Hello there everyone! Today, we are going to discuss some topics which may be helpful to campers. The main thing that we are going to focus on in this discussion is the perfect way for you to zip your sleeping bags together. It’s highly recommended for you to know how to zip sleeping bags together because this way, you will be able to share the heat of your body with your camping partner more efficiently.

The biggest benefit of being able to zip sleeping bags together is absolutely for the shared body heat. If you are ever in a situation where the temperature is falling rapidly and you cannot leave, or you have someone in your camping party who is dangerously cold, then one of your best options is to zip the sleeping bags together.

The reason why is one of the best ways to avoid hypothermia is to get two people into the sleeping bag together to share body heat. I know of at least one story where zipping sleeping bags together saved the life of someone with hypothermia.

Apart from that, some people really prefer to sleep in a sleeping bag with someone else. This is typically seen with couples who want to be able to spend the night together. For example, you will also be able to find your camping partner easier if he or she is sleeping right next beside you and just in case your camping partner is under attack by wild animals you will more likely be alerted by your camping partner more effectively. So without any further ado, let’s take a look at how to do it.

How to zip sleeping bags together

Before we begin, a word of advice on sleeping bag type

Firstly, before you start to zip your sleeping bags together, you must know that a sleeping bag that has no hood is easier to be zipped together so if you haven’t already purchased your sleeping bags and planned to zip them together, then make sure that you buy the one that has no hood as later on it will be easier for you to zip them together. The way to zip two sleeping bags that has no hood together is extremely simple.

Step #1: Unzip the sleeping bags

First, you just have to unzip the sleeping bag and then you put another sleeping bag on top of it (assuming that both sleeping bags are the same types) and finally you just zip it all around the sleeping bag in the shape of U and there you have i.

However, you need to keep in mind that most of the sports bags that are zipped together would usually have shoulder supports as well as hoods to make the sleeping bags to be more comfortable. As a result, the process of zipping the two of the sleeping bags together will be a little bit complicated.

Step #2: Match the right to left bag

The next thing that you want to do is to make sure that you have a right-zip sleeping bag as well as a left-zip sleeping bag. This is to ensure that the hoods of both sleeping bags would be on the ground. By ensuring that you have the proper pair of sleeping bags, you would also be able to prevent the person that will be sleeping in the left-zip sleeping bag from having his or her head on a cold ground while the other person that is sleeping in the right-zip sleeping bag gets to sleep with a lot of sleeping bag hood.

Step #3: Match the brand of bags

Next, you will also need to make sure that your sleeping bags are of the same types. For example, Elk Hunter and Celsius XL will not be able to be zipped together. So, it’s highly recommended for you to make sure that you have the same types of sleeping bags that are to be zipped together.

If you are not sure whether you have the same types of sleeping bags then what you need to do is to go check your sleeping bags brand or you could even refer it to an expert to get an insight about your sleeping bags.

Step #4: Line them up

After that, you will need to put the right-zip sleeping bag on the ground and make sure that it is positioned to the right of the left-zip sleeping bag. Yeah, you read that correctly. Make sure that the right-zip bag is positioned on the left side of the double bag.

Step #5: Unzip the bags

Now, what you need to do is to fully unzip the right-zip bag so that you would be able to take out the zipper from the sleeping bag. Both of the pull tabs of the right-zip sleeping bag should be on the upper part of the sleeping bag. After that, you will also need to identify the metal tab which will usually be located at the end of the zipper of the sleeping bag. Make sure that it is on the bottom part and not the other way around.

Step #6: Left Side

Then, you will need to fully unzip the left-zip bag so that you would be able to take it out completely from the sleeping bag. Next, both of the pull tabs of the left-zip sleeping bag should be directly on the bottom part. The metal tab that is located at the end of the zipper of this sleeping bag will usually be positioned on the upper part of the sleeping bag.

Step #7: Internal Zip

The next thing that you will need to do is to slowly zip the internal zip of the sleeping bag because you don’t want to cause any damage to the zip. You will also need to start zipping the internal zip of the sleeping bag from the bottom part up until the upper part completely. Don’t zip it halfway through.

Step #8: Zip them together

Then, starting from the bottom part of the sleeping bag, zip the external zip of the sleeping bag completely. You should now have a tight and comfortable double sleeping bag that is ready to be shared with your camping partner.

The Final Step

If you noticed that when you zip both of the sleeping bags together the zippers of the sleeping bag are not completely positioned at the upper part of the sleeping bags, then don’t worry. This is completely normal with most of the sleeping bags brands that are available in the market today. This happens when zippers that are not made from the same factory are zipped together as one and as a result, the zipper will not be able to be zipped together completely as they are not of the same type.

Final Thoughts

When the zipper is completely zipped together, a minute difference in the spacing of the teeth will have the potential to add up to a few inches. Just in case this thing happens, simply stretch the Velcro tabs from the left-zip sleeping bag to the right-zip sleeping bag so that you will be able to make sure that the zippers will be in place.

See you at the camp site!

Sean's an avid camper, kayaker, and RVer. He loves spending time finding new trails and campsites to take his family and friends.