wool as sleeping pad

wildwerden

wildwerden

New member
For three bucks, I scored a military wool sleeping bag liner thing that looks like this:
View attachment 28761
and I'm thinking about felting (washing and drying it hot to get those fibers nice and tight) and using it as a sleeping pad. I've never slept with one of those inflatable/foam pads before, mostly just ontop my jacket/leaves. It's a few pounds (3?), heavier than most pads. Has anyone tried this? Would it provide enough insulation against a cold ground? I would tuck this under my sleeping bag, inside the bivvy to keep it from getting wet and heavy as fuck. I was also thinking that one could shove leaves/cardboard and whatnot inside for extra insulation if needed. I'm hoping to head up into the mountain sometime next week and test my gear out in the snow. It may make a good base for a bedroll. Curious about yr thoughts!
 

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Nice score. You might be better off not felting/shrinking it. Heat gets trapped between dead spaces, so the more the better. I would still buy a cheapo ccf pad. They weigh next to nothing, and strapped to the outside of a pack they don't really get in the way.
 
It all depends on how much it compresses when you are on top of it. The idea of a pad is that air gets trapped between air pockets and retains heat.

I used a felted wool carpet for a while and it was awesome, but heavy as hell as it took lots of wool to make a nice mattress.

I'd say, dont felt it, just take it somewhere were there's cold floor (not difficult now as its winter), sit your ass down for a while or lay down for couple minutes and check if you get cold. No better and easier way to test stuff than to put it to test ;)
 
Also, if you want that more natural/hobo style, a sheepskin can be a relatively inexpensive (possibly free) and pretty lightweight option. They are WARM, too. Major downside is getting them wet.
 
OutsideYourWorld said:
Also, if you want that more natural/hobo style, a sheepskin can be a relatively inexpensive (possibly free) and pretty lightweight option. They are WARM, too. Major downside is getting them wet.
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Actually, a sheepskin is what i mean I had tried. Its really a good thing to have if you can get yourself one.

Its true that if they get wet they suck (all the water) but if you can spend a few cents on Lanolin (the oil that sheeps secrete trough their skin) and soak your wool on it (its a process you should check how to do properly) then the wool is kinda waterproof. Of course if you dump it on a river it will get soaking wet, but it will be good enough so that it wont get wet from ground moisture or a bit of rain.
 
After it shrinks it should cover the space beneath your pillow just fine.
 
Nice if anything use it as the liner too. Can't beat cheap military gear. Wool is insulation even when wet. The ways were weighty but tougher than any plastic or nylon.
 
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