Does anyone know if any brands do a 3 or 4 season sleeping bag without a shiny synthetic lining? I find these feel very cold on the skin, especially around the head, neck and shoulders.
I have an old sleeping bag with a cotton lining that I much prefer, but it is very much reaching the end of its life.
Edit to add: I would consider synthetic or down fill.
You can buy cotton, fleece, pile or silk liners separately. I would really recommend getting one (silk!). They will add 10 degrees of warmth and mean if you are proper honking that you can easily just wash the liner and your sleeping bag stays clean. If it's just for comfort then go with cotton- you can pick them up cheap (I got one down the fun isle in Lidl for £6).
Definitely go for a separate liner. Silk liners are really light for backpacking (and useful on their own in Alpine huts). Cotton liners are best for car camping. My 4 season sleeping bag is now 35 years old and never been washed. I wouldn't want to wash a down bag. My 2 season synthetic bag is 15 years old and likewise. I've one silk and one cotton liner. I wash the liner after every trip. Sorted.
I totally agree about using a liner to keep bags clean but I wouldn't be so averse to washing a down bag. My parents have Blacks Tromso down bags from decades ago and have washed them a good few times in a normal home machine without any issues.
You may struggle a bit with the size of your heavy 4 season bag but it could easily be done in a launderette.
It's an interesting story. I bought a Mountain Equipment Everest bag for a Karakoram expedition in 1982. Four season plus. Two years later I was moving into a flat in Horwich (near Bolton). I didn't own much then so a friend and I offloaded from my car onto the pavement and then upstairs to the flat. In the process my Everest bag disappeared, almost certainly an opportunist theft by a passer-by. I have visions of it providing an extremely snug home to a homeless person in some shop entrance in Bolton.
I also recommend a liner, and having had both cotton and silk, would strongly recommend silk with is a lot lighter, warmer and easier to wash as it dries very quickly.
The other advantage of a liner is that it keeps your sleeping bag a lot cleaner, and less prone to becoming smelly as you can wash the liner regularly.
In my experience with both, a silk liner will make only a very small difference to the warmth, a fleece or pile liner makes a very noticeable improvement which might well amount to 10C.
This, in my experience as well. It is especially noticeable when you are in a not very wind proof tent, as the liner will help keep warm air close to the body.
My Redline pit was bought in 1975 and is still going strong, amazing construction quality! I have Snowline duvet bought the year before but the zip bust on that last winter but the basic coat is still down proof and fluffy. It would be nice to think they are still built to those standards.
Just wear a hoody and sleep with the hoody up. Free liner! Sleeping below even -30C the problem is not the fabric but the cold air on your nose/closed eyes coming through the breathing hole.
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