Why Are Swags the Ideal Solution For Sleeping in the Great Outdoors?

When it comes to camping, it really is all about personal preference and while there isn’t anything wrong with loading the car up to head to a caravan park for the weekend, it’s not everyone’s idea of fun.

We like to strip everything back to the bare necessities when we go away for the weekend, we don’t think you need any more then somewhere to keep your beers cold, a rod to catch dinner and somewhere to lay your head at night. For this kind of camping you really can’t go past a swag, for one a swag will be able to take a bit of a thrashing on your way to the campsite and setting it up once you’ve arrived at your destination will take less time then it will to crack open a cold one.

Camping in a swag is about as Aussie as you can get. Anyone who has ever listened to “Waltzing Matilda” should know that ‘swagging’ goes back a very long time in this country. Originally the word ‘swag’ came from men who would carry their bedrolls 100 of kms from job to job, while things aren’t like that anymore what hasn’t changed is the fact that swags are incredibly convenient.

Apart from being convenient, there is several other reasons why we are convinced that swags are the way to go.

Easy to set up – Swags can be set up in next to no time, which means you can spend more time fishing or 4x4ing and less time fumbling around trying to set up for the night. They are also incredibly easy to pack up so that means you can get back to taking on those 4x4 tracks as soon as you wake up.

Insulation – We have all been there, one to many beers the night before and you wake up convinced you’re in an oven. While swags aren’t going to stop you from having that last beer, they will help you not wake up feeling like you’re being roasted like the marshmallows you toasted last night. If you’re someone who sleeps hot and likes to feel the Aussie bush breeze on them when they are out camping, then rolling up the canvas layer of your swag will mean you’re left with just a mesh layer which will let the breeze in but keep the mozzies out. 

Space – Because of a swags ability to be rolled up, they aren’t going to take up much space and they can be easily stored by chucking it on your cars roof racks or in your utes tray, this allows for the inside of the car or canopy to be free for other camping goods such as the esky and camp chairs.

Swags have been around for decades; they truly are the definition of what it means to be an Aussie camper.