Pilgrimage Sleep Kit

If your pilgrimage accommodation is mostly hospitality, sleeping in hotels, bnbs and friends’ homes, you may not need any sleep kit at all. The most you might wish to carry is a silk liner, to ensure cleanliness.

But if you are claiming sanctuary or coldharbouring on your pilgrimage, you’ll need to carry the basics to sleep:

  1. a mat to lie on;

  2. a sleeping bag/quilt;

  3. a pillow.

Sleep Mat

A mat keeps you from the cold ground, or the hard stone floor. Sleep directly on the earth saps bodyheat quickly, and can be incredible uncomfortable. If you have nothing else, ferns or bracken piled up, or cardboard from a skip, are preferable to lying directly on the ground.

However, the best bet is to carry a portable mattress. This can be closed-cell foam, which is indestructible, waterproof and cheap, but bulky and less comfortable, and usually requires transport on the outside of your bag, which advertises your intentions. Alternatively, inflatable mats are more comfortable, and can include an internal insulation layer, but are more expensive and more prone to failure.

How long and wide should a sleeping mat be? Some people only use 3/4 length mats, which helps reduce weight. They might put their lower legs on top of their backpack, which often already contains a layer of foam insulation. Would you like your head and feet on the mat? Much also depends on how you sleep. Side sleepers often prefer a thicker mat, as hips can focus anatomical pressure, which may result in their touching the ground through thinner mats, which is not comfortable.

It may be that the ‘best of both worlds’ is a good option - a 3-season inflatable mat, as well as a foam mat. In deep winter, combining the two will offer the same warmth for far less money than a single specialist winter mat, as well as offering a failsafe redundancy if the inflatable layer pops.

Another option is to carry a sheepskin. These can be a wonderfully tactile and comforting addition to your kit, especially if you dislike plastic. You can buy organic English sheepskins here. But they are heavy, and not as waterproof as foam, unless you wax the base. Also, they are bulky - but sometimes, the right bulk feels good to carry…

For closed-cell foam ‘roll-mats’, Multimat make the classic British foam option, though Thermarest have a novel option with a folding ‘egg-crate’ design.

Many pilgrims prefer to use an inflatable mat, for the main reason of comfort. You will almost certainly sleep better on an inflatable mat than a piece of foam. And good sleep matters!

However, inflatable mats can be a lot more expensive, as well as being more prone to failure. If one thorn enters the (often thin) fabric, you will have a cold night’s sleep followed by a tricky repair or an expensive replacement. I once had a feral cat attack my foam mat, and I slept on it for years afterward. No inflatable mat offers such resilience. It is recommended to ALWAYS carry a repair kit for your inflatable mat, just in case.

However, despite these warnings, inflatable mats do not often fail. It has never yet happened to me during pilgrimage. Valves might get leaky after a few year’s use, but brands like Thermarest offer a lifetime guarantee, so you can easily get a replacement. Always be sure to test your old mat for a night at home before setting out on a long pilgrimage!

Some inflatable mats are internally insulated, via a layer of synthetic or down insulation within the mat. These are vital if you intend to make pilgrimage in winter, or sleep on cold stone church floors. A mat that is simply full of air will not offer much help from the cold.

Due to the lightweight materials used in the manufactire of inflatable mats, they can be surprisingly noisy. A swooshy sound can accompany your comfortable sleep, which will likely not be a problem for you, but it may well irk any fellow pilgrims with whom you are sharing a space.

Inflatable mats can be bought in single size or double. Exped make the best inflatable mats in my opinion, but Thermarest are often more widely available. Trekology make the cheapest option.

It’s worth carrying a ‘pump-sack’ (aka a ‘schnozzel’) with an inflatable mat, as inflating it with your mouth will add moisture to the inside, which will degrade the insulation and eventually cause mould issues. A pumpsack is startlingly easy and quick to use. It’s like one giant yellow lung. And you can also store the rollmat inside it as a drybag when not in use.

Sleeping Bag/Quilt

There are a great many options of insulated sleep covers available for Wayfaring. What you need depends on the season and climate in which you are going Wayfaring, as well as your own physiology.

