Sleeping bag on a budget

[BillyBlade]

You could always use two bags?

Spring and summer, I use a Snugpak Elite 3. Autumn and winter, I use a Marmot Lithium. Both pack down to the same small size and light weight.

Something to think about?

 

[stu1979uk]

"I'm like a kid in a candy shop"
Think about what you'll actually use and try not to fall into the trap of buying gear for the sake of buying it because you dont have one or it looks cool. I have too much kit lying around and Im sure every one here will be the same to a degree.

I like Paul Kirtley's blog with good practical advice such as his kit article
http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/bushcraft-camping-equipment/

Side tracked a bit there but good luck with hunting for a new bag

 

[Old Bones]

I do need a compact bag

The saying goes - you can have it cheap, you can have it light, and you can have it durable - and if your lucky, you can get two out of the three.
Surplus bags are relatively cheap, but they are huge. More expensive down bags are lovely, warm and pack down very small, but are potentially about ten times the price. You said you were looking for a bag which could be used in a Scottish Autumn, but compact to be used backpacking. I dont think you can reconcile the two - for Scotland your going to need probably four seasons, but backpacking you might need just two. Someone else had the idea of having more than one bag, and thats makes sense.

Ged expressed perfectly the problem with sleeping bag temps - they are more often a guess than something based on reality, and of course everyone sleeps different - your O Degree bag might be cold to you, but far too hot for someone else, whilst sleeping in the same tent. Highlander used to do a bag which Endicotts (when they stocked them) reckoned was at least 7 degrees less 'warm' than Highlander said it was, and we all sleep different, so its even less clear.

I've had a Snugpak Osprey 12 for over 20 years, and its a decent bag, but the temp rating has always been optimistic. Synthetic is cheaper (and there is much less of a gap than 20 yeasr ago - expect to add a £100 these days), but down is much smaller. Unfortunately, there is no sweet spot between synthetic and down - just a jump of about £100, but you go from a good synthetic for Scotland (Mountain Hardwear Laminina 20 - minus 12 for £135 with a 1.4kg weight) to the MH Ratio 15 - with a minus 11 rating but a 1.13kg weight. There is a sweet spot for synthetic, and its probably nearer £110 than it is £40. The Vango Startos and ME Starlight III have one degree in temp rating (minus 6 to minus 7), but one is 2.2kg for £45, whilst the other is 1.75kg and is £110.

Keep the Snugpak for travelling, but go to your local Cotswolds, and join their Explorer card scheme (you get 10% the first time you use the card). You get their catalogue free (OK - you could grab one anyway, but why be embarrassed?), and you can see what sort of bulk, etc costs what and how warm it should be (the tests they do on the main brands are a bit more reliable) - and actually look at the bags in the shop.

Then you can make a better selection. There are a whole load of excellent suggests here, but they might not be right for you. The army bag will do Scotland, but its not going to be light or small - but for £40 you could do a lot worse. I'd buy a copy of Kristin Hostetter's Dont Forget the Duct Tape' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Forget...qid=1405717567&sr=8-2&keywords=duct+tape+dont Excellent advice on repairing, washing and maintaining kit (a washed and lofted bag is going to warmed than a compacted and dirty one -and if your buying surplus...), and if you go for new and used, you can get one for a penny, plus £2.80 postage.

Also keep checking Outdoor Magic's Bargain thread - lots of stuff comes up which might fit within your budget, but would have been normally much more expensive and better than normal. There are also lots of similar discussions about sleeping bags on OM, such as this one : http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/gear/recommend-me-a-synethetic-sleeping-bag/36645.html

 

[ged]

can I ask which bags you use please ?

Sorry for the delay in replying, I didn't get a forum email about this post (which is a bit unusual but not unheard of).

I use several different bags, it depends on what I'm doing and where. They're all synthetic, washable.

My lightest bags are the tropical types, I have an ex-army one that was given to me with a load of other surplus stuff, and a one-season thing that I picked up in Oxfam for a couple of quid.
I'd use one of them in a bivvy bag if I was touring on the bike in the warmer parts of the world in summer, or if I was doing a long run and expected to break the journey overnight.

I have a polyester bag liner kicking around somewhere and it's useful for an extra couple of degrees but I don't rely on it. Another charity shop find, unopened in its little stuff-sack, again a couple of quid.

My medium bag is a Coleman mummy style which is about ten or fifteen years old now. It was originally alleged to be good for minus 18C but I never believed that for a moment. I'd call it three season now and I'd use it in an issue MVP bivvy in mild winter weather like in the UK. It weighs just under two kilos.
I don't know what a similar bag to the coleman would cost nowadays, I won't guess as I could be way out. Back then it was well over 100 quid. You can pick up an excellent used issue bivvy for thirty quid and they are first class bits of kit.

My cold weather bags are a Jerven bag ('Thermo Extreme') which I often use with the Coleman bag inside it, and the US Army cold weather gear that I mentioned earlier which is two sleeping bags and a MVP bivvy cover that all nest nicely together. Mummy style.

Either of the cold weather setups will cope with severe cold but the Jerven bag is more flexible than the US Army bivvy and I tend to prefer it for short trips where I'm not going to spend much time setting up.
They're both on the expensive side, and a bit bulky. The US Army thing is very bulky and probably weighs about five kilos. My electronic balance is bust at the moment or I'd weigh it.

If I'm going to be able to get properly settled then the US Army gear suits me better - although it's not so roomy as the Jerven bag and I do like having some legroom. The Jerven bag doesn't breathe like the bivvies so it needs regular airing.

