Hi, I please need recommendations for an UL sleeping bag. 28 day trek, Grabouw to De Hoop. Not sure of temperatures expected, YR says 10C min average but they experienced snow last two years.
Considering one of the following + a Sea to Summit Reactor sleeping bag liner.
Does anybody have experience with any of these bags or can suggest something in a similar price range that weighs in the 500g range? (We need to buy everything UL for this once off trip, and the costs are adding up - trying to make some good choices that wonât break the bank).
There isnât that much science to UL sleeping bags, assuming they donât have sewn through baffles. Itâs the game of fabric weight, fill power and volume. Higher the fill power, the lighter the bag.
Always err on being too warm then too cold. Liners have never really worked for me, very constricting (I sleep in quilts) and donât provide anywhere near the warmth they claim.
I would also check out RockFront and Cumulus.
Also consider your sleeping pad, if the cold is coming through the floor, all sleeping bags will feel cold.
I donât have any experience with either of those two but the numbers on all of k-ways very light bags donât really seem to add up to me.
They arenât using very high fill power down (650-750), and we donât tend towards lighweight low denier fabrics with any of the SA products, so a full bag coming in at 450 grams is either very small/tight (maybe fine for you) or has not a lot of down in it. They also seem to hate posting temp ranges on their site for some reason, the Q&A seems to suggest 10 degrees comfort range. That seems difficult to me, as if we take a quilt like an Enlightened equipment conundrum at 10C with better down, lighter fabric and no hood they are just coming in at that weight.
Aeigismax makes decent bags as far as I understand, thought would look if sizing is going to be an issue.
Bit heavier but the Decathlon Trek MT900 is a great deal, good down, proper temp tests from a company that takes design pretty seriously. Out of the SA stuff that strikes me as a steal, 700G full bag, 800C down comfort range of 10c that is ISO validated.
If you struggle with sleeping bags, I see k-way now makes a quilt. Bit heavy and once again no temp range details, but seems like a nice option to have.
Calypso is very right though, the pad itself does a lot of work on keeping you warm.
Iâve looked at this FZ bag before, my critiques was a nasty tacky inner liner, ie will cling to your skin and, mainly, the baffles are large so the down is poorly controlled meaning itâll move around as you sleep 'n wriggle so youâll end up with cold spots everywhere - down is only as good as the baffleâs control of it.
I wonât advise on particular products as Iâve not looked at bags for a while but will stress that huge investments (as UL requires) tend to have long term use in mind. You might want to consider one of the following routes, seeing as this is âonce offâ trip:
Buy something inexpensive and potentially suffer a bit.
Buy a high quality bag at a steep price and resell after the trip.
You stand a better chance of recouping costs on resale with good equipment than you would with average stuff.
Resale on websites like Vertical Endeavour, ClimbZA and here on HSA.
If I think of a bag thatâll do Iâll post, laterâŚ
when is your trip?
Thanks Carl! I havenât been able to see the Kway bag instock at any store, so glad to get some feedback about it. Sounds like definite skip based on the feedback so far.
The trek starts beginning of November. Weight and packed size is obviously a huge consideration considering all the kit they need to take. It feels like the ones that compress really small isnât really warm enough on its own, and once I find something that has a single digit comfort level (looking at about 6C) then itâs starts getting more bulky again.
The current sleeping pad we have from a previous hike is a First Ascent Comfort Light (R3.9). Itâs bulky though and weighs in at about 950g, so once we have bought everything we will check final weight and may look for something lighter. Any suggestions here are also most welcome.
The mat needs to be as puncture proof as possible and be able to inflate / deflate easily. It is high school kids going on the trek and the obvious concern with an air mattress is leaks. They are not as gentle with their equipment as they should be
I donât think you really get the idea of ultralight. Its generally not durable. If you want puncture proof, rather by a closed cell foam pad. Kids can survive without ultralight gear.
How much of their stuff is being carted by vehicle from camp site to camp site?
By that I mean resupply ie Food and water. And for how many days will they be carrying food/water?
Coz if resupply is often then the kid doesnât need UL, theyâll be fine with a ânormalâ pack weight.
My feeling, @Silverthorn , is that the âit must be ULâ is being forced upon you. To equip UL and not have to suffer along the way as well will financially cripple you. The UL âmovementâ - such as it is - sprang from the USofA where food resupply is done every few days and help is always nearby. Also, good UL equipment in SA is imported, so add some $$$$$ for that.
Otherwise, people who do this style of hiking / mountaineering are very very experienced and have well established tolerance levels for suffering with many many contingency plans. Or they are Rambo and eat dead lizards.
Also, if the kidâs not big look at womanâs sleeping bags, tend to be smaller thus lighter.
Sizes are usually rated as Regular and Large above and below 185cm
Also, @Silverthorn , if I look on the map the hike will be, what 200-250km max? (if they follow the coast). Which comes in at about 9-10km per dayâŚhow far exactly?
I ask coz that is a doddle. Unless the kids are 12yo. Most UL hikers clock between 30-40km/day.
Any down bag weighing 500g, has about 350g down, (whether 800 or more likely 600 fill power) it does not have ability to keep you warm other than in summer. The perfect balance is a 950g sleeping bag which keeps the weight down, but keeps you warm. The are often rated down to 0 deg, but this depends on a lot of things. In reality they are good to about 7 degrees. This is not a brand thing, its a physical thing.
