- New military sleeping bags fail in cold conditions
- Troops report being cold in -20°C with new bags
- Canada plans to purchase more Arctic-suited bags
The Canadian military has confessed that new sleeping bags distributed to troops last year were unsuitable for “typical Canadian winter conditions.
According to a briefing note obtained by the CBC, the army distributed the new sleeping bags in the autumn of last year in Alberta when several hundred troops were preparing for a combined Canadian-American exercise in Alaska.
According to the 5 December 2023 note, soldiers who utilized the bags observed “several critical issues … related to lack of warmth. Troops reported being cold in their sleeping bags overnight in temperatures ranging from 5C (41F) to -20C (-4F) despite using stoves to heat their tents.
The note’s author concluded that the bags were “better suited for use in weather conditions that are characteristic of late spring to early fall.” The note suggested lending the troops some of the army’s original Arctic sleeping bags, which were initially purchased in 1965.
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The defense department spent more than C$34.8 million (US$25.6 million) on new sleeping bags to replace the old Arctic bags.
In a statement to the CBC, it declined to answer what cold-weather testing had been done before the purchase, saying only that the bags were “chosen following a rigorous competitive process” and that the “technical requirements used to make the selection included insulation value, the weight of the bags, and packing volume.”
It said that the new bags are still acceptable for most applications, but it now intends to purchase new sleeping bags designed for winter in the far north and the Arctic.
“I wonder if they should have just gone to Canadian Tire,” Rob Huebert, an Arctic military affairs expert at the University of Calgary, told CBC.
