With 68K active duty regulars that’s $570 a bag.
Despite the defence department spending more than $34.8 million on new sleeping bags, the Canadian Army asked late last year that hundreds of soldiers headed to a joint northern exercise in Alaska with the Americans be issued with old, 1960s-vintage bedrolls.
Troops who had used the recently issued General Purpose Sleeping Bag System (GPSBS) late last fall in a preparatory exercise found “several critical issues,” according to an internal briefing note obtained by CBC News.
More than 350 soldiers belonging to the 3rd battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (3 PPCLI) deployed to Ram Falls Provincial Park, west of Red Deer, Alta., in late November last year, where they spent several days training for northern operations.
Temperatures during the deployment ranged from – 5C during the day to – 20C at night.
Logistik Unicorp of Quebec got the contract.