Are Iraqi Camel Spiders Killers?
Iraqi camel spiders hunt anthropods, and shy away from creatures that are much larger than them. Every once in a while, you can find one devouring a lizard that is close in size to it, but never do they hunt humans or other large animals for food. This is a myth. The reason that they hide in sleeping bags is because this is out of the sun.
Shade Kings
Camel spiders do not like being out in the sun and will try to find shade. Sometimes they will use a human's shadow for shade, and their speed at racing towards the shade causes fear in the human whose shadow is about to be used. This is one of the reasons for the myth. Another reason is because of their tremendously huge size. An Iraqi camel spider is usually about the size of a man's hand. They've even been reputed to have been seen as large as 9 inches but this has not been confirmed. Camel spiders hunt primarily at night and usually will stay in their hole in the ground for most of the day.
Camel Spiders as Pets
Some people have taken to keeping camel spiders as exotic pets because of their huge amount of "face time" in the form of email and reputation. This is not a bad idea as they are pretty harmless, but some people may freak out due to the large size. Arachnophobics will not enjoy coming over.
Find More Information
If you would like more information, Wikipedia can help you with a good article with basic camel spider information and some specific information. They even have a gallery of pictures if you are curious as to just what a camel spider looks like. Either way, it would be a great place to go to supplement the information available on this website.