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Value of 1951 Vacuum Packed M-1949 Mountain Sleeping Bag


DiGilio
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This is one item that I want to try and sell but have absolutly no idea what the value is. Its basicly M-1949 mountain sleeping bag that was vacume packed by the Air Force in 1951. Its unopened. What do you think the value of this would be? Is the value decreased because its vacume packed as opposed to just a regular 1951 unissued bag?

 

Edit: You cant see it in the pics because of camera flash but it was actually packed on 16 April 1951.

 

 

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These bags are really crappy and literally just check the box for having a sleeping bag, ever have to use it for real and you will freeze to death. The only value comes to a collector who is filling a missing spot in his survival gear collection. If you don't believe me about freezing to death, just ask. I literally didn't freeze to death, but was asking for it by morning!

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I can't comment re values since I've never seen nor heard of one packed like that before. Most of the M1949 sleeping bags in my collection are Korean War dated and USMC contract and they have some collector value. As for it's effectiveness, I think they're a good sleeping bag. I used them in the Marine Reserve in the '60's and '70's and currently own a 1962 vintage "Mountain" bag which I've used on camping trips. They made them in two sizes....Regular and Large.....and two types....Arctic and Mountain. You definitely would be chilly using a Mountain bag in extremely cold climates.

 

Greg

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How are we getting that this is a M-1949 sleeping bag? Neither the can nor the tag say the model number of the bag, just that it is a mountain bag. It is a mummy, mountain bag, but not a M-1949. At least the one I opened in survival school was not a 1949

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How are we getting that this is a M-1949 sleeping bag? Neither the can nor the tag say the model number of the bag, just that it is a mountain bag. It is a mummy, mountain bag, but not a M-1949. At least the one I opened in survival school was not a 1949

 

It says "M-1949" on the tag...

 

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I bought one in the can a few years ago. I paid $30 and thought it was really interesting being the the can. It's value is in the unopend can, not as a sleeping bag.

It is pretty unusual, but kinda an oddball item to a lot of collectors.

BKW

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Bad eyes and early morning, I couldn't see it. Interesting, it must mean M-1949 only in shape, because the one I used was not a M-1949 like we are all used to. It was a quilted nylon with relatively little down in it.

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Thanks for the replies. Im probably going to put it up on ebay soon. When I bought it, I only payed $1.

 

OK then..... ready to triple your money? :naughty:

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This bag is listed in the 50s edition of the USAF Survival Training manual (AFM 64-4, 1954 ed.) but was phased out for the compressed bag used throughout the 60s into the 90s. Some vendors call them U-2 survival kit bags though they were the standard bag in all CW kits until replaced by the vacuum packed orange bags.

 

The bag hawkdriver is complaining about is probably the 60s-90s era bag that was packed in the flat fiberglass shell and had the screw running through the center. A very thin bag but it was for survival, not comfort.

 

I picked one of these canned bags up on eBay a few years back for about $6, including shipping, if I recall correctly. The 50s era kits are the only reference I've seen to their use so there are probably not many around.

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Negative, the one I'm complaining about is the one in question here. The one in the tin cans were taken out of service before I came on board, but we had a couple in the back of the ALSE shop when I took over. Not wanting to ruin good (fiberglass packed), I took one of the ones from the can to school with me, it is the one that I nearly froze to death. The ones in the fiberglass were taken out of service about 1986 for us, that is when we started breaking them open to find the screw through them.

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I stand corrected. I've always considered the M1949 as a comfortable bag. Of course, the ones I slept in didn't come out of a decades old spam can.

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  • 10 years later...

To take this thread a little further, please post pictures of your 1950'e era vacuum packed sleeping bags.  Does anyone have, or have seen a version labeled "Sleeping Bag, Vented Can Packed" "Specification MIL-B-6556A"?  This one has the lid held on with a U shaped piece of wire and the lid doubles as a shovel.  The lid will have a slot for a handle. Does anyone have a sleeping bag packed in a Metalam outer container that would have been packed in the early SAC E-1 kits. (Metalam is the cloth covered foil packing.)   Finally, does anyone have any pictures of an M-1949 bag that came out of one of the metal containers?  I am especially looking for pictures of the labels and tags attached to the bag that list the filling.  I am trying to find one filled with 100% down, not the standard "down-feather" mix.   I have seen the two YouTube videos of people opening these bags.

