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looking for a down bag suitable for 3 season bike packing (or possibly 4 season in the south of england with a liner). Needs to pack down reasonably small and I guess be comfortable at 0 degrees
Rather it cost south of £150 but could go higher if it was worth it
There are so many out there - but you never can tell hoe good they are till you've used a bag!
I have an alpkit one I've used frequently for about 5 years and it's still going strong. I think it's 600 fill power which is a bit overkill. I've slept out in the snow with this and a hunka bivvy bag in -16c.
It's a bit bulky for bike packing, i'd probably go 400 fill power now and sleep in my (alpkit) down jacket too if it's around freezing. Alpkit stuff is good value and has worked well for me.
Err fill power is a measure of how good the down is, the higher the number the better or put another way you need less down (and therefore less weight) to achieve a given warmth. Very roughly (and I mean very) if the fill power goes up by 50% you need about half the weight of down. I think you mean grammes of fill.
OP - bags these days list ratings according to EN13537 the values you want to take note of are "comfort" and "limit". If you are a warm sleeper the limit rating is about right, if you are a cold sleeper then look at the comfort rating. As above a higher fill power means you need less down for the rating but you do pay more.
Not everyone gets on with them but maybe look at a quilt -lighter than a bag for the same rating but you need a decent sleeping mat especially in cooler temps. I've a Cumulus 150 (currently £150) which is fine for summer and my wife has the 350 which is rated to 2C (comfort) and -4C(limit) and is £190. The 150 weighs 380g and the 350 weighs 600g. Backcountry.scot sell them but looking at their site they are out of stock ATM.
Really rate my Alpkit one, very cozy and good pack size.
Rock and run have still got some mountain Hardwear phantom down bags on sale the flame will suit your needs £150 -2 limit around 600 g and 800 fp ,I use a cumulus 250 quilt like Bob mentioned 9-10 months of the year and the wife just bought me the phantom spark limit -9 for the winter they seem like very good bags ,but if you have another extra few quid I'd go for the 350 quilt if you only want it for 3 season ,my 250 packs down to nothing can fit that and a helium Bivi bag into a 5l dry bag
I've a vango venom 600 which has been ok but only just at -5 on snow with a decent mat. They do other weights too
I wanted a synthetic as I don't trust all the websites claiming to use ethical down. A couple of years ago research suggested over 50% of suppliers were live plucking and force feeding Geese. I can't find the link but I remember reading that the RDS standard doesn't even have mandatory inspections, the farms within the scheme can simply decline to be inspected!
Then I found the alternative scheme used by Mountain Equipment, The Down Codex. They do have mandatory inspections (although farms still get prior warning). So I'm still slightly sceptical but at least I've done what I can to ensure its ethical, all the products come with a code you can punch in online to see which farm/supplier the Down came from.
P.S The higher fill power Down is more likely to come from live plucked birds, as each time it grows back finer and higher quality 🙁
The bag I got is a Mountain Equipment Helium, various models for 1/2/3 season.