Just signed up for the OM site, and this is my inaugural post - so be gentle.. ;) (Or at least humorous!)
I'm having a problem picking out a sleeping bag, as I'm new to the whole camping/backpacking thing, and could use some advice or recommendations.. There are some things I do know however.. 1 - I'm allergic to feathers, so unfortunately it has to be synthetic 2 - I'm 6'2" tall (around 190cm for those who like it metric) and pretty large build (46" shoulders when I'm looking for suit jackets) so I need a pretty roomy bag 3 - Looking for UK camping, late spring to late autumn probably, so 0deg C as a minimum is probably good (i.e. 3 season rather than 4) Lightweight is good for this - looking to travel reasonably unencumbered (cutting weight where I feel coonfident doing so, being fairly new to this)
Another thought I had is to combine a lighter-weight bag (5-10deg) with a silk liner and varying amounts of clothes - is this realistic for non-winter camping in the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales?
I'm afraid I can't help you with recommending a synthetic bag - I've never had one and only know about down models - but I'm sure folk'll be along to help you out with that.
As far as your other idea though, yes definitely, you should be fine with a lighter bag for UK 3-season use with the addition of a liner and clothes when necessary. That's the approach I take as it handles a wider range of temperatures encountered more comfortably and transfers some weight carried into items that are more versatile. Obviously it depends whether you sleep hot or cold but I'd say the temperature guide you're considering is probably about right. My lightest down bag is rated to +5 and I've used it through this winter in the Lakes, down to about -4 on occasion, with a liner and sometimes clothes. In addition the liner saves on needing to wash the bag very often and is far easier to deal with in that respect.
Thanks Matt, It's good to know I'm not totally bonkers thinking about layering extending into sleeping as well as clothing.
I tend to sleep somewhere in the middle I think, thought probably on the warm side of that.. (too much natural insulation I suspect!).
I'd still love to hear from anyone with experience of bag sizes, since I do tend to move about a bit when I sleep so something too small is pretty uncomfortable (I know - bought a bag on impulse last year and it's a bit of a tight fit!).
Unfortunately, I'm guessing most people go for down - as I would if I weren't allergic..
Im 6ft 2" and quite large framed and thrash about like a Wallrus while sleeping( allegidly )
I have always bought vango bags as they offer good length and width. I have a full range of them from the vango voyager 50 light +10deg The Q7 Lite +5deg and an Omega 350 -25 the voyager + the Q7 together offer me a 0 deg bag and the voyager 50 + the Omega give me -30 all three together offer me a - 35deg but would defeat the object of having room to move.
All i would recommend is that you actually get into the bags in the shop do the shoulder baffles up and the hood and then try and reach your feet to simulate scratching that itch that you will inevatibly get one day !!!!!
Oh and By the way Welcome to the nuthouse Dave
( hope your a nicer guy than that Dave Marshall 1.......Joke!!!
have fun and hopefully see you at some wet and windy meet some day)
Thanks for the info Drewski. I'll pop into my local Nevisport and take a look at their Vango bags - I believe they stock the Ultralite II 900 bag which seems to be fairly equivalent to the Q7lite, and at 220cm x 82cm seems to be about as large as they come..!
Cheers, Dave
p.s. I'm sure I'm much nicer than Dave Marshall 1 ;)
Well, in a scene like something out of the twilight zone, I remembered impulse buying a sleeping bag last year for guest use (or for me when the folks stay over). Lo and behold, it turns out to be a Vango Ultralite II 700 - which seems to be, having just tried it out for the first time, just about spot-on sizewise.. (And will be even better once I've lost a few more pounds!) With the addition of a nice cocoon silk liner (already ordered) it should be perfect for outdoor use too for the times of year I'm thinking about right now..
Thanks for the pointers/info - seems I've gotten to the same place twice, totally unawares..
Hmm - maybe I need to consider carefully before I try this navigation thing that everyone gets all excited about?!
