A friend asked me for advice on a winter down sleeping bag for occasional winter use, and while I did recommend him the traditional brands I know and have experience with, he was looking for something cheaper (just very occasional use).
Apart from dubious Chinese imports and knockoffs with unknown sourced down and materials (not recommending that way!), does anybody have some experience with the Simond Makalu (II and III) bags at Decathlon? I tried to steer him to locally made bags with locally sourced down, as a sleeping bag is a long-term purchase anyway, but since the price is quite lower, he was interested in it.
On paper it looks ok, 800cuin 90:10, allegedly "not live plucked" Chinese down, approx. 800g or 1100g fill (II or III versions in size L) but does it work in practice? Does it loose down like many cheaper bags, is the zipper any good, what is the baffles construction, sewing quality and fit?
I could not find any posts about it here either, apart from one older one from Chriss Craggs:
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/gear/need_help_on_sleeping_bags-652323?v=...
Thanks.
