Double Sleeping Bags

Going round in circles on this one. Help!

Looking for either two good single sleeping bags that can zip together OR a good double sleeping bag. Hopefully available in the UK?

Other considerations are (1) The misses feels the cold (needs to be at least 3 season suitable), (2) Not weigh a ton or too large when packed – would use wild camping if not too heavy/big (3) not be too restrictive in the foot area – she hates that as well!

Moon on a stick territory I know!

Any suggestions appreciated?

we have a double by vango, but theyre not sophisticated things. Old skool flat bags (no mummy shapes or baffles). Probably only 2 season at best. We use ours in the camper van or on fat airics in the tent in France in summer.

The point of doubles really is to share warmth. Ahem. If she needs something more specific you’ll probably find it doesnt suit you.

I made a down/pertex double duvet for touring with Mrs S. A silk double sleeping bag liner underneath.

If you cant find it off the shelf, you could have a go at making your own, its surprisingly straightforward.

Our Alpkits Skyehigh 800s have opposing zips so that they can be joined, i’d imagine that any otherwise identical bags with opposing zips could do the same.

BUT – it’s generally much warmer if each of you are in a single mummy bag. As soon as you move apart in a double, even slightly, you let out so much heat.

Individually, our bags are comfortable down between -5 and -10, depending on how tired we are/when we last ate etc….but zipped together we start to feel the cold at anything less than +3 roughly. Waking up in the middle of the night with your partner a couple of feet away and therefore nothing covering half your body isn’t ideal when it’s cold 🙂

IMO, if you intend to zip two bags together, but ones that are rated at least a full season colder than what you need, and be prepared to separate them in the middle of the night if you’re getting a chill.

As a nice surprise for your other half, buy two good 3 season bags with opposing zips and get her an Alpkit Filo jacket (or similar). Draping a down jacket over her bag will work wonders if she feels the cold. It’s probably cheaper doing that combination than buying a lightweight but super warm sleeping bag. Also, don’t forget good mats, you lose an incredible amount of heat to the ground if not properly insulated.

Got a Vango Starlight double which says it’s 3 season probably be okay with a long sleeve tee and jiggers on if it got too cold.

Big Agnes do a decent one I think… https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/ProductFinder/Bag/filters/7

maybe a quilt?
we have these:
http://www.jacksrbetter.com/shop/mt-washington/
they re light and have a heavy duty velcro to join them together, then a drawstring at both ends.
I made a little footbox thing to cover the hole at the base.
a hat or seperate hood if its really cold
also a good mat. I found the exped downmat 7 LW is really good and we can both get on it (just)
Ive also looked for something but not come up with much…
big agnes do a proper double bag but its really expensive to get shipped for some reason
[edit] had a look again at big agnes… they have a few good looking options now
eh?

We’ve got one of those Vango Starlight doubles and its lovely. Really soft and comfy with lots of room if you get too hot. Its not small though, despite what the blurb says about it. We’ve not used it out of season though.
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-starlight-double-sleeping-bag-p292631

Thanks for the replies so far.

I realise two separate ones would be best – she is moaning about her expensive Rab down bag and the lack of foot room (leg going to sleep)!

The Big Agnes ones look good just can’t find the synthetic one in the UK? Forgot to mention that I wheeze like a man of 90 in a down bag! Has to be synthetic for me 🙂

Given you haven’t yet mentioned price as a constraint can I be the first to suggest phd design your own bags.. phd design your own bag

Only down though so would be strictly for the lady.

We tried an Outwell double and quilts, but my wife who feels the cold was never warm enough.
We looked at The Big Agnes but the price is steep so went for seperate bags.

Try moosejaw.com for the Big Agnes.

Go with a quilt of some sort, much more comfy and can be as light and lighter if you do it right. The one my girlfriend and I use is about as heavy as you can get but still doable. Homemade ripstop top and poly cotton base with foot box (I get cold feet) to form a duvet cover and a single ikea down winter duvet. Comes in at a bit over 2.5 / 2.6 ish kg now with tweaks. Our set up is heavy but comparable to 2 snug packs in weight, could be much lighter by buying some down and stuffing it your self. The major weight is in the material covering the bought duvet. Even at 2.5kg it is not terrible. My expensive alpkit sleeping bag is 750 kg + a silk liner takes it up to about 900 odd g * 2 = 1.8 – 2kg, something that could be achievable by getting rid of the separate duvet we use and stuffing with down directly. Two snug pack sleeping bags would come up to about the same as our current setup. Super comfy.

deuter stretch…

http://www.deuter.com/de/en/stretch-33.html

very good either together or singulary. stretch design works.

have the Exosphere middle and thicker one. getting the thinner one for summer/sleeping in the van.

It’s a bit heathen I know but last weekend when out it got down to 5degrees ish. I slept with my down north face gillet under my bag and it makes a huge difference!

So she has a Rab down bag. Buy the other half. Madame has a four seasons Rab bag that zips to my three season bag and we’re both snug as bugs in down bags with lots more freedom to move around and even do things that should not be mentioned on a public forum.

Like play scrabble and allow acronyms!!!

We had Vango Nitestar 350s, one a left hand zip and one right. My wife and daughter zipped their’s together no problem and said it was warmer

My OH also feels the cold. We were camping in Northumberland in a cheap double bag from a well known supermarket and she was very miserable. Went out and bought a better one at a camping shop – still no good. However, when we put the cheap supermarket one INSIDE the better one – happy! happy! joy! joy!

So – top tip for us was to buy two, and not worry if either was top of the range…