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Price:
£300
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Weight: 1.19kg
(excluding gas)
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Features: 800 fill power down insulation, waterproof Pertex Endurance outer at the head and food, 20 denier ripstop nylon outer, polyester 22 denier microfibre lining, baffle wall construction, hood with drawcord, half zip with baffle, insulated neck collar with draw cord, mummy shape, trapezoidal food box, warm to 0 degrees Fahrenheit / -17 degrees Celsuis.
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What's It
For?
As the name suggests, GoLite specialise in lightweight hiking gear that ditches all the kilos from your backpack that Christmas has failed to ditch from your waistline.
Their Adrenaline zero sleeping bag combines this lightweight ethos with plenty of insulation. It's an uber warm bag for high altitude, and rather chilly, expeditions, or just for those of us who sleep cold in winter. There are also 20 and 40 degree Fahrenheit versions (that's minus 7 and 4 degrees Celsius) that use the same technology if the Zero sounds like it has more insulation than you're likely to need.
The version we tested was female-specific, so it's slightly shorter than the men's versions and better adapted to a woman's body shape. That means you lose the excess insulation that would otherwise be wafting around, taking up unnecessary space and weight in your pack.
The Techy
Bits
Down is the warmest fabric on the market per gram of weight, so it's no surprise these low weight, high warmth sleeping bags are stuffed with it. If you're new to the world of down ratings then you should know that the higher the number, the warmer the insulation, and 800 fill power is pretty much top notch. In this case it also helps that it's Eastern European down which is widely accepted as the best.
On the down side - oops, we've probably used that joke before - down doesn't like getting wet. GoLite have avoided putting it in a waterproof outer to save on weight, but what they have done is to use waterproof fabric around the head and foot of the bag. So if you only have a three-quarter length inflatable mattress, or you end up swiping some of the condensation off the head or foot of the tent in the night, you won't end up with soggy insulation.
The other techy bit is the baffle wall construction. It's the alternative to holding the down in place by stitching through the sleeping bag at regular intervals and dividing it into pockets, which leaves you with cold spots around the stitching. Baffle wall construction helps to keep the warmth evenly spread around the bag.
How It
Performs
We took this bag into the Himalayas and watched the ice forming on the tea house windows - and a fair few other trekkers looking somewhat chilly - while we lay inside it. There was a problem - we were a bit hot.
We didn't get right down to minus 17 degrees, which is the temperature rating of the bag, but we were sleeping in temperatures well below freezing, so we're happy to believe that the Adrenaline 0 keeps you as warm as it says it does.
At the same time, it weighed very little during the day, and packed down small enough that we could fit it - and the rest of our gear for a 16 day trek - into a 35 litre rucksack. Basically, it's far from cumbersome.
So far so good on the two main features - warmth and weight. Now down to the details …
On the whole, we're pretty happy with the fabrics. The lining is soft on your skin, the outer may look delicate but it hasn't shown any signs of ripping on its (substantial) travels so far, and the waterproofing around the head and foot seems like a good idea. It won't help if you roll off your sleeping mat in the night - beware soggy down in that scenario - but if you're going to add the extra weight of waterproof fabric anywhere then the head and the foot seems like a good place to do it.
We also thought that the zip down to the waist, instead of right down to the feet, was a good way of saving weight without making it difficult to get in or out. The only issue here is one of flexibility. If you're starting a trek at low altitude, where the temperatures are pretty mild, then unfortunately you can't unzip the sleeping bag completely and just use it as a duvet. Either you're inside the sleeping bag or you're out of it completely. This means it isn't as versatile as it could be.
We got round this problem by using a silk sleeping bag liner and partly covering ourselves with the sleeping bag when the nights were warm, and then jumping inside when we climbed to higher altitudes, whidh worked fine.
The only other slight issue is that GoLite have paid so much attention to detail - and have gone to such an effort to save the extra gram wherever possible - that the adjustment cords on the neck baffle and the hood can be slightly fiddly if you don't' a pianist's delicate fingers. They're far from inoperable though.
Finally, price. Sleeping bags are either light and warm or they're cheap; not both. This one will certainly lighten your wallet, but no more than other sleeping bags of comparable warmth and weight. If you're venturing to extgreme northern (or southern) latitudes, or you're climbing high, then it may well be worth the price.
The Adrenaline 0 is a cosy choice if you're going to be sleeping above the snow line. It uses the best quality materials, the women's specific cut means that you don't carry any more fabric than you need to, and GoLite have taken the knife to every spare gram they can find. Best of all, it's seriously warm..
If most of your trekking is in Britain then this is likely to be a warmer bag than you need, but the plus side is that the Adrenaline series includes a 20 degree and 40 degree (F) version, and if the 0 degree option is anything to go by, they're both likely to be good buys too.
One word of warning: GoLite is an American brand (beware the sliding exchange rate with the dollar!) and it's not the easiest gear to get hold of in the UK. That said, it's not exactly difficult to get hold of either, with plenty of independent retailers supplying it, so if your first port of call draws a blank, look elsewhere and you're bound to bag your bag eventually:-)
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 Warm, light and warm again.
 Not ideal for a trek through a range of altitudes.
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