My old synthetic bag is well and truly past it, so time to invest in something new. I’m thinking:

Down
3-4 season
Around the £200 mark
I’m about 6ft so maybe a long?

I’ve been looking at a few on the Cotswold website as they’ve got 20% off bags until Monday (unsure if I can also use BMC discount on top) and they have a few which caught my eye. There’s a ME Helium 600 which looks OK, a Deuter one which looks good and is massively discounted, and then there’s the omnipresent Alpkit stuff, but who knows when it’ll be in stock.

I’m not hugely bothered about weight, it’s not a priority, but it is a consideration for hiking and the like.

Wife has a lovely Rab Neutrino bag which we got a few years ago at a factory sale for peanuts, but we’ve never had the same luck since. She’s getting fed up of me borrowing it 🙄

Thanks in advance

The down in the ME bag is better than the Deuter, although I’d recommend getting inside the bag to check the size (not only length but internal diameter) is enough.

Some of the mountain hardware bags are quite nice too.

3-4 season is a serious bag. Do you really need it?

I sleep very warm and had a 3 season NF down bag, never zipped it up, gave it to the Mrs.

I bought a 1 season Rab which is warm enough for me, I slept in a fleece one October night in the Lakes.

Despite the ratings, I always think a down bag is warmer.

And sorry but I would recommend a Rab.

rab-neutrino-endurance-200

I was also going to suggest Mountain Hardware. Something from the Phantom range that suits your temperature requirements. I’ve been using a Phantom 32 all winter, supplemented by a silk liner – for cleanliness really – and additional clothing if necessary. That’s in a bivvy bag which tends to be colder than a small tent.

When I’ve borrowed Wife’s bag in the past I’ve been ok in it just in me keks through pretty cold nights and never really overheated, but my thinking was 3 season so I can chuck on an extra layer/liner if it’s really cold and open it up if it’s warm.

I’m pretty skinny so most bags should be wide enough…ideally will pop into a store though to check.

Rock + Run – Rab Neutrino XL

I will suggest to choose between Rab and ME bags. I’ve used both of them and these arevery good to go.

Mountain Equipment’s just redesigned its entire range, with better down distribution and detail design wiht some really nice touches like a magnetic neck baffle fastener etc. Really well thought out, but that or Rab’s Neutrino stuff are both good.

its a pity Alpkit supply lines can be so lumpy as their Skyhigh is the comfiest sleep Ive ever had in a bag.

SkyeHigh 500

great price too.

I’m another one who would buy Rab or ME (PHD if I had the money), although my approach would be a bit different, I’d buy the Rab 200 above^ or the ME Helium250 and add a down jacket for season 4 which makes for a much more versatile system. As above, I wear tomorrows clean baselayers and beannie to keep the bag clean for as long as poss (can’t stand liners).

Is it the tangledy-up thing when you get up in the middle of the night to go for a pee? 😆

It’s certainly the tangledy-up thing. 🙂

Brilliant advice guys, thanks.

I’m currently resting on the ME Helium 400, looks bang on for what I want. Although the Neutrino 400 would be nice, it’s hard to justify the extra £100+ on the price at the moment.

I’m not a huge fan of sleeping in Base layers (though does seem like a good plan for keeping it cleanish) and the bag will be coming up Mt. Meru this summer, so I’d rather have that extra bit of insulation and stick a leg out if I get too hot.

I’m another one who would buy Rab or ME (PHD if I had the money), although my approach would be a bit different, I’d buy the Rab 200 above^ or the ME Helium250 and add a down jacket for season 4 which makes for a much more versatile system.

The one downside to that system is that your legs, in really cool conditions, tend to get cold because they don’t have as much insulation as your torso/head. PHD does a formalised system based on this, but they include insulated trousers because of this.

It’s not so bad for one night of alpine suffering, but not lovely for regular use in really cold environments.

A mate of mine who used to work for Rab worked on the basis that he’d always rather be slightly too warm in a sleeping bag than too cold and it’s always made sense to me unless you’re on some sort of cutting edge alpine mission obviously, because we all do that, all the time 😉

There’s also, somewhere on the web, a really article by Andy Kirkpatrick on how to sleep warm: in a nutshell, eat before you go to bed so you’re heated from within and do some press-ups or similar to up your metabolism before getting in the bag.

If you think about insulation, it’s effectively just trapped air which is warmed by your body heat, so initially at least, you’re heating the bag rather than the other way round. The outer fabric just stops wind/air movement from stripping the heated air away, which is basically what wind chill is all about.

I’ll shut up and go ride my bike now 🙂

By that logic I am going to try a bottle of wine on my next camp.

Rock + Run have the Nuetrino below your budget as already posted

I would say Alp kit but also look out for Rab and if any sales at PHD
The wider the bag more the weight. Narrow (mummy cannot move my feet) less the weight

OP specifies he’d like a 3/4 season bag and then folk recommend the Neutrino 200? – The ‘200’ bit pertains to amount of down in grams – 200 is not 3/4 season by a long stretch – I’d go for the Cumulus lite line 400 for €230 – 400 grams of 850 European cuin . . Certainly not 4 season but much warmer than other recommendations – I think Cumulus offers unparalleled value..

Neutrino 200 may be in budget, but 400 certainly isn’t.

That Cumulus bag looks very good value! Anyone got/had one?

The Neutrino, Summit 400, Summit 600, Ascent 700 and Ascent 900 are all in budget if you actually bothered to look.

Rock + Run

If you actually bothered to take note of OP’s requirements you’d not recommend 2 season bags – And the other Rab bags in the Rock and Run link – Are inferior in every way to the Cumulus – 650 cuin US ! Cumulus use nothing but 850 cuin European – To get anything better you’ll be spending £500 – Western Mountaineering for example and even then it might not be tangibly better in the field .

We all read the OP’s requirements.
We also all read the part where he states his wife is sick of him using her Neutrino 200 which he loves.
and where the f.. you decided to start spouting about US cuin from is anyones guess.
Rab use European.
Did you go to Specsavers or Asda for your glasses?

Sorry, there’s been a miscomunication. Wife’s bag is a 600, so let’s all calm down and save the bile for the upcoming election threads.

And in my post I wasn’t suggesting you should do what I choose to do or influence your decision, just chipping in with another angle, so go for the 600 rather than the 400 if that’s what your wife has and you like it. The vast majority will do as BWD says, buy a warmer bag and unzip it if too warm (do take into account trying to keep it clean with liner or clothes tho).

From the Rock n Run website :

fillpower: 650+US European Fluorocarbon Free Hydrophobic Duck Down .

You also recommended a duck down !!

If anybody can show me 400gs of 850 European cuin at Cumulus prices I’d love to see that link as Im in the market for a 1-2 season – box wall not stitch through . .

BadlyWiredDog – Member

The one downside to that system is that your legs, in really cool conditions, tend to get cold because they don’t have as much insulation as your torso/head.

It’s not so bad for one night of alpine suffering, but not lovely for regular use in really cold environments.

We might have to agree to disagree. I was, in a previous life, a Summer high altitude alpine bivier and UK winter camping climber and this was my standard sleeping system and it worked well for me and I still use it. I’ve never been kept awake by cold legs, tho admittedly none of it could be considered cutting edge alpine mission, but perhaps a level above what most people might do. I expect you and most others on this thread know, sleeping mat plays a big part in insulation and in this system I’ve always used an old school full length closed cell foam winter grade mat (yes, compromises in pursuit of something).

Found this Summiteer

Some sleeping bags on here Down sleeping Company
That Rab summit 800 should do you for £240