Sleeping Bags

ruthtbl wrote: At 2 am it was 10 degrees Celsius, which is 5 degrees warmer than the bag's rating, I was using a thermal liner and thermal underwear (and eventually added my fleece jacket in desperation) and I was still too cold to sleep.

At there's your answer

Rule no 1 of technical sleeping bags (i.e. not Makro specials): if you are cold, take off clothes, don't put more on.

I didn't believe this until I was cold on GT in 2012 and moaned about it. Tony Marshall laughed and asked what I was sleeping in - especially seeing as my Mountain Hardware bag is rated -4 comfort and is a great brand (I didn't think so at the time). I followed his advice and started sleeping in 1 layer of clothing in it and have never had a cold night in it again. When I start feeling cold I take off another layer of clothing.

Somewhere on this thread there is a discussion about the science behind this...

That being said - I was going to buy this exact bag, had 1 look at it and thought I would probably not do well in it. But you never know till you have tried it.

Rule no 1 of technical sleeping bags (i.e. not Makro specials): if you are cold, take off clothes, don't put more on.

Actually, I read your and others views about this exact topic before we left for the hike in December
I started out in the bag wearing only regular underwear and socks, then after maybe 2 hours I put my thermal underwear on, and only at 2 am (many hours after first getting in the bag) did I finally decide that it couldn't get any worse and donned my fleece jacket. I do agree that you shouldn't sleep in too many layers (I would say thermal underwear should be the maximum), but honestly with this bag it was freezing no matter what I did (I also tried doing sit-ups in the bag, eating food and cinching the hood really tight around my face).

Fair enough.

I was seriously considering buying that particular sleeping bag until I checked it in the shop. I tend to not trust equipment - which is a bad thing as it sometimes impacts on how I approach a situation - so I couldn't get myself to trust such a thin sleeping bag.

For me - best value I have ever had from a sleeping bag is my Mountain Hardware Pinole. I have used it in mid summer and in winter. Its 1.4kg and synthetic. Compacts nicely, but is very warm. Its the lightest bag I own (of the 3). I only use my down bag for the escarpment in mid winter, and pretty much only if there is a cold front lurking around - its 4 degrees warmer, but 300g heavier.

For me - best value I have ever had from a sleeping bag is my Mountain Hardware Pinole. I have used it in mid summer and in winter. Its 1.4kg and synthetic. Compacts nicely, but is very warm. Its the lightest bag I own (of the 3). I only use my down bag for the escarpment in mid winter, and pretty much only if there is a cold front lurking around - its 4 degrees warmer, but 300g heavier.

Where did you buy your bag? I emailed Drifters and they do have Mountain Hardware bags, but the down ones (I think they are called Glaciers) are between R4000 and R5000 which is a bit pricey for me. All the synthetic bags I researched were much too heavy, so I stopped looking at synthetic bags after a while. I actually recently bought The North Face Blue Kazoo (possibly overkill, but after my experience I am a tad paranoid) to replace the Adventure Light. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I can say that the hood/cowl design is way more comfortable than any First Ascent or Kway bag I have tried out so far. Anyone have any experience with The North Face Blue Kazoo? (She asks with her heart in her throat as she has now spent all her money...)

I emailed Drifters and they do have Mountain Hardware bags, but the down ones (I think they are called Glaciers) are between R4000 and R5000

Whoops, actually that is my mistake! They stock Mountain EQUIPMENT bags - those are the Glaciers ones I was talking about

Fitness recently got a North Face Bag (I think it was a Gold Kazoo, but it might also be the blue one). He rates it as an awesome bag. He used it last December when we did Walkers Peak.

I got my Pinole for R900 from Bush 'n Bundu in PMB - they buy them in bulk due to 3 of our local private schools doing long winter Berg hikes every year. This bag is their recommended bag for these trips. Or that's the story they told me anyway...

Until tomorrow there is a special on Mountain Mail Order for Mountain Hardware sleeping bags, but they only stock one of the low end ones.

Adventure Inc may also stock them, perhaps email them and ask (you can find their details on their website and they do ship).

I own 2 items of Mountain Hardware gear - my Pinole bag and a windstopper beanie. Both are really top quality, I have been super impressed with them. The beanie isn't marked as waterproof but it basically is. also very warm. I got the beanie for R50 from Adventure Inc on a clearance sale last year - very happy with my purchase!

I use a Mr Price Trail light bag for summer. It's actually turned out great. Rated as a zero degree bag, weighs 1kg and cost R499.

Is this the bag? I paid over R1000 for my First Ascent Adventure Light bag
It is actually great to have a forum like this on which to share equipment experiences, as it is so easy these days to pay huge amounts of money and still not get quality performance.

I wouldn't stress too much about having spent that kind of money on a premium sleeping bag. You can use it as liner bag with a synthetic bag to up the rating of the individual bags e.g. use the K-Way Chamonix/Zermatte as the outer bag and the fA Adventure Light as the inner bag etc. This gives you a variety of options and i.m.o. makes packing your back pack a cinch.

I'm of the opinion that you get what you pay for in terms of quality and reliability. Using a product for what it has been designed for ensures that you get the best out of that particular item. Sleeping bag temperature ratings are highly subjective and how one experiences the same sleeping bag on two different trips with identical conditions may reveal completely different experiences, even for the same individual.