Sleeping Bag advice for a (UK-based) newbie

[Rachel S]

Hi all, I’m relatively new to backpacking light though this site and its forums were a hugely helpful resource for me a couple of years ago when I did my first long(ish) distance hike on my own in the Balkans. Thank you. I didn’t subscribe at the time but have just – as of yesterday – bought myself a subscription and am really excited to finally be able to access members’ only content and participate in the forums.

The reason I’m writing now is that I’m currently preparing for a 10-12 day independent unsupported hike in the mountains of North Macedonia with my husband and the time has finally come to stop lugging around what we call our “festival” sleeping bags i.e. huge,  heavy and not that warm. It’s time to buy a proper lightweight sleeping bag!

But which one? Therein lies the dilemma, and I’m hoping you might be able to advise. In terms of the usual variables, here is where we are at:

<b>Warmth: </b>I sleep cold (Aaron less so) and would like the flexibility to go out hiking in mountains without worrying about safety/being caught out. We’d like to do a little winter camping but most of our hiking/camping will be in 3-season weather and/or in bothies. Having said that, in the mountains, and in Scotland, weather can change quickly and can get chilly quickly – and we do occasionally want to do trips to colder places in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland or in the Alps or Dolomites) in spring or autumn. I think I need either a ‘warm’ 3-season or a ‘light’ 4-season…maybe something in the -2C to -10C range? Does that sound reasonable? I’ll be using it a lot in summer too so the warmer it is, the more important that there is some kind of long zipper/ventilation option for the few nights that are genuinely hot though honestly, I’m hardly ever too hot, even indoors with a big duvet/comforter in summer. I sleep REALLY cold!

Weight vs price: I’m really torn on this. I realise it would be better to have a winter bag and a summer bag, or some combination of bag and quilt for winter…but that’s not in the budget yet. I’d like to get more and more into lightweight backpacking and we are slowly building up towards quality, long-lasting lightweight gear. However, we are not experienced backpackers who are constantly out hiking, so the amount we spend needs to be proportionate to our level of skill and the amount we will use it. What I’m struggling with is that I think a good quality down sleeping bag can be a really long-term investment that will last a decade or more…so should we spend more now to get something really good like a Western Mountaineering bag like MegaLite or UltraLite, or should we get something like a Rab Ascent – much heavier, much lower fill power, but much cheaper…and see how we get on.

This is the biggest dilemma for us! We’d be really hard pushed to spend nearly a grand on sleeping bags…but it also seems a waste to spend half of that (still a huge amount of money) and then not get something that really does the job. Really though we were hoping to spend around £250 not £450 per bag. Anyone got any advice on this tension?

<b>Comfort: </b>I’m a side sleeper and a little overweight so definitely need a bit of room. Marmot and Western Mountaineering (other than the MegaLite) put me off a bit for being narrow. The UltraLite looks amazing except for the narrowness factor. Aaron is slim but doesn’t like the claustrophobic feeling. We have considered quilts but the desire to get something a bit warmer and a hatred of drafts has put us off!

In terms of the rest of the “sleep system”: we already have Alpkit dirtbag sleeping pads. They are not r rated but you can see specs here: https://www.alpkit.com/products/dirtbag We will be sleeping in a tarptent Stratospire 2, with the ‘solid’ inner. We usually bring a tyvek groundsheet too, even though the tent doesn’t technically need it. We don’t have many technical clothes we can wear in bed – Aaron doesn’t even have a down jacket. I have a thin Rab one. We will probably both have a fleece and merino baselayer or something similar. Leggings or something like that on legs. Fleece beanies on head. So clothes won’t be extremely warm.

A lot of the usual US-based recommendations are not available in the UK. Those we’ve looked at that are available include:

• Western Mountaineering UltraLite
• Western Mountaineering MegaLite
• Alpkit PipeDream (probably the 600, for me at least): https://www.alpkit.com/products/pipedream-600#features
• Rab Ascent (not sure which level of warmth): https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/s:sleeping%20bag/int:down/br:rab/
• OEX (does very affordable 4 season sleeping bags- a cheap brand but maybe good enough?): https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/s:sleeping%20bag/int:down/
• Marmot (e.g. Fulcrum Eco 30) – much cheaper than the Phase 30 or Phase 20 and a good brand and good weight by the looks of it: https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/sleeping-bags-c21/sleeping-bags-c88/fulcrum-eco-30-down-sleeping-bag-p11709
• I need to do some more research on these, but some there are some other seemingly good brands available too like Thermarest and Mountain Equipment.

I know PHD does good (but costly!) custom made sleeping bags but I think that’s too much of an investment for us and anyway, we don’t have the time for that. Feathered Friends is not available here.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice, we’d be grateful!

