[Closed] Sleeping Bag

What are your primary requirements? Weight? Pack size? price? Are you a warm or cold sleeper?

900g for a 5C rated bag is high hence the price.

If it's a summer bag you're after and you're going to be carrying it, which I guess you will, you can probably find something lighter though less warm. There's a lighter version of that Berghaus (Blacks licenced the name for tents and bags btw, so sort of not really Berghaus), er, Intrepid 700, that's cheaper, slightly less warm, but a little lighter. I'd have thought it'd be fine for summer use down south:

https://www.blacks.co.uk/equipment/264708-berghaus-intrepid-700-mid-blue.html

Lighter synthetic bags with similar wamth levels tend to be a fair bit more expensive. MHW's lamina bags are good, but pricy. But yeah, either of those Berghaus bags are probably as good as you're going to get that that price unless you're savvy enough to pick up something good and used on eBay.

Thanks both, spent most of my budget on a Vango Helium tent so hopefully that should offset the weight of the sleeping bag slightly. Will probably go for the cheaper "Berghaus" one and use a liner if necessary. Pack size is smaller too which is a bonus.

After a few years of cheap sleeping bags I'm of the opinion that they should be considered like heirlooms; buy something really, really good, then you can use it for a long time in different places and pass it on.

Look at down bags and synthetic bags from the likes of Alpkit; very few people complain about being too warm when camping, so something that will keep you warm whatever is a good target.

Also, don't go cheap on your sleeping mat; a good mat and a cheap bag is better than a cheap/thin/cold mat and a good bag.

Camping equipment definitely falls into the "buy decent, once only" category for me, it will last decades unless it's crap and you have to buy better.

After a few years of cheap sleeping bags I’m of the opinion that they should be considered like heirlooms; buy something really, really good, then you can use it for a long time in different places and pass it on.

Yep, I'd agree with that. For perspective, the Mountain Equipment Lightline down bag I bought when I was 17 was still going strong 20 years later. Not cheap as an initial purchase, but if you price it out per year, a bargain really.

Fwiw, my experience is that down filling outlasts the fabric. Possibly UV damage from regular use and airing at altitude.

@nostrils - are you a warm or cold sleeper? If a warm sleeper look at the "limit" rating, if cold then the "comfort" rating.

Now look at typical overnight temperatures for where and when you think you will use the bag and knock 3C off those to allow for local cold spots, bad site selection, you being wet and cold or hungry.

Now find bags that meet the above criteria.

As the above posters have alluded to: warm, light, cheap - pick any two. I've a PHD bag - cost £170 but I've used it for over 100 nights so far and it's still good.

Generally (quality) down bags are lighter and compact better than an equivalently rated synthetic but that comes at a cost. Down if cared for will last much, much longer than synthetic which doesn't like being compressed and will slowly lose its insulating properties over time. Synthetics are getting better in this regard but still nowhere near down. Down's Achille's heel is water: get it properly soaked and it's just a sodden clump of feathers and takes care to handle and dry when in that state but contact dampness on the shell material or condensation from your perspiration is no problem.

The only time I'd choose synthetic over down would be if I was heading to an area where I was expecting weeks of continual rain with no opportunity to dry things out. YMMV of course.

@whitestone - Thanks for that really helpful.

I think the main issue at the moment is that if I were to splash out on a more expensive bag, I would ideally like to try it out in the shop, which isn't an option atm.

Think I am going to ask for walking poles for my birthday and get a sleeping bag nearer the time. Thanks everyone.

@nostrils - can you loan a sleeping bag from a STWer  to try out? Where are you based?

Plus 1 for testing fit of the sleeping bag.
My teenager son has now a extremely nice ME down sleeping as regular sized ’Alpine fit’ is so small that it is too tight for me in actual use. I’m about 183cm and 90kg and fit chart suggested that I would fit.

Sorry for the hijack but to save starting a new thread, I'm looking for a sleeping mat, the only consideration is comfort as it's only going to be used with in the back garden with MM Jnr, or at a campsite leads from a car ...

I’m looking for a sleeping mat

I love my Exped Megamat 10 - it's more comfy than my mattress.

Thermarest basecamp.

I'm going to get one when we can camp again.

https://www.gaynors.co.uk/equipment-c153/camping-c237/sleeping-mats-c171/thermarest-basecamp-large-sleeping-map-classic-valve-p11413

Thermarest sleeping mate for me

Decathlon sleeping bags have been the best I've found. Very honest ratings relative to the price points of the different ones they do. I have a compact bike packing esque one and a much bigger one for the van. Both excellent and great value for money

Do synthetic bags degrade and lose insulation over years?

