Despite spending over $34.8 million on new sleeping bags, the Canadian Army requested that soldiers participating in a joint northern exercise with the U.S. in Alaska use older, 1960s-era bedrolls late last year. The decision came after troops using the recently issued General Purpose Sleeping Bag System (GPSBS) during a preparatory exercise identified “several critical issues.”
Over 350 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (3 PPCLI) took part in a training exercise at Ram Falls Provincial Park in Alberta in November. During the deployment, temperatures dropped to –20°C at night, and soldiers found the new sleeping bags lacking in warmth.
A briefing note from December 2023 revealed that the new sleeping bags were more suited for mild conditions, such as those found in late spring to early fall, and were inadequate for typical Canadian winter conditions or the extreme cold in Alaska. As a result, the Department of National Defence (DND) began exploring the procurement of additional sleeping bags for use in northern operations. The army ended up borrowing 500 older Arctic sleeping bags, which the GPSBS was supposed to replace.
The army’s feedback prompted DND to maintain the GPSBS as a core component but also led to the development of a second procurement initiative for an Extreme Cold Weather Sleeping Bag System (ECWSBS). The ECWSBS aims to complement the GPSBS by offering protection in extreme cold environments like the Arctic.
Defence experts have raised questions about the cold weather testing conducted on the GPSBS before the purchase. Concerns have been voiced regarding the suitability of the procurement process, with some suggesting that simpler solutions may have been overlooked in favor of more complicated ones.
In response, DND emphasized that the GPSBS was selected through a rigorous competitive process that considered insulation value, weight, and packing volume. However, the feedback from soldiers, combined with the need for additional gear for extreme conditions, has led to a reevaluation of the army’s cold-weather sleeping system.