Army Arctic Sleeping Bag. What Karrimore Sabre?

[nutz]

Hi Everyone,

Have just purchased an Army Arctic Sleeping Bag. Great bag and as I get cold easily, it will keeep me snug in the winter. The problem is carrying it. This thing is still huge when packed and compressed. I need a new rucksack anyway and will purchase something from the Karrimore SF range.


My question is what rucksack will comfortably take the sleeping bag leaving sufficient room for normal stuff. I tend to pack lightish but sometimes have to carry extra when the nipper comes with me.


Im thinking 60-100 or even the massive 80-130. Has anyone got either of those bags and can confirm the Arctic bag fits in it before I go wasting my cash.

Cheers

NuTz


P.S. Im a long time lurker and thought i would say hi Anyone else from down here in sunny Medway?

[ocean1975]

Hello nutz,welcome to the forum.I know what you mean about the arctic bag they don't pack down to small and are quite heavy.
But they are warm been down to -2 in mine in just a bivi bag,nice and cosy.you can always strap it to the outside of your bag that's wot
i do if i take a smaller bag.

[andyc54]

yeah its huge i have the 100l snugpak bergan thats for the sleeping bag, hammock,tarp,snugpak underquilt(which is big as well) and warm clothes then the side pouches for food, cook system, water etc its not bursting at the seems but if my daughter was to come she'd be carrying a 40l bag for her self (shes 13) so you would be better with the bigger one as comfort is more important for little ones otherwise they will only be missrable and not want to go again.

all depends what you sleep in ie tent and you'll have to count extra food and sleeping bag plus warm clothes for the nipper.

ps im defianitly not in the light weight camp when on a bushcraft weekend as im never more than a couple of miles from the car

[spoony]

get a brit army bergen bullet proof and will takebthe bag with room to boot, and cheap as chips, i have two,

[sandbag47]

Do what we do in the army..put it in loose i.e out of the compression sack and just stuff it in the top of you kit bag

[nutz]

Lol that's so simple...... I'm off to find the missing brain parts that obviously were not functioning when I was looking at the pack and the stuff sack this morning. Talk about not seeing the obvious.

[sandbag47]

LOL ...And you can use the stuff sack to keep other stuff dry in you pack i.e clothes

[Pandabean]

My pat 58 bag fits into a 60+10 vango (i think thats the make) in the compartment at the bottom. What I have done is buy a simple stuff sack with compression straps. So it still takes up a lot of room but I can at least get that plus hammock,tarp, SP underblanket, cook kit, clothes and food all in the main compartment.

I have been thinking of investing in an alpkit bag for spring to autumn, packs down a lot smaller and weighs at least a kg lighter.

[The Lord Poncho]

You will easily be able to get the bag in its stuff sack in the bottom of a 60-100- i do. That said, i don't use the zip at the bottom of the rucksack to get the sleeping bag in and out. You will still have plenty of room for other things, especially if you add side pockets. As has been said above, some people who have to use these bags in the forces just stuff it into their bergen (inside the overall bergen liner). Often this is done for speed as well- i always find you use up less space if you use the stuff sack (sit on it whilst cinching down the compression strapsto get it the smallest it goes). Personal choice really.

[Squidders]

I prefer my sabre 75 if I am taking my monster Brit army bag.

[Mastino]

Just pertaining to your specific question: given the scalability of both packs I would choose the larger one. 60lt is small anyway and you'll end up around the 80's anyway, in which case the 80-130 is a safe bet....

[Miyagi]

Do what we do in the army..put it in loose i.e out of the compression sack and just stuff it in the top of you kit bag

Seconded, we used to just stamp them into the bergan. A pain the arrse to lug around but worth their weight at cold o'clock in the morning.

Nutz, go for the bigger bag. You'll have the space should you need it, but there is the danger you'll take too much simply because you have the space to.

Liam

[tartanferret]

Can anyone tell me what percentage of a Sabre 75 pack would be taken up by a British army sleeping bag.

Also the Salient rucksack, same question please

(I'm looking to buy a new pack)

thanks !!

[mark g]

I've a similar question for the experienced forces guys. I have a new arctic army sleeping bag (with comp sack). I also have a shortback bergen. The compressed sack will drop into the rucksack with some space around it but that space is only suitable for stuffing loose stuff like clothes etc. This is for leisure use and the short back is no good for me - my mistake - I didn't realise you carry all the weight on your shoulders. If I buy a replacement long back bag then a) will the weight then transfer to the hips and b) the long back is narrower (but taller) and so being narrower will the sleeping bag (in it's comp sack) still go into the rucksack?

If anyone has a new long back that they want to swap for my new shortback then please let me know.

I tried stuffing the bag into the top of the rucksack instead of using the compsack. There's no way that the loose bag was compressed to a smaller size. Since I always seem to have lots of loose bits of clothes to pack in the spaces the use of the comp sack seems the best for me. Am I missing some useful trick or something? If I had to remove the loose bag during the day to get other stuff out of the bag it would be a real pain in the a***.

Can anyone comment on the ultimax 135 lt bergen from webtex. Do these provide definite weight transfer to the hips?

Thanks to anyone who can offer a bit of advice.

Cheers

Mark

[Dr Onion]

I have a longback bergen with an arctic bag too - the bag does fit quite snugly into the bag but is by no means tight (I use the aforementioned trick of sitting on the compression sack to get it as small as possible).

I find the longback to be more than suitable for load carrying over distance (max I've carried a full bag is about 10 miles) with no significant strain on my back, neck or shoulders. Although the bag does still sit above the hips, the "waist" belt cinches tight enough around my paunch that weight is distributed quite nicely I think I've been quite lucky as I was told by the chaps on here that these bags do not suit everyone.

Hope this helps

Dr O

[Teepee]

I have a huge Wiggy's -20F Ultima bag for the serious winter stuff, and I'm carrying it in a Sabre 130. I find that it takes up less pack room if I stuff it down the bottom of the pack than in the compression sack. The weight of my gear on top squashes it down into all the corners. It needs some pushing to get in into place, but it's still less effort than putting it into the comp sack

I use this method for down bags, it works just as well with the big synth bags IMO.

Having a sleeping bag rammed in the top all the time would do my head in when I wanted something out and had to re-pack it every time.