Sleeping bag claustrophobia

My winter bag is my narrowest bag. With its heavier filling, draught collar and closely cinched hood, I get full blown panic attacks. 

I need seious heat retention, so not looking to change to a very wide bag or to buy a Quilt, but for practical tips to help overcome the panic using the bag I already have. Regarding narrowness, while lying on my back I can place my palms flat beside hips with unsplayed fingers, no more. The bag feels narrowest at hips.

Feathered Friends and Western Mountaineering both make winter bags in a variety of widths. It sounds like you'd be best served getting a wider bag, which may also prove warmer since you'll be compressing the down less as well.

Just for clarity, there is enough space so that I'm not compressing the down, just very little space.

I don't feel so enclosed in my 3 season bag. Are maybe all 4 season bags inherently restrictive?

I know you said no quilt, but, honestly, get a good quilt and wear warmer clothes. I suffer from claustrophobia, too, and find having the ability to free my feet and, or, turn over really helps. 

If you want to keep using your same bag, is it feasible to spend some time trying to build comfort in it in a low stakes setting?

You can probably find some at-home tips for doing exposure therapy on your own. If panic attacks occur in other settings too, then it might be time to think about professional intervention. 

Get a bigger bag - a fellow claustrophobist

Just relax

what’s the worst that could happen?

Use the bag like a blanket but with your feet inside and zipped only about 1/4 up. Make sure ground pad is super warm. 

I have had similar issues with sleeping bags that are too narrow. Now I use a western mountaineering Kodiak 0f and it’s wide enough this is not an issue. For me at least, a little bit of extra space goes a long way to alleviate claustrophobia 

Highly subjective question, how much space should I have at the hips? Lieing on my back, with my hands at my sides with my palms completely flat, how much additional space is enough in that area? Or, are palms flat enough for a winter bag?

Trying to get a sense of what is normal.

Lorazepam

Highly subjective question, how much space should I have at the hips? Lieing on my back, with my hands at my sides with my palms completely flat, how much additional space is enough in that area? Or, are palms flat enough for a winter bag?

Trying to get a sense of what is normal.

I have no idea what normal looks like. But I do know that super tight mummy bags are torture for us full sized climbers. A few sizing related issues I have with most all mummy bags:

• Too tight in the higs and thigh area = schwetty crotch and inner thighs with no chance of separating. Bloody hell!
• After years of tendon torture my elbows no longer straighten out. So I can't be "laying at attention" like some board-stiff military guy. I need to be able to rest my palms on my lower chest or belly and have my elbows sticking out as it were. If I can't do that then I have to have my arms out of the bag entirely.

It was such an issue for me I started avoiding cold weather bivi entirely. But larger sized Western Mountaineering to the rescue, a comfy and warm winter bag. Comes at a premium price however, but comfort and quality have always commanded premium prices. The person who sewed my bag wrote her name on the tag, I love that.

You could visit a local REI and torture the sleeping bag sales staff, like I did, by trying on every warm bag they had, right there on the sleeping bag demo table. In my case none of them fit me better, not even the ones that touted extra room. Ended up mail ordering that Western Mountaineering unit and am very happy with it. I can actually get my knees apart inside the bag, without unzipping. So happy,,,,

Western mountain sequoia bag feels wonderfully spacious for me.  

Nemo makes a bunch of sleeping bags that provide extra room for sleeping on your side without sacrificing their heat rating. I have the women's Nemo Forte 35 and it's great. I know you're not looking for a new bag, but it might be worth checking out. I really don't like the restriction of the mummy bags either. 

Darren Mabewrote:

Use the bag like a blanket but with your feet inside and zipped only about 1/4 up. Make sure ground pad is super warm. 

this is pretty much what i do with whatever bag and whatever temperature.  i am a side sleeper but i have to pingpong back and forth to switch up the shoulder that is hurting, so being in a zipped up bag is a pain.  if it is cold i will usually sleep in my clothes and maybe a puffy too.

Kevin Worrallwrote:

Just relax

what’s the worst that could happen?

They could die, Kevin. They could die. 

Another vote for western mountaineering. I have a ten year old Kodiak 0 degree long/wide with the Gore Windstopper coating. I’m 6’2 185 lbs and it’s plenty spacious in there. Can be unzipped almost entirely to be used as a quilt on warmer nights. I also think western mountaineering is the only brand that underrates their bags. My 0 degree bag has kept me plenty comfortable in colder temps. With a fleece liner, it’s absolutely bombproof. It also looks brand new after 10 years despite pretty serious abuse.

It honestly might not only be the best sleeping bag I’ve owned, it might be the best piece of gear I ever owned.

I have a Western Mountaineering bag and use it essentially as a quilt the majority of the time.  I I unzip it and lay it over top justice a quilt.  I keep my feet in the foot well of the bag to keep it from sliding off in the night.  Only on the absolute coldest nights have I found myself zipping it all the way up.  

Lindsaywrote:

Nemo makes a bunch of sleeping bags that provide extra room for sleeping on your side without sacrificing their heat rating. I have the women's Nemo Forte 35 and it's great. I know you're not looking for a new bag, but it might be worth checking out. I really don't like the restriction of the mummy bags either. 

I purchased the men's version of the spoon bag and it is the best bag I own. I am a side sleeper who hates restrictive mummy bags and this was a life saver.

The bag in the OP causing the panic is a Mountain Hardwear Bishop's Pass 0f. The cut/shape is a "performance plus", it's basically a carrot. I've already returned it. Sending it back hurt though because the price was insanely good. About 1/3 of a similarly temperature rated Western Mountaineering or fancy Nemo. I'd love one of those, I can't afford it because on don't winter camp too often.
My desperation is making me consider sewing a quilt with 2 layers of 7.5oz Climashield Apex. That will be warm and spacious, but, being home made and synthetic, heavy and bulky too. Maybe around 1.6kg / 57 oz. I hurt just thinking about carrying that.
Anyone have experience any experience with Climasheild Apex as an insulation?