Testing Sleeping Bags According to EN 13537:2002: Details That Make the Difference

The European Standard on sleeping bag requirements (EN 13537:2002) describes a procedure to determine environmental temperature limits for safe usage of sleeping bags regarding their thermal insulation. However, there are several possible sources of error related to this procedure. The main aim of this work was to determine the influence of the various measuring parameters on the acuity of the respective parameters in order to judge the requirements. The results indicated that air velocity, mattress insulation and time between unpacking the bag and measurement had a significant impact on the result, with a difference of up to 5–15% in thermal insulation between minimum and maximum allowable parameter levels. On the other hand, manikin weight, thickness of the artificial ground and presence of a face mask were found to have a negligible influence. The article also discusses more general aspects of the standard including the calculation methods used.