Blizzard Survival Sleeping Bag???

Do any of you have experience with the Blizzard Survival Sleeping Bag. I am curious how this compares to other survival bivys. I hike in Colorado in the summer and like to carry something to protect me in case of an emergency. I currently carry a Heatsheet blanket and a foil sleeping bag plus a large trash bag. I have also carried a army poncho and liner but I prefer something less bulky. I would appreciate other suggestions as well.
David Enoch

If you search you might find a review - it was done maybe 2-3 years ago. As I recall, they're pretty good, about the size of a VCR cassette, reusable for a limited time. Kind of a pain to open properly.

No personal experience; they're using them in the Middle East though for patients.

That poncho liner can be good to mid 30's low 40's inside a vapor barrier (for me at least). If your poncho it's self is rubberized, try to find the straight nylon version they are much much lighter and packable. I sewed a zipper onto my poncho liner (onto two sides) and it makes a GREAT bivy and/ or 10-15 degree bolster to any sleeping bag.

Ironwood

Hello,

I have a Blizzard Survival Bag in my Combat Lifesaver Bag. Even vacuum packed they are bulky and near impossible to repack after use. Perhaps a better choice would be the Emergency Sleeping Bag offered my Adventure Medical Kits, which with a bit of practice can be repacked in its stuff sack.

Cheers,
W-W

Hello,

I have a Blizzard Survival Bag in my Combat Lifesaver Bag. Even vacuum packed they are bulky and near impossible to repack after use. Perhaps a better choice would be the Emergency Sleeping Bag offered my Adventure Medical Kits, which with a bit of practice can be repacked in its stuff sack.

Cheers,
W-W

I like the S.O.L. Thermal Bivy sack, sold by AMK. It is more durable and easier to repack. I have the blizzard bag and the optional bag for storage and carrying, which expands for easier repacking. I have not slept in it, but I do intend to when winter rolls around. I have slept in the AMK emergency sleeping bag and will say that it will save your life, but it is not the most comfortable. Like any vapor barrier, you need to let it breath or you will begin to get wet. A poncho liner or other blanket inside of it makes it a great deal more comfortable and warmer.

Personally,I have transitioned from Mylar bags to heavy duty Trash bags,the trash bags weigh probably twice as much & Can't hold boiling water as the Mylar can,but that's where it stops.The Mylar bags are just too noisy to get any sleep,Just like a Big Bag of Potato Chips,even the rip-stop SOL bags of which are softer/more plyable they are still Mylar,& are still Noisy!

I thought the blizzard bag traps an insulating layer of air in it's cell structure, which should be warmer than a simple bag?

If you are planning for an emergency and not for daily use, I would say two of the heavy duty gargbage bags (4 mil/>) are a minimum (and probably the cheapest solution, especially if you can beg a couple from a road clean-up crew); they have worked for me in a white-out situation...along with animal droppings to act as an insulator against the rock. That is taking into consideration that the clothing on your back is your primary shelter system. Gore-tex bivies are a good minimal type package, too.

Mylar space blankets tear easilly, which would negate their use as an insulator (air-trapper) or windbreak.

The Blizzard Survival Sleeping Bag's Reflexcell technology appears to be three layers of mylar with a reinforced baffle system: http://www.blizzardsurvival.com/page.php?xPage=reflexcell-technology.html which should be good at trapping air when the walls are allowed to seperate. If you sit/lay on the bag, it appears the walls would be pressed together and the system would lose the insulative quality at that area, making it simply a 3-layer space blanket.

If someone like thermarest made a bag, that would be better with the positive pressure, but could still compress with body weight enough to negate insulation in that area. An ensolite bag would be even better for uniform insulative qualities, but it's bulk would probably keep it from being carried.

I have a blizzard survival bag in my 3 day kit. It is indeed about the size of a VHS cassette and probably the same weight!

If you look around you can find reviews or blogs about them. I read one review where a guy got into a 7 degree F walk in freezer in short and a T-shirt. He said the temp inside the blizzard bag got down to 67 degrees after 30 minutes or so.

I tried the thermolite bivy, it seems useful, but i promise you, in a 7 degree freezer the temperature inside that thing would fall far below 67 degrees!

Military and rescue units use this thing (or its blanket-style cousin in the case of evacuating wounded).

link to a blog review: https://greenbeetlegear.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/blizzard-bag-review/

icarus

In light of the article about the Colorado kids burning their under equipped snowmobile, The BLIZZARD SURVIVAL SLEEPING BAG {BSSG} should be reconcidered.

As a side note, we have a large customer base of snow mobilers. Very few are equipped for the night. There is quite a list of PERFECT PRODUCTS that don't sell. Maybe you can add to the list.

1. PLB
2. BSSG
3. Kahtoola Microspikes
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

pics and descriptions of the bag you mention would heve been nice. I have never heard of this product but it sounds interesting. Thanks.

Here ya go Snake:

http://www.blizzardsurvival.com/product.php/100/blizzard-survival-bag

Countered with this:

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=125842&page=1

Thanks Jac! I had just logged off that page and found that you had posted the link 15 seconds before! Much appreciated. Reminds me of silver bag I saw years ago. Paired with a space tent and decent clothing that might help in winter. I seem to recall REI carrying a survival suit of space blanket material years ago. Could be a compact life saver in snow country. Thanks again.

The army poncho can be very compact if folded and rolled properly. The one I carried for many years and finally had to ditch one night had a Thinsulate liner modified with zippers to form a sleeping bag, and a neck cord. it had a zipper in the head hole so it could still be worn as a poncho. Later I came across a fiber re-enforced space blanket, lightly sprayed the inside of the poncho with a light adhesive and added the blanket, carefully smoothing out wrinkles and cutting a head opening. Very warm for the size and wieght. Hope this helps.

My nomination for #4 would be some sort of stove and fuel. Lots of choices, including some models that could run on automotive gasoline, I would consider an alcohol stove, something like the mini-trangia cookset, which costs all of $35, and is about the size of a typical canteen. Lots of options.

#5 should be some sort of tarp or shelter. Again, many options in different sizes, at different prices.

If you're driving a sled there's no excuse for not having some gear on you. Pretty much any snowmobile has storage capacity for survival gear, so it's not like it's going to be a burden to carry it.

Precisely. As a matter of fact,rather than mess around with some marginal plastic/mylar contraption, squirrel away a decent, compact sleeping bag so that you can spend a night out in relative comfort. A good down bag that compresses small is not cheap, but then neither is a snowmobile. A bag, shelter material or tent, and the means to make a fire, along with a decent FAK, and you can be comfortable while a response is made to your PLB signal.

i know this thread is old but by equipment is "road flares".

They are a great source of spark and can get your fire going as well.

the other is "rope"

Northerner