Why does nobody talk about how sleeping bag zippers fail on cold nights

Last winter I was out in the Smoky Mountains on a 3 night trip and it got down to about 18 degrees. I had this cheaper sleeping bag I'd used maybe 5 times before, no issues. First night was fine but the second night I woke up at 2am freezing and realized the zipper had come completely undone from the bottom. Like the slider just let go and the whole thing split open. I spent the next hour trying to get it back on track in the dark with gloves on, which is basically impossible. Turns out that cheap nylon zippers shrink and get stiff when it's really cold, and the plastic teeth don't hold as well. I ended up just sleeping in my puffy jacket for the rest of the trip, which was miserable. Has anyone else had a sleeping bag zipper fail on them in freezing temps or did I just get a dud?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael69321d ago

Wait, are you sure it was the nylon teeth shrinking? I've had that exact same thing happen but it was mostly the zipper slider mechanism itself getting stiff from the cold and not gripping the teeth tight enough. The metal slider contracts just enough to lose tension on those plastic teeth. I ended up fixing mine by putting a tiny zip tie through the slider hole to keep it from sliding back down, not pretty but it worked the rest of that trip. Definitely not just you getting a dud though, the cheap plastic zippers are notorious for this below freezing.

butler.mark21d ago

@michael693 nailed it, cold sliders are the real problem.