Finally I have an old (Czech?) Army bedroll which I really rate for mild weather. It's a rectangular nylon cover with a blanket and sheet folded into it and held in place with buttons. The cover has a zip and it's waterproofed on the bottom. It's heavy. I use it at home.
It was with another job lot of surplus stuff, didn't really cost me anything. Actually I lied when I said they're all synthetic, the sheet in the bedroll is cotton.

Does that help?

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Mountain warehouse and Blacks have end of season sales on at the mo. Sadly end of season means end of summer but...

[video=youtube;SJUhlRoBL8M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpag e&v=SJUhlRoBL8M#t=24[/video]

 

[Old Bones]

Dave-the-Rave: Judging by todays weather, summer is still with us...but the song is always good!

Blacks are having a sale, and although most of it is cheap bulky stuff (for their key Festival going demographic), they do have a Marmot Trestles 15 for £100 or a Mountain Hardware Laminia 20 for £110 - normally about £125-135. Looking at their temp ratings, they could be anything from 2-4 seasons, but there you are. Blacks is an odd company - you can sometimes get good deals because they realy are not sure what their doing, and stuff falls through the cracks. Avoid Mountain Warehouse - I vented my spleen about them on a thread a while back - trust me, a good deal is not part of their business model.

Could go for this 4 season bag though:
http://www.outdoorkit.co.uk/product.php?product_id=3403&category_id=51 - MH Starlight IV for £102, normally £120. Not bad at all for Scotland.

 

[Juv2112]

I bought the Laminia 20 from Blacks as I plan on mostly using it at over 300m elevation, ott for lowland summer I know but I sleep cold and can try to use it as a quilt. I've always used a liner with bags so I'll get a warmer one incase the bag is too much and just use that.For car camping I've always just grabbed pillows and quilt off my bed.

I agree with Old Bones about Mountain Warehouse, they seem ok (if a little expensive) for festival gear, but their 'technical' stuff is quite pricey and doesn't seem that technical.

 

[northumbrian]

Sorry for the delay in replying, I didn't get a forum email about this post (which is a bit unusual but not unheard of).

I use several different bags, it depends on what I'm doing and where. They're all synthetic, washable.

My lightest bags are the tropical types, I have an ex-army one that was given to me with a load of other surplus stuff, and a one-season thing that I picked up in Oxfam for a couple of quid.
I'd use one of them in a bivvy bag if I was touring on the bike in the warmer parts of the world in summer, or if I was doing a long run and expected to break the journey overnight.

I have a polyester bag liner kicking around somewhere and it's useful for an extra couple of degrees but I don't rely on it. Another charity shop find, unopened in its little stuff-sack, again a couple of quid.

My medium bag is a Coleman mummy style which is about ten or fifteen years old now. It was originally alleged to be good for minus 18C but I never believed that for a moment. I'd call it three season now and I'd use it in an issue MVP bivvy in mild winter weather like in the UK. It weighs just under two kilos.
I don't know what a similar bag to the coleman would cost nowadays, I won't guess as I could be way out. Back then it was well over 100 quid. You can pick up an excellent used issue bivvy for thirty quid and they are first class bits of kit.

My cold weather bags are a Jerven bag ('Thermo Extreme') which I often use with the Coleman bag inside it, and the US Army cold weather gear that I mentioned earlier which is two sleeping bags and a MVP bivvy cover that all nest nicely together. Mummy style.

Either of the cold weather setups will cope with severe cold but the Jerven bag is more flexible than the US Army bivvy and I tend to prefer it for short trips where I'm not going to spend much time setting up.
They're both on the expensive side, and a bit bulky. The US Army thing is very bulky and probably weighs about five kilos. My electronic balance is bust at the moment or I'd weigh it.

If I'm going to be able to get properly settled then the US Army gear suits me better - although it's not so roomy as the Jerven bag and I do like having some legroom. The Jerven bag doesn't breathe like the bivvies so it needs regular airing.

Finally I have an old (Czech?) Army bedroll which I really rate for mild weather. It's a rectangular nylon cover with a blanket and sheet folded into it and held in place with buttons. The cover has a zip and it's waterproofed on the bottom. It's heavy. I use it at home.
It was with another job lot of surplus stuff, didn't really cost me anything. Actually I lied when I said they're all synthetic, the sheet in the bedroll is cotton.

Does that help?

That's brilliant mate, cheers.
Ive got one of those Czech bedrolls to and also a soldier 95 bag which I have no idea how cold it will go .

cheers Andrew.

 

[cranmere]

We just take the duvet. Actually I've pretty much gone over to using a quilt rather than a bag now, I find them just as warm when used with a good mat and much more comfortable.

 

[tom.moran]

But duvets are massive, fine if camping 10ft from the car but if carry any distance a right pain

 

[cranmere]

That depends on the duvet. My camp quilt however is both small and light.

 

[tom.moran]

Is it comparable.to a bag? If it is I'd like to see one,I may be coverted

 

[cranmere]

Is it comparable.to a bag? If it is I'd like to see one,I may be coverted

There are several camping quilts on the market, I find them as warm as a bag, and I sleep cold. I made mine using light nylon fabric and wadding from the craft shop, I'm considering doing another one from my very old down sleeping bag since many of the internal baffles have split.

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

Get a Vango Nitestar 250, they are 3 season, very comfortable, very tough, only about £30 and most importantly green!!!!:Wow: