Sleeping Coffins
My partner and I were talking to a friend recently about international travel and how the cost of accommodation is, for what you get, quite a lot. All an Escapologist wants is a clean bed plus a door with a lock on it, yet even at the affordable end of the scale you have to pay âŹ40-90 per night. It becomes the main expense of travel, even though sleep isnât exactly what youâre travelling for.
We discussed the prospect of (we couldnât think of another name at the time) a âsleeping coffin.â Theyâd be immovable coffin-like boxes, lockable from the inside, and purchasable for âŹ7 by contactless debit card. Theyâd be scattered around city streets like e-scooters and locatable via an app.
My partner said it was the worst thing sheâd ever heard me say. Sheâs probably right.
But wait! Lets think again. With sleeping coffins, youâd be completely mobile, freer even than a snail or tortoise. Youâd just turn up to a city, zero planning, confident of a secure place to sleep for barely any money. Maybe youâd bring an inflatable pillow or something, and climb into a coffin when you run out of steam.
Faced with the prospect of a camping trip shortly, I was wondering what the absolute minimum of a tent might be. I remembered the sleeping coffin and understood immediately that such a thing must surely already exist in the realms of camping.
And of course, it does:
Itâs true⊠The bivouac sack (or âbivyâ sack) is merely a weatherproof cover for your sleeping bag with a breathing hole â the perfect bear burrito, filled with your ambitions to complete those ultralight objectives.
Itâs more of a body bag than a coffin. Perfect!
So, youâd pack a rolled-up sleeping bag and one of these âbear burritosâ then sleep where you drop. Obviously this is intended for ramblers and adventurers rather than culture vultures like me who visit cities to see art galleries and opera. But how bad could it be? Sleeping in one of these in a cosy alley or a public park?
Well, it could be absolutely terrible, obviously. And dangerous. And yetâŠ
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The ideas in Issue 16 â Footloose and Facy-Free â are better than this one. Get your copy here.
About Robert Wringham
Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk
Genius! I can see Sleeping Coffins inc. needing zero marketing for the goth crowd. For the rest of the publicâŠ
While doing some research on bivy sacks, I found this gem of a tip from a manufacturer of such equipment: âCinch the bivyâs hood down around your face, but avoid breathing inside the bivy which can create condensation.â
Not sure if they mean donât breathe at all? Definitely a body bag in that case!
When I visited the Greek island of Hydra (a wonderful town devoid of cars and full of cats) I almost slept under a tree near a monastery to avoid hotel fees. In the end it rained, and I had an (unwarranted) feeling that I would be scolded by someone for slumming it, so I scampered back to civilization. Next time Iâll arm myself with a bivy sack and more courage!