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Berghaus [UK] Ulvetaana 1200 sleeping bag?


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) Berghaus [UK] Ulvetaana 1200 sleeping bag?

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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  • #3551404
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    OFP

    #3551405
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    I purchased this from a fellow Aussie who made a spur of the moment decision during a closing down sale.

    Contacting Berghaus in the UK has been less than informative. It seems that Berghaus simply put their brand on a Chinese made bag with no input; or at least I get that impression from my less than satisfactory emails with the company.

    I am wondering if anybody here is from the UK and has any experience with or anecdotal knowledge of the sleeping bag in question?

    The bag is rated at -40C but my experience this Aussie winter using the bag at -8C says that rating would only apply when wearing a full set of down clothing inside it, as the bag is huge and has a lot of dead air space inside that needs to be heated and as the internal collar isn’t the best a lot of warm air gets pumped out of the bag when I move. It is underfilled to a certain extent as it takes an age to loft after removing from it’s stuffsack.

    I paid $600- AUD for the bag which is probably a fair price but it will be no bargain if it doesn’t do the job when it gets cold

    #3551407
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    Here’s some info.

    More here.

    #3551408
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    Yes I saw that but it doesn’t seem to be as warm as the specs suggest and I have seen no real world long term reviews about the deep cold performance.

    #3551437
    Carlos Elordi
    BPL Member

    @charly2nd

    Locale: (null)

    Seems the bag was built to wear with an expedition suit (see link below.) Perhaps that’s the reason why it feels cold (is too big and you have a lot of dead space to heat?). The specs (1200g of down, and 850ff) seem standard for a -41C rated bag, although a good rule seems to be conservative and get a bag 10 to 20 degrees colder than the lowest temp you expect (e.g. read the Feathered Friends FAQ.)

    Berghaus does not seem to make sleeping bags anymore. If you have questions , send them a message via their Facebook page.   Companies are more likely to respond when they are exposed via social media.

    https://outdoorsmagic.com/news/berghaus-autumn-2013-scoop/

    #3551439
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    The bag certainly doesn’t have the quality feel of something from Western Mountaineering. I just posted the query on their Facebook page as you suggested. I am hoping the bag is better developed than their matching down suit, it was it seems a total stuff-up in the field, body mapping insulation only works for the person who was mapped and as we all change shape under intense conditions things change as we work our bodies hard

    #3551840
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    I posted the question on the relevant Facebook page and admin deleted the question. It seems that the company has devolved into a fashion brand these days. Strange but I have not seen any reviews or comments about the bag anywhere, only a couple of links to sales of discounted bags and those are all very old

    #3552220
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    I’ve managed to contact a Kiwi climber who used this bag in Antarctica and who rates the bag highly. It seems that I got mine for a  fair price. The bag seems to be fairly rare on the market too; so people must be hanging on to specimens.

    Cut a little bigger than a Feathered Friends Snow Goose and with slightly less down the temperature ratings seem to be accurate for the modelling.

    So with room for warm down clothing to be worn inside it I should be warm enough in an Alaskan winter

    #3556305
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    I’ve used this bag for a few weeks during our Southern ski season. I don’t know whether it’s me or the bag but it simply doesn’t seem to be as warm as the specification and how warm 1200 grams of down should be.

    I needed to put on a LW Uniqlo down parka to sleep in and even then I kept getting cold draughts around my neck every time I moved and I couldn’t get the face hole tight enough to stop pumping with out my mouth being covered and this breathing into the bag itself; also I tend to move a lot during the night and swap from side to side and the bag wouldn’t move with me, again leading to me breathing into the bags inner.

    I suspect two things, the bag is simply too big to be used without a parka inside [ for me; others may be very different] and the bag is simply huge and with only just enough fill to give it a full loft.

    I am tempted to take it to a specialised repair shop and have it topped up with another 200 grams of 850FP down.

    Is an extra 200 grams of down going to be enough tho? Good down is expensive but so is the specialised labour of opening it up and then resewing

     

    #3557335
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    Any thoughts on the right amount of overfill to specify?

    After giving the bag another couple of weeks at temperatures in the range -4C to -8C with high humidity I also think that there may be something else going on in addition to underfilling.

    Is it possible that bags for deep cold can only loft to their potential when the temperature drops well below freezing and the air dries out?

    The repair establishment only sells down in 100 gram increments, 100g is slightly less than 10% and I read that 10% is nominally the usual needed amount so I was going to get 200 grams but I do wonder whether I would benefit from more.

    Especially as my sleeping MET is probably half that of the fit and healthy 25YO that the tests are based on

     

    #3557342
    Greg Mihalik
    Spectator

    @greg23

    Locale: Colorado

    Have you considered having the bag’s circumference reduced to match a more typical bag to eliminate the bellows effect and other drafts?

    And yes – as an old guy with a failing furnace it takes a 10°F bag to keep me warm at 30°F.

     

    #3557344
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    Not much point in that if I’d be needing to wear my down clothing inside Greg but as an XXL sort of bloke there isn’t really all that much room around the chest area where it really counts and adding extra down would surely take up some of the excess space?

    #3557967
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    After due consideration and consultation over at Winter Trekkers and then consulting the Minister of War and Finances and checking my bank balance I have decided to go with a 300 gram top-up

    #3558324
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    I dropped the bag off yesterday, the shops owner wants to start with 200 grams and have a look before adding any extra. But my thoughts are that with 150mm tall slanted baffles and 150mm baffle spacing the bag was at least 10% underfilled to start with so adding 300Grams of 800FP down is just going to give it the equivalent of a 10% overfill

    I would have preferred 900FP down but 800 is all that the shop has available

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