UKC

Morning all,

hope all is good. Quite sunny here on the south coast.

My daughter is doing D of E in May, we have all her kit except a sleeping bag so looking for recommendations. She’ll need something fairly warm as she runs cold.

Have looked at various Vango bags and all seem much the same. A reasonable budget seems about £50-£70?

Any pointers greatly appreciated.

Den

In reply to Denni:

My daughters have both got a Vango Stratos 250W, which is a women's-specific bag. Slightly different shape to a men's bag and has a fleece-lined foot for extra warmth.

Would recommend if you can still get one, as not a current model. Looks like plenty on eBay well within your budget.

Downside is they are slightly on the bulky side, but not ridiculous if she needs the warmth.

Looks liks the replacement for it is the Stratos Alpha 250s - listed on Cotswolds for £57.50

Another option would be to see what down bag you can pick up on eBay within your budget - lighter to carry, but could be a disaster if it's a wet weekend.

Remind her to have a good hot dinner in the evening.

PS: Vango have a DofE recommended kit page on their website

In reply to LastBoyScout:

For what it's worth I always found the DoE recommended Vango tents (e.g. the Banshee) to be their best value ones, so while I don't know about sleeping bags these days (though I have owned Vango ones and they've been fine) I think I would put some trust in their recommendations and not just consider them stuff they've got a back-hander to put their name behind.

In reply to Denni:

Joe browns/the climbers shop currently have some Mountain Equipment ones half price, £50-£85 depending on model and possibly better than Vango ones?

https://www.climbers-shop.com/facetresultsalt.aspx?facet=camping/sleeping-b...

In reply to Denni:

Thanks for all the replies folks, will have a look around and any more suggestions, please fire away!

In reply to Denni:

I'm a cold sleeper who started out in a less warm bag and I have a couple of suggestions which may help her stay warm and comfy if her bag isn't warm enough for her in the weather conditions at the time. Number 1 is don't let any part of her get very cold - it took me a while to realise that sitting on a rock with no insulation for a while before bedtime led to me getting into a bag with very cold thighs/bum, which never seemed to warm up and didn't help with sleeping. I always use my sleeping pad or sit mat now, keeping those bits insulated before bed. Star jumps before bed help too, but not for the very deep cold brought on by cold sitting. Number 2 - it's not just your sleeping bag that keeps you warm - you can get a bag liner, wear your down coat, you can get e.g. down trousers/socks to complete your outfit. These can help extend the warmth range of your bag. Number 3 -draughts over the top of the bag sometimes seem to steal all your warmth away, put your waterproofs or other layers over your bag if that's happening. I've used my foil blanket for that when it was extreme, although things do get a bit condensationy then. Number 4 - don't wait till you're on expedition to figure out if your bag lets you sleep comfy - test it out in the back garden when you have options eg to nip back in the house for an extra layer. Of course, there's a good chance she'll be warm enough in May, depending where you are, but it's worth thinking about it in advance, just in case, so she has a plan to deal with it if she's cold. I've spent a few miserable nights camping that could have gone better if I hadn't waited till I was half asleep to start formulating my plan!

In reply to LesleyS:

I'm a warm sleeper but would completely agree with this. It's as if the cold penetrates outwards to chill your whole body, never go to bed cold.

My preference is to wear a pair of thermals as pajamas, being tight fitting they don't get tangled in a sleeping bag when you roll over. They also help to protect your arms and shoulders from drafts and can be put on under normal clothing in the evening, so you don't get cold completely undressing immediately before going to bed.

In reply to Denni:

Sleeping bags are a complicated subject that can be gone into in great detail. For DofE you want your bag to be light, cheap, warm and durable the problem is they're conflicting. The weight is key anything to heavy really sucks you should be able to get a bag under 1.5kg with your budget. Warm is slightly more complicated the warmer it is the heavier it is but you don't want to be too cold. In summer a comfort rating of anything less than 5 degrees is enough so between 2 and 3 seasons. A way to make your sleep system warmer is by having a warmer sleeping mat as when you sleep you compress all your insulation which then doesn't insulate so you loose lots of heat to the ground. Durability is difficult to measure but the lighter the bag the less durable for the same quality and warmth. That's a case of just feeling it with your hands and going with reputable companies. examples of bags that match your description are.

OEX Roam 200 Sleeping Bag may want to sleep in her spare set of clothes as it is a little less warm

OEX Fathom EV 300 Sleeping Bag a very nice bag I've seen this in action a few times

mountain equipment nova 2 regular https://www.climbers-shop.com/camping/sleeping-bags/mountain-equipment-wome...

this is all i could find for now

In reply to Denni:

Aside from the sleeping bag, also encourage her to heat water before bed and put it in her water bottle. That then goes inside a sock or buff so it's not going to burn her and then into the sleeping bag with her. makes a huge difference

In reply to Jenny C:

Second this; I slept in a pair of long sleeve M&S thermals camping for years. Add spare thick, woolly socks that are only used for sleeping (or day two) and a woolly hat, however warm it seems in the day. Maybe a spare fleece as well if really cold. I also run cold. And just put your sleepwear on immediately before bed to avoid it getting damp in the evening. Also, perhaps obvious, but not if it's her first time - wet long hair is the thing that makes me most miserable camping so plait it up and avoid that! 

While I get the theory of heating up water before bed, given I've never actually bothered to do it yet I'd be surprised if an exhausted teenager is going to bother tbh.

In reply to Grolin:

I used to call it the sleeping bag trinity, when I worked in an outdoors shop.

Warm / light / cheap - pick 2!

In reply to girlymonkey:

I would have suggested this in my first post, but this is DofE and don't know how happy they'd be about using a stove late at night in the dark.

Alternative plan would be to see how hot the water is in the wash blocks - you could be lucky with a modern camp site.

In reply to Grolin:

the simond mt 500 range are a good deal either the 5 degree or 0 degree bag

In reply to LastBoyScout:

they're getting closer to having all 3

In reply to LastBoyScout:

I have always encouraged my DofE groups to do it. Particularly in May, it will be light pretty late. I usually lurk a little while they are doing it just to watch with the meths (at bronze level in particular)

In reply to LesleyS:  Surely number 1 is a decent mat between the ground and the sleeper? DofE suggest the Vango Trek Pro and I’d be going full length rather than having the short one and cold feet. 

In reply to Denni:

As others have suggested - eBay can be well worth a look.  You have a month or more to play with so keep on dipping in.  You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the Prince Charming but with patience it can work.  I bought both of my last ME down bags from eBay, despite needing extra long ones, which adds greatly to the complexity of searching.

In reply to johnlc:

Yes - I got a nice ME Helium down bag from eBay for a cycle touring trip.

That was after raising a return complaint for another ME down bag that was an absolute wreck when it arrived (missing lots of down, several small holes, etc) - fortunately got my money back on that one.

I'm in 2 minds about looking for a couple of cheap down bags for the kids for a Cubs weekend where they're going to have to carry their stuff, as we're travelling by train. Do already have a lot of sleeping bags, though.