I have an old Vango Ultralite 2 synthetic bag which has been stored in the compression sack and is 0-20 comfort rating. 9 degrees other night and I was freezing in t shirt and woolly jumper with closed cell camping mat.
Do the synthetic bags have a shelf life as it’s ruined a few nights when it hasn’t been even cold and I wake at 4.30am feeling a bit parky! 🥶
Any good recommendations for a working class hero new bag?
Go army or Alpkit?

@BigEls - see my reply from a few days ago. Synthetic bags don't like being compressed - the insulation is composed of long filaments of material - you can think of them as lots of balls of string all mixed and interwoven. Over time these filaments become brittle and snap which leads to a loss of insulation.

Supposedly the more modern synthetic fillings are better but I've no recent experience with synthetic bags/quilts so can't say for sure whether that's true.

Sorry for the hijack but to save starting a new thread, I’m looking for a sleeping mat, the only consideration is comfort as it’s only going to be used with in the back garden with MM Jnr, or at a campsite leads from a car …

Alpkit Dozer or any other similarly thick self-inflating mat. If money's not an issue, Sea To Summit does double layer inflatable mats which allow you to inflate the lower level - the split is horizontal - nice and firm to stop you contacting the ground and the upper level soft and squish for comfort.

The US brand Nemo used to do one like this and it was brilliant, though the casing degraded after a couple of years rendering it useless.

Do synthetic bags degrade and lose insulation over years?

Yes. It varies with the exact type of insulation and how much time it's spent compressed, but well cared for down is a lot more resilient.

I don't think you can go far wrong with Alpkit down bags tbh. There are lighter, smaller packing options for the same level of warmth, but they're more expensive because both high fill power down and very light shell fabrics are significantly more expensive.

There's also a bit of a diminishing returns thing going on - a bit like with bikes - where buying something like a Rab Mythic 400 say, will cost you £460 and weighs 660g with a limit rating (keeps you alive) of -7˚C. Meanwhile a Neutrino 400 is £345, weighs 775g and has a limit rating of -7˚C. So it's cost you £130 to save 115g in weight. Or you could spend £700 on a Mythic Ultra 700 with fancy reflective technology, a weight of 606g and a limit of -8˚C. That'd save you 170 odd grammes over a Neutrino, which is a pretty light bag, but cost you twice as much...

Sorry, just thinking aloud really 🙂

I don’t think you can go far wrong with Alpkit down bags tbh. There are lighter, smaller packing options for the same level of warmth, but they’re more expensive because both high fill power down and very light shell fabrics are significantly more expensive.

I've been looking for a new bag recently. Have always been a fan of Vango bags, have an ancient Venom 225 and a Venom 300 from 3 years or so ago. Looking for something warmer and the Venom 600 is quite a tempting price now that it's been discontinued (£144) - very similar price to the Alpkit SkyHigh 700 and sits between the Alpkit std and long in terms of length / weight.

Mountain Equipment's down bags are good also. They did a big overhaul a couple of years back, lots of research into optimising down quantities versus baffle volume and some neat features like magnetic fasteners. Generally cheaper for the spec than Rab too.

^ The magnetic fastener in ME bags is very annoying IMO but other than that the bag seems very well made.
Slightly too warm bag can be a problem too as many light bags have 3/4 length zippers even if they are called full-length.

I've gone for the Vango Venom 600 on the basis of sticking with what you know and it is effectively free has I've used birthday money to buy it 🙂

Should be covered for all of the temperature ranges I'm likely to encounter on my travels now.

^ The magnetic fastener in ME bags is very annoying IMO but other than that the bag seems very well made.

I quite like it. The square storage bags are neat as well, ideal for stashing under the bed when not in use.

BWD - the "keep you alive" rating is the "extreme" rating not the "limit". The latter is the rating for the average male.

BWD – the “keep you alive” rating is the “extreme” rating not the “limit”. The latter is the rating for the average male.

Oops, yes, you're right - sorry for any confusion. I do know that, honest, but I'm in a sort of post death-lurgee state of mind-numbing fatigue, so not really functioning at 100% 🙁

Half price sale at Terra-Nova:

https://www.terra-nova.co.uk/sale/bags-mats-sale/

I'm with Boardinbob on the light weight backpacking sack from Decathlon. They have a high bang to buck ratio.