Dream Series: Our quest for the most resourceful sleeping bag
07/2024
Our product team went on a mission to create the perfect sleeping bag series –comfortable, affordable and more resourceful. But did their dream actually come true?
Let's dream a little. We're not dreaming in any place. We are dreaming in a sleeping bag, nestled in cozy fabric, feeling its smoothness on the skin. Wrapped in this unbelievable comfort, the only thing yet to dream about is for this sleeping bag to be more sustainable.Â
First step: The team analyzed the absolute treasures from the last collection. The sleeping bags` design should be cozy and ideal for the natural sleeping position with its widest point around the arm area and the tailored hood.Â
"We had a clear mission: not to sacrifice any of the benefits of our tried-and-tested Recovery sleeping bags in terms of comfort, while at the same time designing more affordable and even more resource-efficient sleeping bags"
A cost analysis was the basis for making the product more affordable. The team looked at the different components and their cost. They concluded that the fabric makes up most of the costs. The team needs almost five meters of fabric to create the sleeping bag—even more reasons to get granular.Â
Regarding sustainability, the team assumed that using fewer and different fabrics would reduce the sleeping bags' CO2 footprint.Â
Second Step: With clear targets, the team started the design process. After ten prototype rounds, the cutting pattern was set into the fabric. Because after uncountable adjustments, the fabric rocc standard width was ideal. This means that as much fabric as possible is used when cutting the pattern out of the panel.Â
The outcome: from a 20-meter fabric, now four instead of three sleeping bags could be made.
Fabric selection has a crucial effect on a product's CO2 footprint. In the Recovery Series, the team had already made essential decisions regarding sustainability. The Down filling is certified with the Responsible Down Standard. The Lining Fabric was out of recycled polyester, a transparent, high-performance polymer. But for the Dream Series, this had to be taken to the next level. Based on thorough research, the team decided to choose only recycled materials. So, the team tested them all to ensure comfort through breathable fabrics, which keep you nice and warm due to their thermal resistance. This was a highly complex procedure with many trials and errors, brilliant ideas, and challenges.
So far, so good. Let's recap what the team has achieved so far. Now, 33% of the fabric is saved per sleeping bag compared to the previous series. All fibers are now recycled. 98% of the fiber and 83% of the down bag's filling is recycled.Â
Third Step: Check if the dream has come true …Â
The Dream Series provides roomy comfort and warmth, tailored to a more laid-back way of spending a night in nature than the high-performance Recovery Series is designed for. To increase sustainability, the team made compromises on weight and packability. Different bags, different use cases. Due to this shift of focus, the dream bag is also more affordable. The reason is that the Dream Series requires less fabric, and the recycled material is less expensive as it doesn't have to be as high performing. Great! Conclusion: the sleeping bag should be more sustainable as the team only used recycled materials. Thus, materials are cheaper and still performing well. Sounds perfect. Â
The Grande Finale: Confident the team sent the bag into the sustainability check. The Higg index would reveal what the team achieved. When the results came back, the team was really surprised. The analysis showed that the down bag was merely 4% more sustainable, the fiber bag at least 18%. What happened?  The team, of course, wanted to get to the bottom of this sustainability mis(t)ery. This is what they found out:  The filling has a significant impact. While the fabric switch was a success, it reduced CO2 emissions less than expected. Even if less material is used, recycled material has a higher density and, therefore, weight, making it less sustainable. What does this tell us? Durability, weight, and emissions can be contradictory. But here, we have to point out that the calculations were complex, and the results were only indicative as it was an in-house pilot project. Further, there is a blind spot in this analysis as the product care and lifetime could not be considered in the scope of this project analysis. But we still want to share the team's learnings from this project.  The dream team established 5 Rules of Thumb:Â
1. Recycled is more sustainable than virginÂ
2. Polyester is more sustainable than PolyamideÂ
3. A higher denier is more sustainable than a low denierÂ
4. Knitted is more sustainable than wovenÂ
5. The product's impact correlates with its weight Â
 Summer 2024. We wake up feeling comforted and warm. There is a distant memory of a dream. We were dreaming of a sustainable sleeping bag. Slowly starting to move, we notice a tag on our sleeping bag. The dream seems to have partially become a reality after all…Â
