I’m hopefully doing the WHW in May and need a sleeping bag. I have no knowledge of outdoor kit or brands. I’ve just seen a Rab Ascent 700 on Tiso’ website reduced from £220 to £110. It’s also on the Go Outdoors site for £216, so the Tiso deal looks like a good one. Anyone know if this is a good deal. I don’t want to spend much over £100. Cheers.

That is a very warm sleeping bag for Scotland in May!!

Better too warm than too cold…you can always dangle a let out!

Looks like the kind of sleeping bag I like! But I sleep very cold. It’s a top sleeping bag though, and great value for money at that price…

But why carry a warmer/heavier bag than you need to?

That is a very warm sleeping bag for Scotland in May!!

I have no idea what to look for.

Edit: forgot to say I’m getting kit carried between sites so weight not an issue.

But why carry a warmer/heavier bag than you need to?

This is a good point. If you are carrying everything then what might annoy you even more than the weight is the pack size. If you can find one, a lighter bag might well be the one for you. Unless you get cold really easily at night, which you probably don’t if you’re not concerned about it already

Edit: forgot to say I’m getting kit carried between sites so weight not an issue.

Then fill your boots!! No worries 🙂

I have no idea what to look for.

I’d look for a bag that has a comfort rating around the level where you expect to be sleeping in the coldest place you’re likely to use it. Bags get three ratings: Comfort, which is the level an average sort of person will be comfortable at. Limit of Comfort, which is pretty much what it sounds like, the temp where you’ll start to feel cold, and Extreme, which is the level where the bag will keep you alive, but not in much comfort, it’s a sort of a survival level.

It’s not infallible as some folk sleep warmer or colder than others, but it’s a good start. Down bags have better warmth to weight ratios than synthetics but cost a bit more and need slightly more looking after.

Have a look at the Rab genesis 2, that would do for me pretty much all year round.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/rab-genesis-2-sleeping-bag-p299475

That Rab Genesis 2 weighs a ton, ok it’s cheap but still…

Ohh, I see you’re getting stuff carried for you. Even so.

Mountain Hardware Lamina 35, that’s what I would take in Scotland in May.
It’s a great all round 3 season bag, can be found on offer at Go Outdoors for about 70 quid quite regularly, I got mine in a sale from Cotswold a couple of years ago for £45 8)

Go outdoors have rab ones on sale £40 at the moment look good too.

mountain warehouse do too. genesis 1 £40 2 £50

Can’t tell from your username whether you’re male or female but with regard to comfort levels be aware that on average females sleep colder than males so will require a warmer sleeping bag than males to stay comfortable at the same external temp. My wife’s summer sleeping bag is rated down to -10. If the temp is anywhere near 0 she steals my -20 bag.

Down sleeping bags are more comfortable over a wider rang of temps compared to synthetics. Down sleeping bags generally last longer and are less bulky than synthetics for the same amount of warmth.

Features to look for are neck/shoulder baffles with a drawcord hood as these give you quite a bit of temp control. Zip baffles to prevent cold air coming through the zip and an anti snag strip behind the zip to prevent it snagging the baffles or inside of the sleeping bag. If buying down look for down that’s been treated to make it resistant to moisture also check the material for water resistance. This helps protect the down from moisture which reduces it’s insulating properties. This is less important for synthetic sleeping bags as they’re less affected by water.

Sleeping bags get more expensive as they get warmer, lighter, more compressible, more durable/hard wearing and the number of features they have. You’ll need to choose which of these are important to you and how much you want to pay to select the sleeping bag which is right for you.

Makes with a good reputation are Rab, mountain equipment, north face, mountain hardware, snugpak, mammut.

I use a Mountain Hardwear Lamina 35 from late winter to late autumn and it has been fine almost all the time. The only time I felt cold was when my thermometer read -8 last Easter – for everything else it has been great. I got it about three years ago – the first time Blacks went bust.

I’ve since upgraded to a Cumulus down bag which is lighter but warmer so I think that’s my new all year bag.

There is some very good background info about sleeping bags on the needle sports website

Budget for a quality silk liner for your sleeping bag as well otherwise the inside will soon get grubby. I tend to wear merino longs and top if it’s cold and a hat can make all the difference if you sleep with your head poking out.

I bought a Columbia Moonstone 32f bag with omni-heat reflective lining last year from sport pursuit for less than 50% of the retail price and it is helluva warm for the minuscule pack size (size of a 1ltr bottle), I slept perfectly happy at -6c in it but i do have a good Hayalite Peak Elite AC sleeping pad that insulates me from the ground.

Once you factor in a sleeping pad, silk liner etc then you may go over your budget.

Unless you plan on using it again could you not borrow a sleeping bag from someone?.

Is it just for doing the WHW?

You’ll be blind drunk when you go to bed every night (if you’re not, you’re doing it wrong), so you should be able to sleep in a field in your pants without too much bother.

Have you considered hiring some kit? You can get a 4 season sleeping bag from here for about £30. Then add in a Exped Synmat 7 sleeping mat for about £16 and you’re good to go. A good mat will serve you better than a sleeping bag in May. If you are chilly on top in May you can just throw a jacket over yourself, but if the chill is coming up from the ground, it’s not so easy to quick fix! Also, if you’re not used to sleeping on the ground for 7 nights in a row, you’ll want a comfortable mat, which the Synmat is (i’ve got a couple).

Have fun!

Cheers for the info folks.

You’ll be blind drunk when you go to bed every night

Thats the plan 😉 . Hopefully going to get more use out of the bag than just the WHW so plan to buy a fairly decent one but weight not too much of an issue.

Last time I was looking, Snugpak got all the recommendations- not exactly compact mind. I always have to go up a comfort level or two, never been sure if that’s because I’m just naturally cold, or because the comfort levels are just made up bollocks…

Just been looking at a Snugpack, comfort level down to -15*C. That might just do me fine!

I literally just picked up a rab ascent 700 from go outdoors. Price promised from the tiso website,£110.30. Its a belter. Packs down to the size of an indoor football. Nice and roomy.