, you can go above this. Or if you leave the head outside the mummy hood.

When rolled in a bundle, this is c. 50 x 18 cm (20” x 7”). The weight can vary to some extent, but it is on average around 1,6-1,7 kg (3.5-3.75 lbs).

Condition

Nicely used Greek military surplus, in very good condition for their age. They have been sleeping in some warehouse for a long time, so they can have some warehouse dust and such, plus the lovely surplus smell that some might want to air out.