Thanks

Rachel

(PS sorry for a long post!!)

[Edward John M]

So why not UK based Mountain Equipment? Malachowski from Poland also

[Mole J]

Rachel.

At the moment, the best bang for buck for quality bags and quilts in Europe are often considered to be Cumulus.

http://sleepingbags-cumulus.eu/uk/categories/sleeping-bags/down-sleeping-bags

You may have useful input to your question on Trek-lite.com

E.g. this recent thread

Which started as a discussion about quilts, but moved to ladies and sleeping bags suitable for trekking.

 

https://trek-lite.com/index.php?threads/how-do-you-sleep-with-your-quilt.6558/

 

 

 

[Rachel S]

Oh thanks, I didn’t know about trek-lite. Thanks for the brand recommendations…to answer your question Edward – no reason why not – I am just really new to this and most of my online reading has been US-based, so I don’t know much about them (yet). Thanks!

[Rachel S]

@Mole, Cumulus looks great – thanks!

[Mole J]

Glad to help.

Maybe see you there!

[Arek]

Hi Rachel,

Another company to consider is Aura:

https://aurapoland.com/en/16-sleeping-bags

Great bags (the same quality as Cumulus if not better) decently priced.

[Iago Vazquez]

My recommendation is having a -9C bag (my favorite is https://euro.montbell.com/products/disp.php?cat_id=14001&p_id=2321161 because of the adjustable girth) and a summer overquilt purchased large enough to drape in length and width over the bag (I have an Enlighten Equipment Revelation 40F/4C).

With these two bags I have spring, summer and fall covered, from hot climates to colder ones. In winter, I have draped the quilt over the bag and slept warm in temps from -15 to -30C with appropriate winter shelter and layers. At -15 C I just used my baselayers, at -30C I used additional down clothing to supplement. Compared to my two regular companions, I sleep warmer than both (a male and a female).

Additionally, for the occasional winter hiker, you don’t have to deal with the expense of purchasing a dedicated winter bag nor finding a place to store loosely such a huge bag that rarely sees any use.

[Rachel S]

Thanks @iago, this is what we’ve decided to do for all the reasons you list, though I think we’ve gone slightly warmer than you for the main bag (but I am a really cold sleeper. As in…it’s June…and I had the electric blanket on last night). Just ordered Cumulus bags for the main bags – Panyam 600 for me, Mysterious Traveller 700 for Aaron, with opposite side zips so we can occasionally link them up. They are both rated to about -5/-6 C on Cumulus ‘comfort’ ratings but all reviews say that these are very conservative warmth ratings and when you look at the specs you can see that that must be true. I was very impressed with the specs for the price, and also with the customer service. I just phoned Anna and she says she can have the two bags with me in the UK (posted from Poland) within less than a week, in time for our trip, for no extra cost. Impressive!

Thanks all for your help – I’ll try and remember to report back.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I’ve had a WM Megalite for 6 years an it is an excellent bag. I would definitely buy another if it was stolen.

In its original state it has no side baffle so you can shake down from bottom to top or the reverse, depending on the weather.

Howsomever… I did spend one August night on the Pacific Crest Trail at 8,000+ ft. and 26 F. all cinched down to a “blowhole” with all my clothes on and was warm enough (just) to have a good night’s sleep. After that experience I sent the Megalite back to WM for a $45. overfill. What I got back looked like Bibendum, the Michieln man it was so puffy. No more shifting down from top to bottom. It is now easily good to 20 F. With long johns and a light fleece balaclava I’ve slept comfortably at 15 F. inside my  Tarptent Moment DW solo tent.

The great thing is that the Megalite has a large enough girth to permit easily wearing a puffy jacket for more insulation.

I’d recommend the Megalite with an optional down overfill.

 

 

[Edward John M]

Something I picked up here from Roger Caffin.

If you travel as a couple then perhaps you can save combined weight by using the lightest possible down bags that will do most of the work when it isn’t so cold and taking a long a big double size synthetic overquilt for when it is really cold and you need the extra warmth, this overquilt becomes your warm weather sleeping.

To work well the design of a couples quilt is a bit different tho. A sleeve in the bottom which is sized to take your usual sleeping mats rather than a boxed foot Nunatak make a version but the backlog at Nunatak is very long

[Rachel S]

Ah interesting idea, thanks for that. We won’t need a quilt on top of the bags for this next trip as it’s not going to be that cold, so we’ve got a bit longer to decide on what kind of overquilt to buy (and to have delivery). We’re definitely thinking synthetic – maybe a double size would be a good idea. I think we probably travel separately enough that it might become a pain though – as it would then represent ‘extra’ weight for the person travelling on their own.

[Author]

Posts