Early humans used animal fur to make warm clothing and sleeping mats, including the Inuit people living near the Arctic. In the early 19th century, explorers and mountaineers began testing different sleeping bag systems. Early sleeping bags were filled with camel hair, known for its excellent insulation. Later, hollow rubber air mattresses were invented and used in the 1820s to explore the Earth's poles. In 1861, Francis Fox Tuckett tested the first prototype of the Alpine sleeping bag. By the mid-1860s, the envelope-style sleeping blanket design was nearing perfection, with a hollow rubber coating near the ground as thermal insulation.
Down, due to its excellent thermal insulation properties, was widely used as mattress filling in the early 19th century. During the Victorian era in England, women even filled the inside of their skirts with down for warmth. However, the processing and use of down only began to develop in the mid-19th century. The earliest recorded down sleeping bag was used by the British Alfred Mummery expedition in 1892, developed from the sleeping bag prototype of the Alpine Club and manufactured by a British furniture company. This was not the production of a truly commercial sleeping bag.
In 1890, the Norwegian company Ajungilak began commercial production of sleeping bags, which at this time were filled with kapok flowers. Until the 19th century, sleeping bags were specialty products, but due to the growing market demand for outdoor equipment, more companies began designing and producing them. Based on the rise of Himalayan exploration and mountaineering, the design and manufacture of sleeping bags continued to develop and improve in the 19th century.
This period saw the emergence of the mummy-style sleeping bag, which could tightly wrap the body. British mountaineers even successfully summited Mount Everest using this type of sleeping bag. Following the Industrial Revolution, the development of manufacturing and chemical industries led to the mass production of synthetic fibers. Due to their excellent heat retention properties, synthetic fibers were widely used in the production of sleeping bags.
