The sleeper problem

I'll forewarn my readers that this post is gonna be fairly analytical. If you want just the story, here it is:

I got on my very first trainride in India. Was able to get some decent sleep and after 6 hours arrived to Chennai in 1 piece.

Ok. On to more important things...



The important question of the night was "where should I put my bag?", and answering this question took a good hour of the 6 hours of my trip. I observed many locals brought a chain that they used to secure their bags to the train wall underneath the first bed. Unfortunately I didn't have that option.

Givens: my backpack size - about 2.25'x1.75'x1', (the bag get narrower at the top)
bed - about the width of my femur, maybe 2.5' and about 6' long. The picture shows how the seats are laid out. The backrest of the lowest seat swings up and is then supported by two chains that hang from the upmost bunk.
me - about 5'9", and fairly slim....



Objective: maximize comfort
Sub-objectives:
-maximize flexibility for different sleeping positions (I usually sleep on my side or stomach, but I like to sometimes build up to my final sleep position on my back)
-minimize exposure to ambient light, noise, and smells from the bathroom

Requirements: prevent theft of my loose belongings (backpack and shoes). Openings to my bag and placement of my shoes should be oriented in such a way that one would have to disturb me in order to have access.

With these objectives and requirements in mind, I began to try and optimize my solution to this problem. I tried to draw out what the sleeping area looked like, so you can follow along as well.





Option 1: The Headboard

The first position I tried was pretty straightforward and simple. I placed my bag and shoes at the head of the bed and laid down under it.

Pros: Simple. Bag and shoes are very secure. I have full width of the bed to myself

Cons: Need to bend my legs to fit; about 6" my legs would extend into the isle if I stretched them out. Shoes are also next to my head, and they kinda smell.
Remarks: I was ready to fall asleep like this, since as i said before, though i was currently laying on my back I would eventually shift to my side and having a slight bend in my legs in that position isnt really uncofortable at all. Nevertheless, the nagging notion that there was a better solution than the current implementation proved to be far more uncomfortable than the inability to stretch out my legs.

Option 2: The Side-by-side (bottom to top variant)

This was the next position I tried once I committed to achieving optimal bag placement.

Pros: Sleeping position is similar to how I would sleep normally (the backpack takes the place of my normal body pillow). Bag and shoe security is high. Having the bottom of my bag face the top of my body allows me to stap my body to my bag.

Cons: The main problem with this setup was that this position put the thickest part of my bag side by side with my chest and the combined thickness of my bag and body put my back right up against the edge of the bed. Because of the two chains coming down from the top bunk, and the belt loop of my bag i secured around my chest to use my bag as a heavy anchor, the fear of falling off was a non-issue. nevertheless it was an uncomfortable feeling. Also, this setup provides low flexibility, as I had to remain in this exact position to fit at all times.

At this point I have to confess at this point that my crappy mspaint-on-a-track-pad-on-an-airplane diagrams have not been entirely accurate until now, and the following option brings to light what i've been hiding.

Option 3: The Side-by-side (top to top variant)

Naturally I tried this variation of the previous position to see if it would be an improvement.

Pros: Shape of the bag mostly follows the volume distribution of my body. Same pros as Side-by-side bottom to top but eliminates back problem. Again, plenty of space also for my shoes to be put where i cant smell them.

Cons: One small problem with this setup was that before, the belt strap on my bag was situated right at my chest level, which led to a very secure feeling when I strapped in, but now was more at thigh to knee level, which did next to nothing for extra security in preventing my falling off. The huge problem with this arrangement was, quite frankly, my ass. If you are familiar with my physiology you will know that a certain portion of my body more resembles that of a particular black female singer rather than a typical asian male. That said, my resulting position from this arrangement left nearly my entire butt hanging off the side of the bed, which was unaccpetable in terms of comfort and for my pride.

Option 4: The Stack

At this point I thought very carefully about the current situation. As stated in the givens above, the physical dimensions of my bag, body and bed were fixed and I seemed to have tried the different combinations involving the length and width of the bed. What i realized i hadn't yet considered was using the height of my space.

Pros: Can utilize the full width and length of the bed

Cons: The bag is quite thick and heavy and once the bag was placed on top of me, it ended up being quite unstable. With the center of mass so high off the bed it would only be a matter of time before the bag fell off of me onto the floor once i fell sleep... and that would be bad because 1) security, and 2) it might injure the person below me. I tried to remedy this situation by using the belt strap as before to strap the bag to me. However i found the weight of the bag to be so much that if the bag fell, the belt strap would only serve to drag me with the bag into an awful tumble several feet down, or at worse drag me straight into the support chains that would prevent my fall.

Other Considerations: By this point I had thought of other possible configurations but dismissed them without trying them because of obvious flaws

-Bag at feet: This seemed like a good way to utilize the excess of space I had around my feet by storing the bag at the foot of my bed. This, however, puts the bag right next to the isle where someone could easily go through my stuff.

-Reverse bag at feet: By reversing my head position to the isle side, I can safely put my bag by my feet and still have it protected. Unfortunately having my head right next to the isle exposes me to lights that are turned on there, the random conversations that were going on, and the indelible aromas wafting from the bathroom several yards away.

At this point I was ready to go back to my initial "Headboard" configuration. I figured it was still the best compromise between comfort and security among all the options I tried or considered.
Try and think what other options you might have tried or what you thought was the best. Stay tuned to see my final solution.