Wool Sleeping Bag Comfort while Racing Across the Pacific Ocean

To see just how well our Wool Sleeping Bag stands up to the elements, Custom Woolen Mills donated a wool sleeping bag to Thom De Roos, one of the competitors in the Vic-Maui Yacht Race.

The Biannual Vic-Maui Race is 2308 nautical miles long starting in Victoria, B.C., Canada, and finishing in Lahaina, Maui (Hawaii). Some of the world's finest offshore yachtsmen and yachtswomen, compete in the challenging, beautiful, yet hazardous conditions of the Pacific Ocean. The race lasts up to 20 days and the crews race through conditions ranging from doldrums to squals. Even in the middle of the summer, the air over the open ocean, combined with the humidity, can be breathtakingly cold. Thom wrote us a letter about his adventure -

Dear Bill,

The trip from Victoria to Maui varies greatly in temperatures from tropical during the day to winter during the nights. I hesitated to take your sleeping bag on the trip at first. However if I had known how comfortable I would have been, I could have left some of my heavy sailing clothes at home!

Wool absorbs up to 30% of its weight in water before it begins to feel damp and maintains its insulating quality even when wet. The bulk of the wool provides comfortable padding to sleep on, and still, the sleeping bag can be rolled up and stowed in a small space. Later Thom wrote -

Dear Bill,

Just a progress note. The sleeping bag has now served as our blanket on our bed at home for a month or so - a comforter as it were! And boy what a pleasure. The same radiating warmth as I described before!

It's a good thing the sleeping bag is relatively easy to clean, otherwise Anna May (Thom's wife), may not have been so happy with our sailor's 'progress'. Since Thom's experience, Custom Woolen Mills has expanded its sleeping bag line to include the Deluxe Wool Sleeping Bag. Now, with the Deluxe Wool Sleeping Bag as well as the Standard Wool Sleeping Bag, we offer our customers the option to specify the dimensions of the sleeping bag, to fit exactly in the space you need it to.

All Custom Woolen Mills sleeping bags are wool filled, and covered in Commander fabric; a 75% Polyester/25% Cotton material, selected because it is wind resistant, durable, and yet breathable. Wool is naturally fire resistant as well as water repellant and it insulates better than almost anything else out there, whether wet or dry. Although synthetic material sleeping bags are less bulky and are thus a better option for the backpacker, the Custom Woolen Mills sleeping bags provide for the comfort of home in the Cottage, Tent, RV, Sleeper Cab, or Berth.

You can view them in the Kaleidoscope Wool Shoppe.

- Bill Purves-Smith