UKC

As per title I'm hunting for a Sleeping bag for Scotland in Feb/March. 

Must be large, I'm 6' 4" or 194cm

Must be synthetic, I'm allergic to down.

As warm and as light as you like.  I have spent hours searching the net.  Those that have my attention are:-

ME Nova III XL               -8,   1645g

Robens Ice Fall Pro 900 -5,   1396g

Any experience of these would be greatly received, along with other ideas.

Have you looked at snugpacs?

Some of them, which one do you recommend?

This!

Had various, but most comfortable and durable synthetic by a country mile was Snugpack.  Softie something, but it isn't numbered now!!

Interesting. Back in the 90s Snugpak used to sell Softies by the truckload and invariably you could see the insulation collapse within the first year. Friends who had them said the warmth never recovered. This seemed such a normal occurrence it put me off synthetic sleeping bags for decades, at least for any serious use. Maybe modern synthetic fillings are longer lasting? Hope so.

To the OP - lots of people seem to rate Mountain Hardware Lamina bags. Not tried one myself, but heard a number of good reports!

Surprised by that. Mine must be late 90s and it's still in good nick. Have had a Marmot bag bought long time after that, and it's like a dish rag.

To add to Toby's comment above, the Mountain Hardwear Lamina bags do seem to run quite warm. A friend of mine uses one for winter hammock camping and in the morning when I get out of my nice, warm van to make sure he's still breathing, he is. No idea which model it is but no doubt it will be a warm one. Insulation compression is an issue with hammocks so it must have a good loft robustness.

Another vote for the Mountain Hardwear. My winter bag's the Lamina Z Flame, rated to -6, 1.28kg; not sure if these are still made but there's presumably a successor if not.

My only criticism is that it's a PITA to get back into the compression sack it comes with.

Also surprised, my Snugpak is early 90s vintage and is still too warm unless it's very cold.

If it's a single night, don't neglect the blizzard 3 layer bag as an option with a light summer synthetic bag inside it for "comfort" if you're in the very cold. If you do brave >1 night you might want the summer bag outside the blizzard. Just so you have the complete options...

385g, 7.5 tog and £36.58 https://www.blizzardsurvival.com/shop/blizzard-3-layer-survival-bag/

Have a Google for snugpak softie elite 3 military bag. 6’ 9’’ long and rates to -5.

Ive still got a softie 6 from the early 90’s and it’s fine and had some abuse. 
 

If you couples the bag with a silk liner and light bivi bag( Alpkit Hunka long) it should be good for most situations.

Mines orange, bought a few years ago.

Cant remember the model.

Thanks.  Been having a good look at Snugpak range this evening. 

I already use an Aplit Hunka long Bivi, with my current sleeping bag from Mountain Warehouse, a Summit 250 XL. (-2c and loads of room, but a little heavy for multiday, 1.95kg, as I discovered a few weeks back in the Cairngorms.)

Hi BuzyG, Richard here.

I'm using a budget synthetic OEX EV Fathom 400. This optimistically claims to be a 4 season bag (I would describe it as a 'three and a half'), and I find it very versatile as a 'year round' wild camping bag with the use of a liner/bootees in winter. Seems to be well made, and is cheap too, can be had for £60.

Specs (for what they are worth)

Comfort : -1 deg C

Limit : -8 deg C

Extreme : -26 deg C (this must be some kind of joke, right?)

Weight: 1125g

EDIT - not sure how it would be for someone as tall as you though.

Rab solar eco 4 long

1500g and -10 comfort, possibly a lamina beater

I've had a couple of lamina bags over the years which are great but quite tapered with very little wriggle room so these might be a little roomier, the Rab down bags certainly are 

Definitely. I bought one of these to do the Cowal Way last April. Tested it in the Howgills in March and I nearly died of hypothermia. It was frosty overnight but I had the silk liner (pain in the @rse) and every available stitch of clothes on. I did conclude that my mat wasn't thick enough but even so. In April it was much warmer, even mild, but I still had to have all my clothes on was just about OK. On an August backpack it was fine. I'd personally rate it 2.5 to 3-season, barely. At least it was cheap. I should add I'm not a fatty. Those rating figures are a joke.

I did a wild camp on the Dunnerdale Fells in frosty temperatures in the OEX 400 recently, wearing baselayers, a fleece and some home made fibre pile bootees (my feet feel the cold first), and I was just warm enough. I used a 12mm closed cell foam mat. No idea how cold it was, but it was a cold night - there was ice on the flysheet, and the bottom half of the guylines were frozen solid. I wouldn't describe myself as 'a fatty', but I'm not slim either. 

Definitely not a 4 season bag, in my opinion, but I use it as such with liner/bootees.

Mike's is one of these (I know as I bought it) 

https://ukmcpro.co.uk/products/snugpak-sleeper-expedition-sleeping-bag

Comfort temp -12C limit of -17C. We've used it in frosty conditions in the van and yet to be cold. Pretty bulky but definitely cosy.

Thanks all for your helpful input.  I have just ordered a

Snugpak_Softie_Expansion_3_LH_Zip_Lightweight.  Well priced from absolute snow at £87.95

https://www.absolute-snow.co.uk/V/Snugpak_Softie_Expansion_3_LH_Zip_Lightwe...

Well done! The orange and black Softie was the first proper bag I bought after being sent to OBMS Eskdale and borrowing everything as I owned no kit.

I used it for 10yrs plus, winter trips especially.  My son then took it on and did 5 Ten Tors seasons with it, so maybe 35+ overnights?

Its still in good nick even after all that, and is a bag full of memories (and it doesn't smell like that might sound!!).

The extreme rating is the lowest temperature that a fit man can expect to survive a night at in the bag - i.e. not actually die. Many companies publish them because still it seems most people don't understand that, so it looks good but means nothing helpful.

Indeed - I quote from the Lightwave website - "The extreme limit is a nonsense and best ignored. We really don't see any usefulness in this measure."