Western Mountaineering In UK

Sleeping bags from top-end American down specialist Western Mountaineering are now available in the UK giving another option for anyone looking for a high spec sleeping bag.

The California-based company has been producing specialist down equipment for over 38 years and use top spec manufacturing techniques and raw materials. The outer fabrics on their bags are custom-specced for the company and the fill is Polish goose down with a certified EU900+ fill power.

All the shell panels are custom cut with a hot knife so edges are sealed, all parts are double stitched with the stitch separated to minimise down leakage and top and bottom, inside and outside main shell parts are all a single piece of fabric which reduces the number of seams, lowers the weight and reduces down leakage.

The bottom line, say importers Beyond Hope, are that the Western Mountaineering bags 'offer exceptional warmth, weight and durability'. The specifications are certainly impressive, the Ultralight bag, for example, has a fill weight of 450 grammes and a total weight of 820 grammes. Similar lightweight bags use less down but have a higher overall weight, making the WM bag both lighter and warmer.

It's rated at -9˚C for comfort and -27˚C for extreme survival and retails for approximately £325. To put that in perspective, that's around £70 more than a Rab Quantum 400, thought the Western Mountaineering bag has a higher spec and is warmer.

We've seen some of the bags in the flesh and they do ooze quality and look to be a very interesting option for anyone looking for the best warmth to weight ratio in a sleeping bag.

More information at www.westernmountaineering.com and from the UK importers Beyond Hope at www.beyondhope.co.uk.