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after a night of camping i need a proper sleeping bag, woke up frozen saturday night/ sunday morning,
probably all day sun beer and then a chillier evening, so i need a new sleeping bag,
i'll only really camp in summer (-2 max i should think) i am warm blooded so dont need a super warm one, just better than my thin summer robens one.
ideally mummy shape (im 5ft11 regular size), pack smallish (although not tiny for hiking), is a down worth the expense,
been looking at vango, £25-90, cotswold have 20% off coupon..
what do you recommend, not bought a sleeping bag for 15 years
What was your sleeping mat? Sounds a daft question but if the mat isn't up to the job then even a 4 season bag can feel cold.
As for bags - the ME Lamina series seem well regarded. Note that synthetic bags lose their insulating properties much quicker than down bags - the fibres that provide the insulation break during use. Down while more expensive doesn't suffer from this in the same way.
Synthetic from Decathlon for about £50? Just got one as I needed one in a hurry and it worked fine
Blacks have their Eurohike down bags reduced to £70. Maybe worth a look.
Vango Venom 300 here but a bit above your price range. I use it from March / April to October. I did need something pretty small as it gets used for the occasional cycle tour. And listen to Whitestone - a decent mat can make a massive difference. I've just bought a hideously expensive Exped mat which is massively insulated but mainly got it for super comfort - my back is screwed and needs all of the help I can give it!
Take a look at snugpak
Oops snugpak
'snugpak' i'm on the work laptop :0) although they do encourage the LGBT agenda.
think i'm gonna get the vango latitude 400 (green one) £64-65 cheapest,
i wish the devil in my head didnt keepsaying down down.. rab down rab down
@simondbarns i looked at the venom, thats just the down version of the latitude range by the looks of it, the 400 is expensive, but will the 300 be better than a 300 synthetic one
Aagh! just lost a post because I got logged out. Never mind.
I did write that not all down sleeping bags are equal, look at fill power and down/feather ratio for starters. Very roughly 900fp is twice as insulating as 600/650fp so a bag using the higher power will be much lighter than the other but it will cost a lot more as the high quality down is harder to obtain.
If you are just camping occasionally then go for a synthetic, if you are doing lots then a down bag will work out better value in the long run. You need to take more care of down around camp but it's not the "a sniff of moisture and it's useless" that many make it out to be. Modern shell materials will deal with quite a bit.
That Latitude 400 is chuffin heavy! My Rab expedition bag rated to -30C is only 1800g. To throw something completely left-field into the mix, my main summer "bag" is a Cumulus 150 quilt. 360g and good (for me) down to 2C. It was £125 when I bought it a couple of years ago but I've used it that much that the per night cost is down to a couple of quid. Not everyone gets on with quilts though.
yeah i thought that with the lattitude weight, was also looking at the mountain equipment starlite ii that is another £20 and 1.4-1.5kg and packs far smaller, although ratings not as low temp.
it'll be more than likely just car camping rather than backpacking , got another 3 trips planned this year.
i just dug out my robens bag its a 'down comfort' no other names /logos /serial numbers.
pack size 29x12x13cm , it feels thin and maybe only 2/2-3 seasons
and thanks for the knowledge @whitestone
The big advantage to down is pack size / weight compared to an equivalent synthetic bag. If you're only ever car-camping with it then I can't see much point in the (considerable) extra expense.
+1 Cougar - when you've a tonne or more of vehicle carrying your kit it doesn't really matter and we've plenty of car camping kit. When you are the engine then it's a different scanario.
you do realise as soon as i buy a thick heavy sleeping bag my mates will suggest we go bikepacking :0)
As above re the mat, if you're car camping I'd use a traditional closed cell foam mat under an air mat.
If you think you might go bikepacking, get yourself something good but synthetic like the Mountain Hardwear Lamina range. I'm not convinced you need a -2 rated bag for solely summer use either, particularly if you really run warm. Get a decent lightweight pad too, something like an Alpkit Numo does the job and you'll be right.
In a nutshell: for car camping, big, cheap and synthetic. If you might go bikepacking in the future, lightweight, high-spec synthetic and a lightweight mat. But depends on how much you want to spend.