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Down sleeping bags

65 posts & 23 voices | Started 1 year ago by Munqe-chick | Latest reply from deadlydarcy

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cynic-al - Member

ahwiles - Member
and am i really the only one who even considers the poor ickle geese?

down makes fur look positively right-on and groovy.

OK I've owned one down bag for about 23 years and just bought another (with probs 1/4 the fill)
In that time I spent 17 years as a pesco/vegetarian.
I eat meat now but not lots of it and I make an effort to buy stuff that's been well treated. I'd estimate I eat 700gm meat per week?
I have always worn leather shoes.

WRT all of the above I reckon the down sleeping bag is pretty small beef (pun intended) in animal cruelty terms...for me it's about balance and the bigger picture.

Are you a vegan?

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Yeah I'm not getting into the animal debate, that wasn't what this thread was about!

Posted 1 year ago #
benman - Member

Responsible manufacturers (i.e any of the big brands) will be using down which is a by-product of the meat industry. The down comes from areas of the world which are big on their goose eating (Hungary in particular...).

Posted 1 year ago #
flatfish - Member

Too many people are making your decision hard.
If, as you say your car camping with a tent an alpkit skyhigh bag will be fine for what you need and will prolly last quite a few years meaning value for money.
My only suggestion then is work out what the lowest temp your likely to camp in is and get a bag 3 deg c-ish colder for men and 5 deg c-ish colder than your estimate for women.
If you find at a later date that your camping in colder conditions a silk liner will effectivley add approx 3-4 deg c to the temp rating of your bag.
Synthetic bags are good but as your going to be in a fairly watertight car there shouldn't much risk of it getting wet so no need for synthetic.
HTH

Posted 1 year ago #
ahwiles - Member

cynic-al - Member

ahwiles - Member

Are you a vegan?

not even nearly, personally i'm not that bothered by fur/down - i don't really like it or need it, so i don't buy it, if others choose to then that's their choice, it's not mine to make for them.

i just mentioned it as a consideration, cos a lot of people don't make the connection.

Responsible manufacturers ... will be using down which is a by-product of the meat industry...

yeah, right... that bird up there was plucked live, and will be again every couple of months, i bet it doesn't hurt at all...

if i was to start climbing mountains, and sleeping in snow holes, and that sort of thing, then a down sleeping bag would be on my shopping list. in that situation the material has a lot to offer.

it's very light, it's very warm, but there's a price - think about it, make a choice.

Posted 1 year ago #
benman - Member

yeah, right... that bird up there was plucked live, and will be again every couple of months, i bet it doesn't hurt at all...

Which is why I said that 'responsible manufacturers' will not use live plucked birds. Most UK outdoor brands will have an ethics policy which will rule out the use of live plucked down.

Noone in the outdoor industry would want to be associated with live plucking nowadays, see the Patagonia response below:

http://www.thegearcaster.com/the_gearcaster/2010/12/patagonia-gets-down-via-live-feather-plucking.html

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Flatfish very concise and helpful, however I would be sleeping in a tent not a car, although can't imagine I'll eb getting soaked, if it rains that hard I'll get in the car with the bikes! Down still suitable?

Posted 1 year ago #
benman - Member

If the bag will only ever be used for car camping / sleeping on mates floors, then I would get a synthetic bag. Water resistant, easy to wash and generally less hassle. (and much cheaper!)

However, if you ever plan to carry the bag, or plan to use it over the winter, then its probably better to get a down one. The down one will last longer too - synthetic insulation loses loft much faster than down.

Whichever one you buy, make sure you store it uncompressed at home. This will extend the life of the bag, and keep its performance high.

Posted 1 year ago #
flatfish - Member

Sorry my fault I meant travelling in the near watertight car then putting into a tent rather than hiking/bike touring etc.

Posted 1 year ago #
flatfish - Member

@benman, why would you need a waterproof bag to sleep on a mates floor?

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Flatfish cool that makes sense!

Posted 1 year ago #
benman - Member

Its not the fact that its waterproof (it isn't anyway, its water resistant), its the fact that its not worth spending £100 on a down bag, just to kip on a mates floor... When a £50 synthetic would do.

What you really need is a synthetic for slumming it, and a down for more serious stuff

Posted 1 year ago #
B.A.Nana - Member

Where abouts in the alps are you going MC?
Some of the valley bases are fairly high up, so you might be pleased to have that warm 3 season bag.
Somewhere like Chamonix is fairly low and quite open, so gets plenty of sun. But, we were in Saas Grund in Switzerland last August, which is at about 1500m. the valley is narrow and so steep sided that Saas grund only got the sun for a few hours each day. I took my old cheap car camping bag and was bloody frozen every night.

If you do buy a down bag, I would definitely recommend using it with a liner or wear baselayers/pyjamas to keep it clean. You can't just stick a down bag in the washer (one of the other advantages of synthetic bags).
TBH most of the year I use a synthetic bag for general car camping (an old ajungilak), didn't prove suitable in Saas Grund in August tho. Down for winter and other stuff ie backpacking etc.

