space.gamer wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:38 pm
I think I'll up my budget on the sleeping bag. Ultimately I can afford to do so and think it would be a good investment to minimise size and weight, as you said. I'll do some Googling on these three. I'm guessing that the most expensive is the "best" but I was curious as to why the comfort is "only" 5C compared to cheaper other branded items. I guess it's purely that compromise of size vs temperature.
There is no universally agreed standard for sleeping bag temperatures. Some manufacturers do quote one eg "ISO EN: Comfort: -2°C (28°F), Limit: -9°C (17°F), Extreme: -27°C (-17°F)".
https://www.snowandrock.com/p/rab-ascen ... colour=108
In my opinion that bag is overkill for your purposes, and too heavy and too bulky.
In theory you could quote a tog rating. But there are so many other variables, manufacturers don't do this. So some quote one or two temeratures like 'comfort' and 'extreme'. Others quote 'typical operating temperature'. Some don't give a temperature. One manufacturer's 'comfort 5°' might be amother manufactuer's 10°. You can look into fill material, fill weight, fill quality (fillpower), inner and outer material, construction (box wall is way better than sewn-through), is it thicker on top.
Different tests, maybe different levels of trustworthiness. I would go with a brand used by most serious backpackers, ie one on ultralightoutdoorgear (or another site used by climbers), plus they are great for info. You don't have to buy it from there.
Down will pack smaller, be warmer and lighter. Yes, it fails if wet. But who gets their sleeping bag wet? Especially as you are getting a 2 skin tent. I would say for your purposes, comfort of 5° is easily good enough IF FROM A REPUTABLE MANUFACTURER. All it means is that if it is 1°, you won't sleep as well, might feel a bit cold. So you wear your winter base layer top, your puffy jacket or fleece, your longjohns and wool hiking socks. I carry thin wool socks as well, plus an old pair of thick ones that stretched, so I can wear all 3.
If you want synthetic, look for Primaloft Gold, it packs small and is warm.
This site will be out of your price range probably, but there is a lot of technical info on this page:
https://www.phdesigns.co.uk/technical-briefings
Here are some other sites
https://www.snowandrock.com/
https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/
Have you thought about cooking gear? I carry a 1.1 litre titanium mug/pot (aluminium is just as good for a gas stove). Inside it is a small gas
canister (NB those prices are excellent!) and a canister-top stove (Soto Windmaster, cheaper ones are available of course, and also remote ones with a tube, which are a bit heavier and bulkier but more stable and easier to shield from the wind). Also I have a plastic canister stabaliser. This would be enough for a few freeze dried back packing meals, I only carry maybe two large meals that can be split using heavy duty stand-up
freezer bags capable of taking boiling water. I also have some long life lifeboat survival ration bars.
At a push, you could strap your sleeping bag onto your rucksack, but it's better inside, squashed down at the bottom. Tent is better outside. Don't store your sleeping bag long term like this, Keep it loose, outside. When bugging out, don't roll it up, just stuff it in loose, then squash it down with other stuff. Rolled up it would take up more space and not fit the sack efficiently. Of course you need to test this first, make sure you can fit everything in. You can buy ultralight dry bags and sack liners. A sack liner is easier to fill efficiently. You can just use plastic rubble bag. Some drybags have valves to get the air out but they still take up more space than using a sack liner and stuffing everything in loose. This is because you always get wasted spaces around bulky items like filled drybags or rolled up sleeping bags.
but ultimately I'd rather pay more for something I like than save £100 on something I'm not happy with.