Sick as a dog so, show me you Bivi / Bikepacking / Adventure racing gear…..

Snugpak Travel Lite.
I have used this last July on C2C and last weekend on the North Yorks Moors to Coast.
It has a great size and weight but it just is not warm enough!
On both occasions I have spent the night wearing every item of clothing I had!
I am going to bite the bullet and buy the Softie 3.

Snugpak Travel Lite.
I have used this last July on C2C and last weekend on the North Yorks Moors to Coast.
It has a great size and weight but it just is not warm enough!

Hmmm, I might take my Vango Venom 150 along as an extra liner just in case.

One reason I was taking the Travelite was to check out how it coped with bivi-bag condensation. A problem in colder months (or when midges abound) ‘cos you end up breathing inside with your head retracted from the cold or insects. Not too much of a problem on a one nighter, but potentially more difficult on a multi-day bivi trip if bad weather dosen’t allow you to dry out your down bag.

Tesco Down bag £39 Down & only 800grms!

Also, in the Slugwash family sleeping bag collection is a Tesco down bag. Much sneered at by some of my RAB loving backwoodsman friends, but they miss the point. It costs less than £40 and you don’t have to worry too much about it around campfires, etc. (a dog chewed mine and I just shrugged my shoulders and patched it up with spinnaker tape. I’d have been crying for weeks and up on a charge of extreme animal cruelty if it had been a £200 designer bag). It packs down small and does the job. I’ve used mine in the Picos de Europa, on the OMM and on Autumn/Spring camping on Dartmoor and Snowdonia. My only real critiscm is it needs a silk or polycotton liner if you’re not wearing any clothes as the inner material’s not too comfortable next to the skin.

The ones in Tesco at Ivybridge today were labelled as weighing 900grammes.

…That’s two day’s in a row now that I’ve gone into chain stores and ‘fondled’ cheap sleeping bags 😯

The Snugpak Traval Lite head net was great for the midges last year,although odd at first as it is unsupported so lays on your face.
I have seen the Tesco down bag and I can not work out how they do it for the money?

I’ve got a Vango Wilderness 250 and http://www.vango.co.uk/sleeping-bags/wilderness-250.html do you tink its going to be warm enough for WRT with maybe a liner in it, Bivi (MOD version)???
Or do I buy one of those Tesco Jobs??

Vango reckon 8 degrees, so at the end of May you should be alright … however a liner wouldn’t go a miss. I’ve been using a Sea to Summit Reactor Extreme liner all winter with good results. They do a lighter thermal liner too.

How did the trip go??

Stu’s back and I think he’s left Taylor and Steve to fend for themselves 😯

We had a good time ta fellas … don’t let anyone tell you different 😉

Long day yesterday at 12 hours in the saddle for flatfish and myself and 10 for Steve. Rain last night but everyones kit stood up to it without problem. Cracking day today weather wise but we managed an early finish by pushing on into the dark last night.

wow that was severe then 😯

how was “the climb”???

I wouldn’t describe it as ‘climb’ … long, long, long push describes it slightly better 😀

Tesco bag looks very tempting. Any thoughts on how it performs? No winter bivi trips for me, but don’t want to die from exposure in July for the sake of saving £60!!

Glad it went well Stu, Any pics of that climb?

like this in Ireland??

That’s not a climb 😉

Can’t post pics but I’ll email you one over.

Stu email me and I’ll post them if you want 😉

Few folk had the down tesco bags on the wrt last year … reckoned they were fine and no one died 😀

😯

A pic of “the climb” from Stuart

Tesco bag looks very tempting. Any thoughts on how it performs? No winter bivi trips for me, but don’t want to die from exposure in July for the sake of saving £60!!

^ ^ ^
Huh! My Tesco down bag testimonial above not good enough for you then, petrieboy? 😉

Ah, doesn’t do it justice … most is 1 in 5 with a certain bit 1 in 3. When you’re pushing up it feels like it’s over 45 degrees! which I assume it is.

I hope the WRT is not passing through there????

I hope the WRT is not passing through there????

