You can increase the lifespan of your sleeping bag with various accessories. These are not some bogus marketing gimmicks but really working gear. In lighter use, your sleeping bag works fantastically without any extra bling. However, extreme conditions can be quite merciless.

Sleeping bag liner

Imagine that you have trudged through three-foot deep snow for hours and then cleared a spot for your tent with the shovel that your grampa brought home from WWII. Finally, you squeeze your sweaty body in your sleeping bag, because there are no washing opportunities for a hundred miles. A nagging thought might enter your mind. Will this clammy crap get stuck in this thing? Without a doubt, but luckily the sleeping bag can be washed. However, every time you wash it, you sacrifice some thermal insulation capabilities. And if you don’t wash your thingy, before long you will wanna purify the tainted bag in flames.

There is an easy way to avoid all this hassle. A sleeping bag liner. Ultralight, easy to wash, and durable. Worth every cent.

Sleeping bag cover

Why would you put a condom on your sleeping bag? Well, for protection of course. If you like to sleep on bare ground, a Gore-Tex bivy sack is a good thing to have. The bivvy bag protects your sleeping bag from moisture and wear-and-tear and makes it a little bit warmer.

A waterproof sleeping bag cover is great when canoeing or hiking in a rainstorm. When you get to your waypoint, it is nice to pull out a dry sleeping bag.

Compression bag

Do you enjoy squeezing things into smaller lumps? You will love the compression bag. No more lying prone on that bloody blob praying that it would go smaller. Just grab the straps and yank. These also enable you to attach your sleeping bag on your backpack or rucksack if the original sleeping bag cover doesn’t have good straps. And they are fantastic for packing other gear, such as thermal clothing as well.