Is it possible to suffocate in a sleeping bag

Its cookin' in the tent thats a killer. I'm not a doctor or a chemist, so I will not give advice in that area. That was the point of my post. Carbon Monoxide CO will cause you to become sleepy and you could die without intervention. Carbon Dioxide CO2 will cause you to gasp which is your body's natural reaction. If asleep you will be awoken in a panic.

I have some experience with this as I used to manufacture bivy sacks. A few years back I received a packet of information from the Consumer Product Safety Commision researching a fatality using a bivy sack. I had to provide them with samples of my materials, construction techniques, litrature and a listing of every bivy sack I had sold in the previous 3 years.

Due to the record keeping I have I was able to account for every one I ever made. I placed a call to the CPSC to inquire, and was told that they had to contact all 14 known manufacturers of Bivy Sacks. I checked with some others in the industry and one who researched the incident.

It seems a person in Connecticut crawled into a sleeping bag and into a bivy sack after be severely inebriated and was found dead the next morning. I heard from an MD that he would have had the same result if he was only in the sleeping bag. Best thing is to leave the bivy open more air, less condensation, less clausterphobia until the outside conditions warrant closing it up.

Suffocating in sleep Karl S a. Karl a. Karl S a. If we did the latter, air was still getting in and all we had was a headache Steve. Brian in SLC 0 reviewer rep forum posts a. Quote: Thanks for the insights.

I think CO2 is needed to regulate breathing Brian in SLC. They can also add up to approximately 10 degrees of warmth. But before we move to important issues you need to consider before buying a bivy sack, we will explain the types of bivy sacks you can find in the market. They also have mosquito netting and a hoop that provides extra room above your head and keeps the sack from falling. Stand-alone bivy sacks add up warmth to your sleep system, provide a standalone all-in-one shelter, and are fairly comfortable.

On the other hand, they may feel claustrophobic, they are heavy and need a ventilation solution because of condensation.

Ultralight bivy sacks are substantially lighter 4. These sacks cannot be used as standalone shelters and are commonly combined with tarps.

They come with a waterproof bottom, a breathable, water-resistant top layer, and a bug net window. Ultralight sacks can add up to 8 degrees of warmth and you can easily set them or break them down. Whatever model you decide to purchase, make sure it has ventilation options. You should also opt for sacks with zippers in the side to be able to vent out moisture.

Small babies lack this response so the situation is much different with them. ALso, I think you might be at risk if you were already seriously hypothermic clinically dangerously cold as you would be already in a drowsy depressed state. But generally speaking the small hole you describe and the breathability of your bag should keep you alive Keeping your mouth right next to the opening should remove any risk and keep you dryer than breathing into your sleeping bag.

You can squeeze some extra warmth out of a higher temp rated bag too! Having said that, the water resistant or water proof bivvy sacks might be a different story.