God I bet it does just my luck

Took my Tesco bag on the WRT last year and it got a bit hot to be honest, sleept in endura baa baa and shorts . Had to take Baa off as it was too hot.

What happened to all the trip pics then chaps?

I was the only one carrying a camera, the camera in question is rubbish. We we’re pitched up in forests both nights (flatfish was swinging from the trees) and we didn’t set up camp until after dark so not much to take pictures of really … perhaps that should say, not much my camera would take pictures of!

We did get a nice picture of a warning sign … it warned us to be careful of BEARS for the next 5 miles. I’m not making that up either 😯

So, the big question… Every time I go to my local Tesco I see those dinky cheap down bags, and every time without fail I get told to move away from the camping aisle by my wife. She’s sick of me looking at things like that and then deciding not to buy it. That is possibly understandable.

Anyway, to the point now. Should I buy an Alpkit SH1000 or similar to replace my current Army-issue green bag? Not only do Alpkit make them in a long (thanks people!), but their bag will be hopefully both warmer and lighter than the abomination that fills my Bergan every time I go out.

Should I though? Will it be warmer? Too warm perhaps? (given that I don’t go out in the dead of winter these days) HELP!!!

I’m definitely buying a mat from them though…

Get one bought … you won’t regret it and it’ll last years if you look after it.

I know!!! But there are just sooooo many choices!

I just don’t want to be too cold. Or too warm. Simply “just right”.

It’s got a full length zip, if you start to get too hot just vent it from the bottom.

I don’t think I’ve had many nights in the UK where a ‘lightweight, cheap, 1 season’ bag would actually have been warm enough … that might just be me though.

BEARS!

“****” I am making a bear bell tonight for the WRT 😯

You know how to tell if you have come across bear poo in Wales? It’s the one with the bear bells/whistles in it 😉

Route 66..!! god I hope thats not one of the way points for WRT…

Right, what canoe do I need then??

I think I can borrow a sea kayak from a neighbour 😉

Anyone got one of these? any good?
http://www.gapyeartravelstore.com/Beyond-2-3-Season-Down-Sleeping-Bag-p-539.html

you would never guess Im looking at bags again, would this be a good coicee but maybe with a liner? its well small and cheap and with the summer just around the corner… 8)
http://www.gapyeartravelstore.com/Snugpak-Traveller-2-Season-Sleeping-Bag-p-391.html

you would never guess Im looking at bags again, would this be a good coicee but maybe with a liner? its well small and cheap and with the summer just around the corner…
http://www.gapyeartravelstore.com/Snugpak-Traveller-2-Season-Sleeping-Bag-p-391.html

It’s the same one as mentioned above by me and Basil. You can get them for £25 post free on ebay. I’ve not tested mine as yet. I was going to this weekend but as the forecast suggests that Dartmoor will be freezing I’m taking a three season down one instead.

Anyone want to join the full moon sleep out party on Saturday?

didnothingfatal – Member
Best setup I found for gas is the Optimus Crux and would sooner invest in a setup like the Optimus Crux Weekend HE Cook System.

well my HE system has just arrived 😀
One of those boxes you take off the van man and think ‘is there anything in it, feels kind of empty’
The burner mechanism is a work of miniature beauty, half full gas can boiled the large pan (indoors) in about 2 1/2 minutes – handles could be better if I’m being very critical, but the whole package is neat and the small lid pan could be used as a ‘mug’ saving even more space/weight.
Weather being kind I’m off on a full-moon bivvy-bag bonanza this Saturday in the vicinity of Hindhead Punchbowl so will test it ‘in the field’
I’ve got the bivvy geek bug I think 😕

That’s it blame me when it all goes wrong 😆

Enjoy the field test!

that looks a great cookset let us know how you get on with it 😉

hoping to have a trip over the Easter holidays when the tribe are away at the outlaws 😉

may go into the Afan forestry and scare bikers on the Sunday morning like stig of the dump 😀

A good addition to the Crux is the Primus Windscreen

You don’t get the advised 5mm clearance but it hasn;t affected mine this last two years.