The Coat Bag - An Ingenious Idea

I was coming back from dropping my wife off at work this morning, and morning radio hosts were talking about this college student from Detroit who came up with a fantastic survival idea.

A coat that converts to a Sleeping Bag.



20 yr old Veronika Scott had been working at various homeless shelters when she came up with the idea for a class project at the College of Creative Studies.

They look like an oversize coat that has an extra-large hood. It only weighs about a 1lb. and provides thermal protection down to around 17 degrees F.

news-in-review.com...

Veronika Scott makes the coat bags out of synthetic quilting used in industrial clothing and stitches it to an outer shell of Tyvek, a water resistant, paper-thin, crinkly material used in mail envelopes and building insulation. Tyvek traps heat and with it the coat bag has been tested to keep people warm down to 17 degrees F.

The coat bag weighs only 1 pound and looks like an extra-large coat with a big hood. It costs $7 to $10 to produce. Veronika has plans to begin producing the coat bag With support from companies like Dupont and Acme Mills.

Being that they're dual-purpose it sure seems like it would make a great addition to anyone's B.O.B.

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


Cool stuff, on a side note.. your Image link showed me anti-aging products, and an NBA star having an identity crisis ( not Dennis rodman). Didn't see the coat/sleeping bag

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


Been out for donkeys years search for "German sniper parka"

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


double post

Link is on the right hand
list in grey.

reply to post by BruceWayne


Thanks for that Batman. Damn, I let the cat out of the bag. Forget everything I said about batman.

Good product, but a previous Poster is correct. The military have had a version of this out for a long time.

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


This would sure free up alot of space in my bag.
I will keep this as an option but I think I will need something rated for colder temperatures seeing as I am from the cold north.
My cold weather sleeping bag is 3 layers and weighs about 20 lbs.
It would be great to not have to carry that weight.

Its also good to see they are being given to the homeless.

Not to take anything away from Ms. Scott but the West German Army (Bundeswehr) was using something similar but in the 80's where they carried the bottom part of the bag on their back and just snapped it on to the bottom of the coat.
I remember it from all the surplus catalogs I used to get years ago.
Haven't seen any for sale in a while though.
Very practical idea all the same.

Gotta admire her motivations here and the design is different from what I described.
Ingenious use of materials and excellent weight/protection ratio.
I second the B.O.B idea.
Of course anyone who is homeless in Detroit would do well to start heading South, the winters up there are beastly!

I must be missing it. On that pic and page I see face cream, a gay black man wearing a yellow light jacket and dr Oz recommends food stuffs.I'm not seeing a coat with a oversize hood or anything that looks like one and i'm still confused on what it has to do with a bag.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Try this mate:

news-in-review.com...

reply to post by TheLoneArcher



That works thanks.. also it would be good for people camping in winter.. they could wear it as a coat and not have to carry an additional sleeping bag.. there are all kinds of uses for that.

Is there anything like this available now?

Nevermind I must have forgoten how to use Google...
www.swisslink.com...

Would definitely be nice for a B.O.B., less things/weight to carry is always better.

Only problem I can think of is durability, homeless people probably wont take care of the coat and in a bug out situation you might be going through the woods or debris somewhere and eventually cut your coat, thus leaving you really vulnerable to the elements while you're awake and asleep