Crux's New eVent Sleeping Bag

We've just this moment got our grubby little paws on the new Crux Torpedo eVent-shelled sleeping bags which are due out next month, May 2008.

The new Torpedo is, says Crux, 'absolutely for climbers' and essentially is the equivalent of a bivvy bag and a sleeping bag all in one. The outer shell is made using eVent waterproof and breathable fabric with seamless baffle technology keeping outside seams to a minimum, those which there are, are taped.

The down used is top notch EU 850+ fill power stuff from Poland, for exceptional warmth to weight ratios and there's a three-quarter length zip. Vee-tube baffles maximise efficiency and there's a full neck baffle as you'd expect.

Three versions available - the 500 rather down to -10C, the 700 down to -20C and the big daddy Torpedo 900 rated to -30C and aimed squarely at Himalayan use. Weights are1050g, 1250g and 1450g respectively and prices £330, £395 and £450.

It's all very impressive stuff, but we can't help feeling that a water-resistant zip would have made more sense than the standard one fitted plus the conventional sleeping bag hood design means it's never going to be as weather resistant as a stand-alone bivvy bag in wet conditions.

Is the Torpedo and better solution than a sleeping bag / bivvy bag combination? We honestly don't know. Certainly in wet conditions a bivvy bag ought to give more protection, but in snowy alpine mountaineering bivvies, the Torpedo could be an excellent balance between protection and weight saving albeit at a price.

More Crux things at www.crux.uk.com. Apologies for the dreadful pics, in essence it's a big black sleeping bag with a red lining :-)