Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => Gear Questions, Information, Reviews and Competitions => Topic started by: maryclairy on January 01, 2015
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Hi there. I was looking for some advice on a sleeping bag. I'm after the warmest one I can get and smallest packed. Also does anyone know the size (length) of the women's bags? I'm about 5ft 7 but don't like being too restricted with movement. Oh most importantly I have about a maximum of £60. Thanks a lot for any tips and advice
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Ah the old sleeping bag dilema, I believe this must be one of the most difficult purchases to make, just too much choice out there and you feel a bit weird testing them out in the shop, especially when they drag you out of the tent closing time saying you can't stay overnight! ;D
Have a read here http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3743.msg40169#msg40169 it's quite surpising how many people sucessfully use cheap bags.
Down bags are probably out of your price range but some useful info here http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1122.msg9756#msg9756
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Sleeping bags are always a tricky choice and almost impossible to give advice on. My view is that advice is so difficult to give as folks are so different with their needs. I sleep quite warm and can do with a lighter bag, but at least one person on here I know would near freeze out in the same bag as they feel the cold.
Your mention about movement being restricted could mean that many mummy bags are no good for you, but if at 5'7 you are also of a smallish frame then a standard mummy style bag should give you plenty of space inside it. The only real way to answer that one though is for you to go to a store where you can get inside a bag and lie down to see how it feels. Anything below around £150 will be almost identical in shape and size with regards to mummy bags, so you can just try a couple out in your price range then go away and look for something that meets your other requirements.
If this is your first bag then you could get away with some of the cheaper bags on the market in full knowledge you intend to replace it in 12 months or so. I have used some of the cheaper bags, and while they are perfectly fine to use I have noticed issues with durability. Packed size again is tricky to gauge as again folks perspective on such things vary wildly. For me when you get above the 1.6kg mark I think you may as well be lugging a king sized mattress along, but then some folks may think nothing of using the old army bouncing bomb arctic bags. Without knowing the kind of total pack weight you aim for it is hard to suggest.
Having said all that I will throw in my last bag buy to give you an idea of what you can get for the price. I got myself a Vango ultralite 900 recently as I needed a bag for the winter months, it is far bigger and heavier than I like but then I don't use down and wasn't willing to spend hundreds so it forced the size up. Specs are below.
Weight 1.5 kg
Comfort/Limit/Extreme 0 / -6 / -24 °C
Suggested Usage -5 to 18 °C
Performance 3-4 Season
Dimensions
External Length 210cm
Ext Chest Width 75cm
Ext Foot Width 50cm
Fill Weight
Top 2x130g/m²
Base 2x130g/m²
Pack Size
Compressed 23 x 18 cm / 5.9 litres
Zip Left
Normally rrp at around 80-90 but I got a new one on ebay for £68 including p&p.
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I'm like Liam, in that I overheat easily, but I got a sleeping bag from Tesco in a sale, and it's worked really well for me. It has an extreme rating below -10C and I've been comfortable in it in October. It is a mummy style bag and although it's snug, I didn't feel too claustrophobic in it.
It came with it's own stuff sac and while it doesn't pack down ever so small, it works fine for me.
Don't discount the likes of Tesco, especially for a first sleeping bag.
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Thanks for the help. The link to the forum page discussing sleeping bags was very useful. I think I'm going to go for a snugpak chrysalis 3 its smallish pack size, -5 comfort temperature and the option to widen it for more room sells it for me :D found it on sale too! my daughter has a snugpak and she is always toastie. Thanks again
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Unfortunately £60 would be a tough ask for a warm bag that's light and compresses small. Vango have quite a good reputation and you can augment the warmth of a bag with a liner and / or thermals.
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Gelert 3 and half season says its good for ➖ 20oC i paid 23quid for the large one, they do a junior for 17 pound,they come with a compresion sak, ive used mine at 10oC and was well snug:-) i think it weighs 2kg abouts, i love mine and recomend it,
If you want to go cheaper still, check out the Czech army bed roll, its around a tenner from surplus stores and has a waterproof outer and wool iner with cotton liner, you can find it in most army surplus stores, good luck