Thread: Possum fur in sleeping bag

Friday night I was out possum shooing and collecting their fur. I will soon be getting my first kg of it.
Now the 100$ish that I would get will probably not pay for the fuel,cartridges,batteries etc...
I was wondering instead if the fur could be used to make a sleeping bag or at least refill an older sleeping bag?
What is the R value of possum fur Vs goose down? Would the fur need to be washed ( and how) or treated? Any risk of parasites or infections?

For a start it is heavy and not that compressible compared to down. But if that's not a worry you would want it machine plucked or woven up, as it will work through most cover materials with ease.

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If I recall correctly possum is a smooth shafted hollow hair. That’s why it was used as gun sight crosshairs during WW2. It didn’t ice up at altitude

That being said, it’s going to pack flat, ie no ‘loft’ like wool fibre. Suggest you sell it and put the funds towards a better sleeping bag

Which btw might have some value if someone wanted to boost theirs. But it’s an awful faff

Originally Posted by SiB

If I recall correctly possum is a smooth shafted hollow hair. That’s why it was used as gun sight crosshairs during WW2. It didn’t ice up at altitude...

Wow. Now there's something I'd never heard before. I'm going to put that in my "really interesting useless information" file.

On what aircraft did they use that on and how the hell did you find that out?

I wish I was good on photoshop because there is a picture of those crosshairs in my head that I'd love to share.

My mother. She was WAAF (radar stations) before being seconded to top secret stuff.