UKC

Hi All,

I'm looking for a decent value sleeping bag for camping in winter use - probably a couple of winter trips to Scotland plus a handful of winter nights in the Lakes and Snowdonia. I'll be hoping to go as and when winter walking in the snow is available, so in colder conditions.

I already have an all round down bag but I sleep cold and anything under minus 2 degrees Celsius and I can get quite cold, even with clothing, a liner and a super warm mat.

Weight and size are not an issue as I don't camp far from the car.

I have my eye on the following two bags;

- Mountain Hardware Lamina Z Torch, synthetic, approx. £155
- Rab Ascent 900, 650 fill power down, approx. £200+

Which of the above would be most suitable? Any others worth looking at around the £200 price mark?

Thanks in advance.

In reply to afx22:

The Rab ascent 900 is a great bag.

In reply to afx22:

Alpkit bags are excellent value for the price - the SkyeHigh 900 is £200 but on pre-order at the moment

In reply to afx22:

Worth looking at

https://summiteerequipment.com/

In reply to afx22:


I've got the newer Torch, and I can confirm it's an extremely warm bag in my few tests so far. I did a 2-nighter with it about a month ago and was extremely warm and toasty.

In reply to afx22:

If you are not fussed about weight and size I'd go synthetic and save yourself some cash over down. Snugpak bags are pretty good, either elite 5 or chrysalis 5 would probably do you good.

In reply to afx22:


In which case I'd just get something relatively cheap and buy a few extra blankets and either inflatable mattress or campbed. Maybe try and get a good rectangular bag as they a far more comfortable.

In reply to Andypeak:

Hi Andy, I've been reading up on the Snugpak bags. I'm not sure they look as good as the Rab or MH - no shoulder baffle for instance. Do you have a view on how they compare?

I never realised they were based in Silsden. It would be good to support a company from Yorkshire.

In reply to LG-Mark:

I already have an old Skyehigh 800 but I've not been impressed with it. To be fair, it's 6 years old now, had some hammer and needs a clean but I'm cold in it at 2 degrees celcius without putting loads of layers on.

In reply to afx22:

I replaced mine with down bags for weight but was pretty impressed with them. I had elite 4 and was perfectly warm in -6 in it.

In reply to afx22:

As someone above says, if size and weight aren't an issue I'd go synthetic. They are better at insulating you from the ground because the insulation doesn't squash down as much as down does, they are better in damp environments (although hydrophobic down is now available), and they are cheap.

In reply to afx22:

I've got a Snugpak Sleeper Extreme, or some such macho name, rated to -7oC, and yes it weighs a ton and is bulky as balls (it's from their basecamp series, so isn't designed to be packable) but would be perfect for car camping.

I carried it up Helvellyn on a two-nighter last February and was glad of it and warm in a fleece and that bag down to -12oC at least. Mine has a neck baffle, though I'm not sure about the fancier lightweight models.