Hi, I hope you'll be able to help me with finally settling on a synthetic sleeping bag.
The crux of this post is 'Mountain Equipment Moonwalker III Vs. Mountain Hardwear (not 'Hardware'!!!) Lamina 0'.
My background is hiking and mountains which has always necessitated a lightweight down bag. Now i am preparing to cycle the length of the Americas, for which a synthetic bag is definately preferable. For the range of conditions and temperatures i am going to face i am happy that the most effective and lightest syntheic bags (with the full length zip i favour) will be either the Moonwalker III or Lamina 0 (with perhaps the Mammut Ajungilak Tyin 3-Season hovering in the background). The basis of the indecision is the fact that it seems virtually impossible to find a Moonwalker III in a store to feel and try out. I have tried the Lamina 0 in regular size (198cm long) and at 5'11''1/2 (11.5 stones) found it a perfect fit, although lacking the extra space for potentially freezeable items (which i like). The bag is only 1700g but doesn't stuff down as small as i am used to (my Alpkit Pipedream 800 goes pretty small). The Moonwalker III comes in slightly longer at 212cm and is the same weight, but i have been unable to test out the comfort of the size and how small it will pack.
Do people have any experience with these bags they can share with me? I'm particualry interested in the size and stuff size of the Moonwalker and general performance of them both in cold and warm conditions (there's a few tasty climates between Prudhoe Bay and Ushuaia).
I have no experience of the country/conditions you will be facing, but my experience has been that down bags are comfortable over a wider temperature range than synthetic ones. Just a thought.
You're right. I should clear up that i'm going synthetic as i'll be living in the thing for 18 months and thus want something i can easily wash. Also, i'll be using it repeatedly in potentially prolonged periods of wet conditions, a situation experience has taught me not to take a down bag into. I can afford that little extra weight on a bike and would take it for the increased robustness offered by synthetic bags in the wet.
Most folk that complete the long distance trails in America use down bags without problems, and as Guy says, down is comfortable over a wide range of temperatures. If you can manage a down bag in UK conditions, i'm puzzled as to why you think it will be a problem in the Americas?
I used to have a Mountain Equipment xero 550 and detested the elasticated lining on it. This was particularly annoying when lying on my back when it felt like the elasticated bits were cutting into my legs. The Moonwalker has some similar kind of elasticated lining. If it was me I'd look at the basic Starlight bags. They're a lot cheaper than the Moonlights and don't have any kind of fancy lining.
Synthetics are nowhere near as warm as down. I need about 2kg of synthetic bag to be warm enough in freezing conditions. I'm going for a couple of nights on Saturday and I'm expecting cold conditions so I'm taking a ME Firewalker 1 (1270g), plus a 900g summer synthetic bag as a liner. Two smaller bags pack better than one big bag.
i have a synthetic ajungilak bag weight 2200 gms and a phd down bag weighing 1200 gms------ i would rate them roughly equal for warmth----the ajungilak is slightly wider but both have room for freezable items
