UKC

Hi,
so me and a friend of mine do a fair bit of backpacking- usually one or two one week trips and many weekends a year. But as we are only students we have quite cheap kit. My next investment on my quest to shed weight will be a sleeping bag. However i dont know anything much about them- other than down is incredibly warm for its weight but doesnt like to get wet!

So I was wondering if anybody could recommend or discuss or link me to an article on sleeping bags for about £100 which are as light as possible (for the cost), as warm as possible (for the cost) and probably not down as I'd rather not constantly be worrying about getting it wet!!

All info much appreciated,
Cheers,
T_K

In reply to tango_kid:

When looking at sleeping bags I try to think of them as having three key aspects. Good price, good warmth and good weight. But you can't have all three of those at the same time. So you can have a warm, light bag but it won't be cheap or a cheap, light bag which won't be warm etc.
For £100 you should be able to get a fairly high-end synthetic bag. Some good synthetics are better than some cheaper down bags and at that price you wouldn't be looking at a decent down bag unless you buy second hand.
Do you have any limits on warmth/weight? I can recommend the Mountain Hardwear Lamina 35 which i use for most of the year. it's rated to about 0 degrees and weighs a little over a kilo and packs down pretty small (although i'm not sure if the new models come with a proper compression sack) it's a little bit over £100 but i've seen quite a few of last year's models on sale for around £70, although i'm not sure if they're still about.

In reply to tango_kid:

I wouldn't worry too much about down getting wet, unless you frequently find your kit soaking through?

I keep mine in a lightweight dry bag (eg the Exped ones) inside my rucsac, which is fine for keeping it dry during the day. If you've got a reasonable tent, it's unlikely to get wet at night unless the weather's truly dreadful?

You perhaps need to take a bit of care to not bring dripping wet jackets into the tent and dump them ontop of your sleeping bag, but that's about it. I sometimes put a lightweight bivvy bag (Rab Survival Zone - though they seem to cost £100 now, so would take you way over budget) over the top if it's likely to get wet (eg snow hole)

But I agree, you'd only get a decent down bag by buying second hand (though you can get some absolute bargains that way - I rarely buy anything new any more, thanks to kids making me worse off than I was as a student). Alpkit would also be worth a look - at bit over budget, and not the lightest of down bags, but a reasonable all round compromise. I know less about the top end synthetics.

In reply to tango_kid:

Maybe take a look at the decathlon range? Cheapish, yeah, but a bit bulky in my experience. Good quality for the price overall I find. I have used them a lot in the past, always have been quite happy with them, even if I find them a bit on the big and heavy side.

In reply to tango_kid:

out of stock at the moment but I'm a big fan of the bags that Alpkit make

Honestly I'd suggest getting a p/t job in Millets/Blacks or Cotswold, other than importing from China it's the only way to get cheap down bags.

I've had a couple of Eurohike Down 500s at £40 a pop (sold at various times for anything between £40 and £130) and they're OK down to about 0 degrees C, but no lower unless you're wearing some seriously warm clothing as well! Weight is 1.2kg.

Cotswold staff get almost trade price, but the hourly wage is shockingly low (trade rates are the only real benefit)

Everyone raves about Alpkit bags for their performance / responsiveness to consumer desires, but the stability of their supply chain against their own brand's quality demands (i.e. a good product at a reasonable price) has always been rubbish, which unfortunately means that they're always out of stock.

Having said that, a cheap 3 season bag with a £13 silk liner (ebay), wear warm dry socks, thermals, and make sure you get a hood and shoulder baffles in the sleeping bag that you tighten up and you should be fine for under £50.

In reply to alexgoodey:

I'm 6'5" so Eurohike or Alpkit are pretty much the only brands I can consider, as both make long bags

In reply to alexgoodey:

Both Rab and ME (and PhDs obviously) make long length bags, although they're not always immediately obvious on many websites. Hard to get a deal price on them though- I bought mine off this site nearly new.

In reply to tango_kid:

Cheers for the replies guys, all noted and added to my research list!! I must say long length bags are not a consideration- indeed shorter bags may be preferable (im like 5'8 ish). With regards to it getting wet, last time we camped the tent did let water in- not a massive amount but my sleeping bag did get wet. We cant afford a new tent. Also, im considering buying a bivvi bag (Alpkit Hunka if anybody wants to discuss that too) and therefore i would imagine wetness is something i wil definately have to contend with.

In reply to tango_kid:

Ok so im now quite interested in the alpkit range, i know that means down but im thinking of using a alpkit bivvi bag with it....would this be a good plan?
What are alpkit bags like?

In reply to tango_kid:

I have an Alpkit PD400 bag for backpacking and I'm very happy with it. It weighs 760g with a 13 litre dry bag I pack it in.

I find it good down to about 4 deg C if I use my silk liner. Cooler conditions just require the use of extra layers of clothing. It is a reasonable snug fit. This helps to keep the weight down and you warmer.

There was a similar spec bag from Mountain Equipment on offer a while back. It would be worth spending some time searching for comparable bags as Alpkit can take a long time to restock.

In reply to tango_kid:

Do you mean inside a tent, or outside for "real" bivvying?

Inside a tent/in snowhole/bothy/cave, you can leave it pretty wide open at the top, and so moisture can escape, and the down won't get damp from the inside. It's a combination I find works well when there's a serious danger of down bag getting wet, but I wouldn't bother most of the time because of the added weight. But that's the great plus - lots of flexibility.

For bivvying in the open, you'd probably want something with a more structured opening.

In reply to tango_kid:

Another vote for the Mountain Hardwear Lamina series. I have the old type Lamina 0. Usually only use it in winter as its really warm. Cost £150 at the time and keeps me warm at -16 with socks on. Just used it last weekend sleeping in the car near Ben Lawers and it was toasty.

In reply to EvanDavies:

Cotswolds are selling the Mountain Hardware Lamina 35 for 60 pounds at the moment.
I would have been interested in an Alpkit sleeping bag as well, but they don't seem to have had any for sale in the past year or so.