I have been using a very cheap sleeping bag from Dunhelm Mills - cost me £10 with fleece blankets when its cold. This weekend the zip broke so I went to the local town and bought from Millets a Eurohike £20 bag which promised to keep me one in temperatures of -7 C. It didn't. The evening was cold about 8C and I was freezing. I was wearing normal pyjamas not thermals.
What do other people do, should I buy a really good sleeping bag (which could get too warm in the summer) or stick with my cheap one and wear more to bed?
I sleep on a luxury thermarest so need quite a bit underneath as well as on top. ( I hate air beds so won't change my thermarest)
the ratings on bags are to be used only as a rough guide. Bags usualy have two ratings a comfort and extreme.
The comfort is the rating is the lowest temperature that you will be comfortable in. the extreme rating is the temperature at which the bag will stop you getting hyperthermia.
If you are going to use the bag in the uk, Always go for the warmest bag you can afford you can always leave the bag unzipped or sleep with just a blanket in very hot weather,
Most high rating synthetic bags will do a fairly good job, I have eurohike 400 bags they seem adaquete for me in most conditions, they have an extreme rating of -12. I always take fleece blankets as well though, i always wear a hat in the winter as this is were you loose most of your heat.
If you really wanted to splash out you could by a goose down bag, extremely warm and comfy but will set you back close to £100
Thanks for your tips mine is a Eurohike 200, sounds as if yours is warmer
I did once buy a Goosdown sleeping bag in New Zealand while trekking there in the Autumn and it kept me very warm, a few years later I went to Alaska in the spring and the down just soaked up every thing in the atmosphere - which in Alaska is permanent rain/snow. Also the down sleeping bag is impossible to wash and the feathers all clog up.
I think my next birthday present maybe a new better sleeping bag. I'll just pray that this summer (in Scotland) will be warm - who am I kidding! The forecast for next week in Fort William is rain, rainy and rain sometimes!
If you have a luxury thermarest you shouldnt need any extra insulation under you as it will provide far more insulation than the compressed sleeping bag can ever do.
I would not trust any bag that sells for £20 to keep me warm at -7! it is an impossible claim even with thermals :) The 'best' sleeping bag is one that is suited to your purpose. Quite frankly I would ignore the extreme rating, it is a guide to which temperature you should be able to survive the night (without sleep and probably experiencing a high degree of discomfort) and nothing more. If you are female you should also subtract anything from 2 to 5 degrees from the comfort rating.
Synthetic bags are easy to look after and clean than down bags, but they will be heavier and physicaly larger for the same comfort rating. (a down bag may be 1.2kg for -5 and a synthetic bag 2.2kg for -5 for example).
Some people do not like the feel of nylon next to their skin in which case you should look for a cotton inner (or sleeping bag liner). If you will be in a damp climate synthetic would be the safest choice, but you can also get down bags with a special coating on the outer to stop the bag soaking up moisture.
If your bag is only for the summer hols i would go for a bag with a comfort rating of around +5. Spring/autumn -5, winter -12 - -20. Compare the different makes, there is a large difference between what RAB would define as -5 comfort and what Argos would define as -5 comfort.
Quote: Originally posted by jsdavies on 18/07/2005
I did once buy a Goosdown sleeping bag in New Zealand while trekking there in the Autumn and it kept me very warm, a few years later I went to Alaska in the spring and the down just soaked up every thing in the atmosphere - which in Alaska is permanent rain/snow. Also the down sleeping bag is impossible to wash and the feathers all clog up.
For sure down bags need a more care in use to avoid getting them too damp or wet and in some conditions an artificial bag can be better (i.e. very damp conditions) but for warmth, reliabilty and long life down bags are in a different league to artificial fibre bags but are unfortunatly significantly more expensive.
Quote: Originally posted by jsdavies on 18/07/2005
What do other people do, should I buy a really good sleeping bag (which could get too warm in the summer) or stick with my cheap one and wear more to bed?
You need a choice of bags to cope with the variety of British conditions.
If your car camping and not carrying the bags on your back this is not too much of a problem, since modern artificial fibre bage are very cheap, although they are heavy and bulky to pack.
For summer conditions a filling density of 250 or 300 grams per square metre (gms) ought to be adequate, but if your camping from March onwards then you may need 500gms.
But people vary so much in what they need to stay warm, so you really have to try out bags of varying warmths to see what suits your own preferance.
We have 350gm sleeping bags and had a few bad nights when the temperature dropped - we were frozen stiff in them. We borrowed a couple of old rectangle sleeping bags from a relative who lived in the area and put our mummy bags inside these. it was absolutely great - snug as bugs in rugs.
So when we got home we went out and bought some cheap bags just for this purpose. They are in stuff bags so don't take up much space in the car. If not needed on warmer nights when our own bags are adequate it's no problem to leave them off. Hope this is useful - definately a more cost effective option but works great!
We use Vango 350s and have never been cold...even in October and January..We always zip them together so benefit from the each others body heat too...No liners, or extra quilts under or over us...However we did use roll mats under the air bed.
My wife and I use Ajungilak Kompakt sleep bags which we've found ideal for UK conditions. Warm enough for 3-season use, not too warm in summer, light enough and pack small enough for backpacking. Not cheap at £100 or so, but good value as we've been using ours for several years with no problems. We use the 3/4 length ultralight thermarests as well, and they are excellent.
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Topic: Which are the best sleeping bags?
