Gear

There are loads, and they don't even have to be from the same manufacturer as long as they share a similar zip, and with YKK coil zips remarkably common this turns out to be fairly simple; all you need is a pair with left and right zips.

So, for example, my wife's Rab Q600 links to my ME Lightline with no particular problems.

Pete.

Hi Andrew,

welcome to the forums.

Several decent brands make left & right zipped versions of their bags. In some cases they aren't intended to be zipped together but you can usually get away with it. Recent designs of mummy bags make this harder as the zips don't tend to be straight anymore; you'll find it easier with the more basic mummy/hybrid bag designs.

For example, I'm pretty sure that Ajungilak (now owned by Mammut) do some of their range in left & right zip options. These could be joined pretty easily IMO. We had a pair of old Ajungilak mummy bags that zipped together quite well but they aren't sold anymore.

For synthetic bags, you could also try Snugpack, Marmot, TNF etc. etc. and see who did L/R versions of their kit.

There are a few things to consider, however. In winter, the advantage of shared warmth can be offset by the fact that an air channel is created between the two sleepers. The top-end brand Nunatak make a down quilt for two with an optional 'tonsil' to counter this effect. Sleeping with quilts is a bit of an art from what I can tell, but these are amongst the best in the world and the weight saving is impressive compared to two standard sleeping bags.

John

Pete,

if you haven't got L & R zips, then you end up with one hood over & one under the sleepers... or did you work out something clever?

Also, if the zips are not the same length or curve significantly (as in many newer designs) I can foresee problems.

John

The clever thing was knowing mine was a LH zip before Roos went shopping for hers, and deliberately bought a RH zip!

I can't remember if the zips are exactly the same length, but they're not far off.  Since the object of zipping together isn't (as you note above) thermal efficiency but just being friendly it isn't completely critical, as long as they're not too far out.  We tend to zip together for a snuggle but undo them when it's time to say goodnight as it's too easy to wake the other up in a joined pair of mummy bags.  With that in mind I expect a curving zip may well not be a huge disaster as there'll generally be enough slack in the rest of the fabric to let you get away with it: as long as the basic zip is the same it will mate with its twin.

Pete.

Blowup mattresses aren't great for insulation as the air can move around enough to make natural convection currents occur - and any movement on top of them causes forced convection. Both of which steal heat from you. Thermarests (the classic kind anyway) have an open cell foam inside that stops the air moving about as much and therefore creates effective insulation. A thicker thermarest should be a lot warmer than an air mattress. A cheaper option would be to line your tent with bog-standard £2 closed cell camping matts. I think they would be most thermally efficient on top of the air mattress but they'd be more practical and still help keep your tent warm if used underneath.

The Nunatak quilt can be manipulated to give one sleeper more insulation than the other. I'm not sure I like the fact that the down can move about so much, but it's sold as a plus! You could use the quilt on top of individual sleeping bags tailored to your different needs and I would have thought that would give you year-round versatility. But at a cost!

John

If I was your g/f, Andrew, I think I'd be looking for a blow-up matress that included insulation, like the Exped Downmat or Synmat, or the Pacific Outdoor Insulmats. With insulation below her, and perhaps a closed-cell karrimat type thing below that, she might be able to dispense with the duvet on top of the mattress.

A nice pair of down sleeping socks (Sea to Summit do them, you can get them mail order through Gogogear in Australia) might also help if she suffers from cold feet.

Definatly ditch the blow up matteres unless its the down filled one Kate recomended.

A good quality down bag and good insulation underneath is the key to keeping warm when winter camping.

The other thing to think about is your tent. The tent is heated mostly by the heat from your bodies which can be suplimented with a gas lantern or a stove.

You cant leave those going all night but to warm the tent at bed time or in the morning before emerging from your sleeping bag they will warm a small tent up quickly and cosily.

If your tent is too big you will never warm it up, also if your tent has too much mesh in the inner you will never warm it up.

Our summer tent is mostly a mesh inner but our winter tent is a Vortex which has minimal ventelation and keeps the heat in so well we have discovered we cant use it when its warm.

We camp alot in winter, we love the cold frosty nights but I never let myself get cold.

Last winter we wild camped on a very chilly night.

Next to us was someone in a single skin tepee.

In the morning our tent was covered in a layer of ice, his was covered in water. So where had all his body heat gone? Ours had stayed inside our tent, his had gone to defrost the ice on his tent.

Well it looks like the Exped mat will be the first investment. I think the down mat may be a little overkill for our needs so will look at the Synmat.

Thanks for all the advice.

Andrew