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Not sure yet looking at Chamonix and possibly Pila or Switzerland. MMM down one is sounding more appealing. Oh I'm ALWAYS wrapped up in base layers and pyjamas. I'd probably keep my ancient cheap sleeping bag as I think it was £20 about 8 years ago.

Posted 1 year ago #
robh - Member

Don't think anyone has responded to the comment down would be good to pack small for storage.

Down isn’t the best if kept small for long periods of time, ideally it should be stored lofted, keep the expansion properties and also prevents dampness.

As for the ethical side, benman, good choice picking Patagonia recognised as one of the most ethical companies in the industry, sure they are not all like that.

Saying that I do have down bags and jackets and find them much warmer than the synthetic options I have used, only used relatively cheap synthetic sleeping bags though.

Posted 1 year ago #
B.A.Nana - Member

The Aosta valley (Pila), If you stay at a campsite in Aosta or elsewhere in the low valley, you might find a very warm bag unpleasent. I've camped in Aosta a few times, the campsite we use has lots of tree cover, but you couldn't sleep in beyond 9am, it got so hot in the tent, that one was a particularly nice week in July tho. Same with Chamonix IMO, I've camped in Chamonix when it was very wet and overcast for the whole time (June), but it was never cold.

Posted 1 year ago #
B.A.Nana - Member

BTW I love Aosta and Italy in general, Italian people are really nice and friendly.

Posted 1 year ago #
epicyclo - Member

This article by Andy Kirkpatrick is interesting.

I like down, but as a person who never manages to keep his gear dry...

(Shouldn't go out when it's wet maybe )

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

I've never been to Pila but heard a lot of good things about it, is it good for MTBIng? Should we do Chamonix and Pila then for our hols?

Posted 1 year ago #
flatfish - Member

Alpkit explain it best,

http://www.alpkit.com/spotlight/choosing-a-down-sleeping-bag

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Epicyclo it started of interesting then got completely bored especially with the appalling spelling! would've thought with WORD nowadays someone could have used spell check

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Now that Alpkit article is fair more interesting and to the point! Mr MC laughed at me earlier when I told him I had started this thread .. he's a git

Posted 1 year ago #
epicyclo - Member

Munqe-chick - Member
Epicyclo it started of interesting then got completely bored especially with the appalling spelling!...

I noticed that too, but he's dyslexic so I just ignored the spelling. Certainly tests his gear more than most of us here would dream of trying.

Posted 1 year ago #
thomthumb - Member

haven't read most of this. but a DECENT new synthetic will be a lot better than your old cheap bag.

down seems a bit unnecessary (expensive) for what you need

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Okay so what synthetic would you recommend? As again it is like a minefield and I have no clue where to start.

Posted 1 year ago #
B.A.Nana - Member

I've never been to Pila but heard a lot of good things about it, is it good for MTBIng? Should we do Chamonix and Pila then for our hols?

If that's for me (don't want to appear rude by not answering), I've never gone on a MTB specific trip. We did take MTBs to Chamonix and Aosta a couple of times for bad weather days, but that was in the mid/late 1990's, so then it was just more traditional low level MTBing like you would do in the UK, certainly it never occured to us to use the lifts. I don't think I had suspension forks then, so you can imagine the sort of thing we would be doing. We bought a guidebook in the bike shop in Aosta, being in Italian, it was quite entertaining working out the routes sometimes.
I've also heard good things about Pila, but also that there are only a few days of trails there (unless you are prepared to explore beyond).
Same in Chamonix in 1997, I think I had front suspension then, but we bought a guide and did traditional lower level XC routes. There must be loads of great stuff in and around Chamonix and all quite close together, there's certainly chairlifts all over the place. In the Aosta valley, Beyond Pila, it's all very spread out. It's only a couple of hours drive from Cham to Aosta, there's a big lift station in Aosta IIRC, which will take you up to Pila.

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Mmmmm did i post the Pila stuff in the wrong thread muppet but hey still got a useful response!!!

Posted 1 year ago #
Nick - Member

Mountain Hardware Lamina 35 should fit the bill quite nicely.

Good for 2 deg c, packs down nice and small and is just about 1kg in weight.

I got one as an alternative to my Pipedream 400 for wetter nights, Cotswold were doing them for £45, but the cheapest I can find at the moment are:

http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/mountain-hardwear-lamina-35-reg-pid7243.html

Posted 1 year ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

Nick that's quite useful thanks, if only it was still £45 I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Posted 1 year ago #
deadlydarcy - Member

I have a LifeVenture one I got from GoOutdoors. Really nice bag - toasty when needed. They do a really nice waterproof bag that you can squeeze up for packing and then put a bung in to stop it expanding again. Only takes a few seconds to fluff it back out when getting ready for beddiebyes.

Posted 1 year ago #