Testing of the Cocoon-4 Sleeping Shelter

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a new concept of sleeping shelter, the Cocoon-4, in the field and in the laboratory, and under different temperature and humidity conditions that could be encountered by the Canadian Forces. It was found that the concept of adding air to an airtight down sleeping shelter to vary the insulation while keeping the down dry works well. Some problems with the quality of construction and the design of some critical components such as the valves were observed which made the performance of the Cocoon less impressive than expected from the claims made by the manufacturer. It was concluded that the Cocoon-4 could be useful for the Canadian Forces as emergency shelter providing the manufacturer could improve on the quality of his product, and could add some modifications to the design.