Which sleeping bag?

Hello folks, I'm gradually putting a few bits of touring equipment together.

Can I ask your advice about sleeping bags?

I'm very nesh (for those of you dahn sowf it mean I feel the cold easily). When I car camp I take a very big heavy sleeping bag, blankets, hot water bottle and a live man to keep me warm.
Since I'm not going to be able to fit all that into my panniers can you recomend a mid budget sleeping bag to keep me warm from early spring through to late autumn?

Hi. It all depends where you are planning to use it..Down bags are warmest for the weight,but you need to make sure you keep them dry(something that i've always managed to do)..If you don't mind a little extra weight and bulk, then something like the marmot wave3 is a good three season synthetic bag..I would try for a down bag though just for their pack size...

Depends what you call mid-budget really.
Arguably the best down bags for a whole range of different weights and for different temperatures can be found here. And if you can't find exactly the right model - they will make a custom model to your specification. It's worth having a thorough read of that site just for the huge amount of information about features you might or might not find in other manufacturers.

Some way down the scale price-wise, but still incredible vfm are Alpkit. Link to what may suitable model.

+1 for PHD. I have a Minim and now another heavier one too. They weigh a lot less than other ones such as a Blacks one that said 900g but weighed 1200. I also have a PHD gilet and jacket which are stunning too.

Go for a silk liner too,

Finally, not used them camping yet, but I got a pair of these for Xmas and they are amazing http://tinyurl.com/7ncfl8m

Are they SPD compatible then?

i have the alpkit pipefream 400 great bag well made BUT useless if its freezing outside.so maybe one of ther 800 filled bags would be better.one thing is for certain you will need to spend money on a bag thats going to keep you toasty when its cold outside

Yes i've read some good reviews about the PHD kit..Rab and mountain equip have excellent down bags its just a matter of price..at least with shop bought bags you can get a look and feel of them.. My pref would be for a down bag any time.. the extra cost is worth the saving in pack size and warmth to weight ratio..

Whilst you can look & feel Mountain Equipment bags (& Rab for that matter) .... just bear in mind that Pete Hutchinson started ME...grew it to where the money men took over and forced him out - so he started PHD, and has very delliberately kept it small & UK made. If you want Chinese made at sensible prices then Alpkit, if you want the best of UK made - PHD. Sorry, but ME and RAB are big brands now, with big brand prices - but still chinese made.

And FWIW - my warmest sleeping bag is a ME Annapurna - nearly 20 years old, my lightest bag is PHD Minim. To borrow the Mr Kipling slogan ... he does make exceedingly good cakes bags

Go for down everytime as they compact down smaller, Go for 3 season at least, even in the summer you can have a cold night more so if you are a cold sleeper As to which make, thats the nightmare, so many to choose from, so do some research, but at the end of day your budget is what will sort our what you can afford buy, and buy the best you can afford, as it will last many years to come.

I have to agree with PpPete...But i like to have a good look at what i'm buying...Yep down every time unless you are going somewhere esp damp or humid

I do not agree with the suggestion that Chinese made means poor quality.... When I was a kid Made In Japan meant cheap rubbish - now they are on a par with Germany for high quality

I don't believe I made any such suggestion.... nor even that British made was inherently better just because it was British... but I stand by my contention that if you want the best quality down sleeping bags (at any level of insulation) then PHD is THE place to go. The fact that they are made in Britain means that they are inevitably somewhat more expensive, but IMO not excessively so.

And FWIW my bike with the Chinese frame is a big improvement over the one with the "handbuilt in England" frame -

wow those phd bags are super expensive like how could an ordinary joe like me afford one of those bags but are you saying that even there cheapest bag would be much better than say alpkit 600or800 bags. ok i know you didn't exactly say that but would it be worth spending the same amount of money it cost to buy the alpkit800 on one of phd chearer bags.

not exactly ... let's assume that one can compare on the basis of the minimum temperature they are rated for. All sleeping bag manufacturers tell you not to do this because they all use different systems .... but for the sake of the comparison look at that Alpkit SkyeHigh 600 I linked earlier. -5ºC - OK ? Weight 1215 grams packed size 23 x 25 cms - and £125
Now look in the PHD table for -5º - take the Minim 400 model 670 grams and loose pack size of 17" x 28 (you can get it a lot smaller if you want) - now OK its £265 - so, if the comfort level is really the same, you are paying £140 to save 545 grams.

How many of us would spend an extra £140 on the price of a new road bike to save 500 grams ? Chances are, we'd be jumping from aluminium to carbon frame to save that kind of weight.

Totally agree with PHD.

The equation is Size, Weight, Warmth, Cost

You do not have to be a genius to work out if you want a small, light, very warm sleeping bag that you can use in minus degrees, it will cost a lot.

First thing you need to consider is if you are camping in Blackpool in June, do you really need a -10 sleeping bag?
My advice is to make a list of what you want from a sleeping bag and then save your money and get the best sleeping bag you can afford. PHD are the best.

Really good advice in your post Pete.

Steve

Get yourself a silk liner as well, a cheap, lite way of adding a couple of degs.

Sleeping bags are the same as all touring and cycling gear. We start off buying what we can afford, usually it is cheap.
Very quickly we realise it is cheap and it operates or works as if it is cheap and it gets binned in the shed and we go out and buy something a bit more expensive. The bit more expensive piece of kit is so much better than the original cheap piece of kit that we soon want the expensive piece of kit. Because we know how much better it will be than the little bit more expensive piece of kit. So we bin the little bit more expensive piece of kit in the shed and we use the expensive piece of kit and it is wonderful. It is exactly what we should have bought to begin with and we get many years of good use out of it and continue to be happy with it and recommend it to all our friends.

The other 2 pieces of rubbish kit stay in the shed and are eventually thrown out for good. What we don`t think about is that the 2 rubbish pieces of kit are really half the price of the expensive piece of kit. Which makes the expensive piece of kit not that expensive, when you look at it this way.

Now how many pieces of kit have I bought like this............dozens........everyone who has been cycling for years has. But I don`t anymore. I do my research, bite the bullet and pay up.

The three things you cannot skimp on when you are cycling touring is:

Your tent

Your sleeping mat

Your sleeping bag

You can even skimp a bit on the bike. But if you are not warm and dry at night you will hate it, very quickly.

Good kit is expensive. It is unfortunate but that is the way it is.

Steve

Buffalo system. Robust, durable, warm, doesn't cost the earth, flexible (take the inners and/or outers you need for the conditions), chortle as you spill coffee or spag bog sauce or smear mud all over them because machine washable and tough, rather than fret at the prospect of £800(!!) down the drain, clamber into them wet and still be warm...
You're touring, not racing, so will be riding laden. Have a rest from gram fetishism and relax.

Just looked at Buffalo. If you are going to have a "Have a rest from gram fetishism" these are heavy. For £125 you get a 2/3 season bag weighing a collosal 1610g. And not small packed. By getting a tiny PhD I not only saved the bag weight, but by taking the same approach with tent and mat I reduce the panniers to rear only, plus lose a front rack.

Re the gram fetishism, I had three weeks camping in NZ and it taught me to weigh every item and whittle down in every way. As long as reasonable comfort is not compromised.

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My choice being the Softie

Made in England and used by the British armed forces. How much better can you get ?

Maybe you can get better lol

Edit:

Some one up thread recommended a silk liner, forget them. Its 2012. Not 1992. Thats just more added weight and faff