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!!)
