Last fall, Utah startup Ravean brought some heated down garments and hoodies onto the scene in preparation of Winter 2016. Now that the winter is officially over in Utah and surrounding parts (more or less), Ravean is getting ready for summer by applying its 12V heating technology to sleeping bag liners. Its wearable liner makes your sleeping bag extra toasty on chilly nights and wears out of the tent, giving you a heated overcoat for cold mornings and evenings. It also charges your phone and other mobile gadgets.
One of the worst moments of any camping trip is that instant when you step out of your cozy tent and get hit square in the face with an unexpected blast of ice-cold morning. Even summer mornings can be quite nippy in mountains, canyons and other popular camping areas, and if you're not expecting it, you might end up retreating back into your tent for another hour or three.
Wearable sleeping bags like the Selk'bag and Evrgrn Crash Sack help take the chill out of that moment, letting you keep your warm, cozy bag on when you unzip your tent and face the day. The average sleeping bag liner would be a bit light and breezy for this purpose, but add an electrical heating system, and you have another option for staying extra-warm in and out of the tent.
Ravean's wearable heated sleeping bag liner looks like an extra-long jacket complete with hood. Ravean puts its heating elements where it reckons you need them most – at the front and back of the core and feet and sides of the hood – giving you the ability to heat your sleeping bag by up to 20 degrees via a three-setting, dual-zone control system.
Because it's essentially a jacket, you can wear the liner outside, where its water-resistant fabric fends off light weather. The length is adjustable via drawstrings and the bottom cinches let you close it around your feet when sleeping and around your waist when wearing it around. It includes hand and chest pockets for storage and thumbhole cuffs to keep it in place.
If the night is extra chilly, the Ravean liner lets you crank the heat up in your sleeping bag. And when chilly night turns into chilly morning, you can wear that cozy heated liner outside while brewing your coffee and waiting for the sun to get up over the ridgeline. Beyond camping, the liner can be used at spectator sporting events and concerts, at home and around the backyard, and virtually anywhere else you might get chilly.
Ravean advertises 12 hours of functional heat time, but that number really depends on which battery and heat settings you use. With the largest 15,600-mAh lithium-polymer battery, you get between 4.5 (high setting, core and feet) and 30 hours (low setting, feet only), whereas those numbers are cut in half when you opt for the 7,800 mAh. The curved battery pack is located in the bottom of the liner (or around the belt line when you wear the liner like a jacket) to stay out of the way and remain as comfortable as possible. The battery includes 12V and USB outlets and can be used to charge your gadgets.
The Ravean liner packs down into a 9.5 x 5.5-in (24 x 14-cm) stuff sack and weighs 2 lb (0.9 kg) with 7,800-mAh battery or 2.7 lb (1.2 kg) with 15,600-mAh battery. It adjusts in height between 4 and 6 feet (1.2 and 1.8 m) and is machine-washable.
Ravean is hosting a Kickstarter campaign now, offering the sleeping bag liner with 15,600-mAh battery for pledge levels starting at US$179. It's also offering just the liners (no battery) and just the batteries. In addition to the wearable liner, it also has a non-wearable liner option. The campaign has already raised close to $120,000, six times its goal, and has more than 50 days left to go. While the campaign is just in time for Northern Hemisphere summer, development won't be: Ravean expects to start shipping in October, if everything moves along as planned.
Source: Kickstarter