 

Below are the bags I have.

Metal Can.JPG

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z5.jpg

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Very odd that the date the original was packed is listed as April 16th 1951 as that is the exact date that the specification MIL-B-6556 was issued as per Index of Military Specifications and Standards 1 April 1952. I don't know what to make of that.

 

 

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I have never been sure of the history of the MIL-B-830 labeled bags.  MIL-B-830 is the 25 July 1949 spec that covered the M-1949 sleeping bag.  MIL-B-10721 (QMC) dated 22 November 1950 has "used in lieu of MIL-B-830" on it. The can dated April 16th 1951 is labeled "Bag, Sleeping Mountain, (MIL-B-830) Vacuum Packed".  MIL-B-6556 calls for the can to be labeled "Bag Sleeping, Vacuum Packed Specification MIL-B-6556".  I wonder if the MIL-B-830 bags were done prior to the MIL-B-6556 spec being issued?  Were they a trial type of contract that worked well? Were they done before the bags became a stock numbered item? (There is no stock number on the 830 bags either.)  It wouldn't be the 1st time I saw an item used by the Military that was in service before it became a spec item.  About that time, the Air Force contracted for seat survival kits that were assembled by the contractor and supplied complete. Below is a picture of an A-1 Sustenance Kit box I copied from an auction listing. The order number on the box is the same as the one on the sleeping bag. 

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Metal Can.JPG

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phantomfixer

does the Mil spec number   MIL-B-6556 reference the sleeping bag, or when the sleeping bag is in the tin, as a unit of a kit, versus the bag, individual?

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MIL-B-6556 deals with how a sleeping bag  is packed into a metal container.  The spec deals with the type of metal the container is made from, the size and shape of the container, the color it is to be painted, how it is to be labeled, and how the bag is to be folded and vacuum sealed in a plastic sleeve before it is placed in the can. The only reference to the sleeping bag used in the spec says "The sleeping bag conforming to MIL-B-830, Type I, Large, without carrying case, shall be folded back and forth in layer form and inserted in the plastic sleeve and the ends sealed."  (MIL-B-830 Type 1 is the M-1949 Mountain Sleeping Bag.)  A note at the end of the spec says "The sleeping bags covered by this specification are those which have been vacuum packed in a protective metal container. These bags are intended to be used in sustenance kits and any other use where the space saved by this packing method is a vital factor."

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phantomfixer

not a spam can bag, but USAF survival kit sleeping bag 1960s era...unopened and one that came out of a kit...Down not feather filled,, very warm good with long johns to about 20 degrees..green nylon shell with white nylon inner, reversible..

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The MC-1 sleeping bag was used in several configurations.  The same bag was used as a "Folded and Tufted" bag as part of the seat cushion in at least the F-106 ejection seat.  Below are photos of the folded and tufted bag, the label inside a couple of different MC-1's, and another configuration of the MC-1 where it was vacuum packed to go in the rear compartment of certain seat survival kits.

Folded & Tufted 8.JPG

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SRU-15P  MC-1.JPG

SRU-15P  MC-1 1.jpg

Sleeping Bag-2.JPG

Sleeping Bag-3.JPG

Sleeping Bag-4.JPG

Sleeping Bag-7.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you want to see a spam can be opened check out or google crazy Russian hacker sleeping bag on FB.  The guy buys stuff and tests them out. This one just happens to be a m1949 bag in a 1951 can that he bought on eBay. 

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There are a couple of different YouTube videos of people opening them that I have seen.  The top one has better shots of the markings and labels on the bag.  Both cans are marked MIL-B-830 which Cap Camouflage Pattern I pointed out were packed about a year before the MIL-B-6556 spec was issued.  I would love to see an opened MIL-B-6556 can.  The spec says they contain an M-1949 bag also.  The spec for the SAC E-1 kit (MIL-S-6216A) called for an all down M-1949 bag , rather than the usual down - feather mix, to be vacuum sealed in a plastic film then a Metalam outer pouch. Were these all down bags packed in the 6556 cans as well???  Has anyone see or does anyone have an all down M-1949 bag???

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1HmytW0HdE&feature=emb_rel_end

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO2CplYD03Y

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