The first question is Down vs Synthetic. Down is from geese (avoid duck down), and can come in any different grades of fluffiness (loft). In general, down is warmer and lighter than synthetic insulation, but it is also more expensive. And if (when?) down gets wet, it fails to insulate, whereas synthetic insulation functions well even when damp. Down is also more compressible, but you don’t want to really squish it imo.

Another consideration is the outer fabric - is it windproof? Is it water resistant?

Also, the shape of the bag. Some of the lightest sleeping bags are very narrow at the foot, but this results in a more restrictive sleep experience. Wider cut bags are more comfy but heavier.

Then there is the zip. Does it have a backing baffle to keep out draughts? Can it be unzipped all the way down for hot nights?

And there is the question of sleeping bag vs quilt. A sleeping bag is the best known option, typically incorporating a hood, that encloses the sleeper. Quilts are more like insulated blankets, and are lighter than sleeping bags. They offer no base protection, on the logic that if you sleep on the base of a sleeping bag, the insulation there will be compressed, and will offer no real benefit. So why carry this extra material if it does nothing to keep you warm?

Quilts remove this part of the sleeping bag, so you rely on the insulation offered by your mat. Quilts are generally lighter than sleeping bags, and more comfortable as they don’t squash your legs in a narrow tube. The best quilts are made in the USA, by Enlightened Equipment and Mountain Laurel Designs.

Sleeping bags can be doubled up for extra warmth. So if you have an ultralight summer bag and a 3 season bag, these can potentially be combined for winter rather than buying a specialist super warm bag. Check they fit together before heading out. This option can be heavier, but will be much cheaper.

The Best

The best sleeping bags in the world are handmade in Nottingham by Peter Hutchinson Designs (PHD Down). They are correspondingly expensive.

Very Good

A really good maker of UK sleeping bags is Alpkit. Their ‘Pipedream’ bags are excellent.

Budget Options (sub £150)

Snugpak Jungle Bag - synthetic - 900g - 1 season - £36

A basic synthetic bag with built-in mosquito head net. A very thin sleeping bag, but adequate for highest summer.

Snugpak Softie 3 Merlin - synthetic - 900g - 1-2 season - £116

Made in Britain. A lightweight and well made sleeping bag. Not quite a 2 season bag.

Carinthia Defence 1 Top - synthetic - 1200g - 2-season - £95

A well-reputed German brand of synthetic sleeping bag with an innovative central zip.

Aegismax 800 - Goosedown - 800g - 3-season - £150

An Chinese brand of sleeping bag, made with decent goose down.

Snugpak Softie 10 Harrier - Synthetic - 1750g - 4 season - £141

Made in Britain. Heavy, but seriously warm.

Pillows

A pillow can be something you carry, or it can be a rolled up jumper. You decide what works for you. I personally have never enjoyed inflatable pillows.

Thermarest Pillow - 200g - £27

This pillow is made from off-cuts of thermarest insualtion, and compresses very well, meaning it does not take too much bag space, and it offers a decent night’s head support. But it’s pretty weighty and bulky, really…

Klymit Luxe Pillow - 217g - £40

Total luxury, but surprisingly light. About the same size as a house pillow, this is partly inflated, and partly offers fabric softness. If you need a large pillow sleeping experience, this may be it.

Trekology Aluft inflatable pillow - 63g - £14

A basic inflatable pillow with good shape for comfort. Keep inflation low for more comfort.

Sleeping Bag Liners

It is definitely recommended to carry a liner to go inside your sleeping bag. We all sweat at night, and it’s best if this does not soak into your sleeping bag’s insulation. Also, sleeping bags are a nightmare to wash (they need very slow drying). So it’s better to let the liner get dirty, and wash this regularly instead.

A liner also adds a layer of temperature variability to your sleeping bag. When you are hot, it can be enough to only use the liner. And when you are cold, a liner is an easy way to add another layer of insulation, keeping you that little bit more cosy.

Nod Pod Silk Sleeping Bag Liner - 210 cm x 85 cm - 110g - £31

Coccoon Mummy Liner Pure Merino - 495g - £75

For deep winter, when you need that much more warmth and comfort, this is a fantastically comfortable and cosy sleeping bag liner. Also works on its own in summer!

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