Sleeping bags

[Piggy]

I'm looking for a new sleeping bag, something that will roll up small and be good for warm and cold weather if it exists.
Has anyone had any experiance looking for a sleeping bag and if so what do you recomend.


Cheers

Paul

[lurch]

hey there champ i would recommend the softie range of bags myself ive had a few of them now and are all the best ive slept in there arent any good ones cheap but your better off to pay the money for quality. theese days you get what you pay for

[bear]

Gday Piggy,
I would second what lurch said mate, I have a softie III and it's great for backpacking around the place :D rolls up small enough to fit in the palm of your hand :D and will keep you warm in most conditions. they have a softie bag to suit most types of climate.
http://www.meanandgreen.com/army/Snugpak/Snugpak_Softie_3_Merlin_Sleeping_Bag/1020/563.html

BEAR

[Piggy]

Thank for your replies, like most I would rather spend the extra dollars and get the better quality gear.

Cheers

Paul

[bigwal_123]

hey Paul,
i have a Roman one in my swag and this is all i need on a cold night. these are the best ive tried and we have 2 of them. these don't pack very small, but they are good for keeping you warm. we got ours from coffs harbour I think, but look around...

[warnie]

I have a One Planet bag; their gear is the best we had when I worked in The Great Outdoors chain. Roman are a good value product. The better bags are made of Goose down whilst the cheaper bags are filled with a synthetic fill. Goose Down is warmer for the weight and volume as it has more 'loft' (air catching ability) but it is more susceptible to not being warm when it is wet. Once again there is a for and against with both options. Oh why can’t things be simple?

[Mozza]

have a look at the black stag bags by stoney creek, they aren't cheap but they are excellent quality
http://www.stoneycreekshop.co.nz/stoney-creek-hunting-gear-sleeping-bags-c-216_232.html

[adam]

Can you guys tell me what the ratings are on the bags you suggest, Im in the market as well, but need something around -6 to -10 for the snowys.

Last minus 11 bag kind of got burnt.

Adam

[Mozza]

Adam, I got the black stag 900 and they don't really give a rating on it but would put it to the equivalent of a -25 to -30 bag.
I got it because I am a cold sleeper and hopefully will be doing a trip to NZ in the future but I think that the 600 would be in that range.

[snowy1]

adam ,
i have two one planet bags
a bush lite and a winter lite ,

definatly worth loking at in this price range if you do backpack hunting as we do ,
bush lite was around 500 and winter lite was 800 ..

alot of money i gues but better than feezzing the family jewls of ..
snowy :wink:

[Luke]

I've got a fairydown bag. 700 loft and it keeps me well toasty!!!

Ad's mate, you know well how cold I get (it's almost legendary :lol:) and this bag is great!

It's $700 at normal retail but I got it at Anaconda on sale for around the $250 mark :shock:

Always keep your eye out for the bargains :P

It's the best camping investment I've ever made - damned HATE being cold and trying to sleep.

8)

[Puk]

Try putting on some body-fat Luke.
That might keep you warmer. :lol: :wink:

Puk

Or get one that you can zip together with another one and take your wife with you. She always keeps me warm. (My wife i mean, not yours. :oops: )

[Luke]

I've been working on it! But have just started X country training season and get out and run with the kids :P So I might drop back a few kilos.

Still the goose down in that bag keeps me well warm :) Amz and I shared it (just a a blanket over us) in Sept down at Shano's place and we near cooked! Zipping two of them together would be unbearable!

8)

[Mick Smith]

piggy

I used to own a Fairydown "20 below". It was a modern copy of the bag Sir Edmond Hillary used when he first climbed Mt Everest. The bag was the most expensive one in the shop, as I recall. It was made of many small box shaped compartments, filled with the best super down available. I slept on the bare ground in heavy frosts in this bag and still it was always too bloody hot and uncomfortable.

It finally met it's fate one time when canoeing down the Snowy River in Victoria late one spring. It got saturated after a capsize as the water tight drum that it was in, had the lid cross-threaded, letting the water in. I was desperate, so I built a large fire and propped it up close to the flames. I was quite happy to see the steam pouring out of it, until it burst in flames and fell to pieces. I slept very cold for the rest of that trip.

I replaced that bag with another Fairydown bag, called the "Ultralight". It's very small and compact, about half the size of a loaf of bread when packed. It's rated to 0 degrees. It's nowhere near as warm as my old bag. In the Australian Alps in winter, it's useless. If I use a silk bag liner and wear full length thermal underclothes, it helps.

I ended up buying another cheap sleeping bag that's rated to minus 10 degrees. It's a Roman brand. It's much warmer, but it's definitely not compact or lightweight, but it's good when there's no backpacking to be done.

If I was you, I'd buy a quality New Zealand made down filled sleeping bag, rated to minus 10 degrees and then use a bag liner and wear thermals as well.

Mick

[jindydiver]

I used a J&H Winterlite for many years and when I went over to Canada to go climbing I bought a One Planet Snow Leopard. (J&H had a name change to Oneplanet) The wife then got the Winterlite
The Snowleopard was the Winterlite with a goretex outer. I ordered it from the factory in extra long and extra wide (the benefit of a local product) and it kept me warm in temperatures less than minus 30 degrees Celsius. Nobody could possibly feel the cold in this bag. The snow leopard cost me $900 back in 1994.
Unfortunately both bags were stolen from my troop carrier one night (with a bunch of other stuff) and we never recovered them :cry:
I don't know what the current equivalent model would be, but any 900 plus loft bag with a goretex shell is going to see you good for any conditions you could possibly face here in Australia.

[STEALTH]

I use a gortex bivy sack,and these things are great.There lightweight,small,keeps the bugs out and you can get rained or snowed on all night and still stay dry and toasty.Great for long range mountian hunts.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/frankothetanko/IMG_0636-1.jpg

[bear]

here's a few good bags and gear piggy
http://www.kitbag.com.au/prod934.htm :D
ozzy shop too :D

BEAR

[Piggy]

Thanks all for your input its great

[Piggy]

Well I ended up buying a Softie Elite 2 sleeping bag rated to -7 and has the baffel system, so I will be looking foward to testing it out on the next weekend away.
Thanks all for your advice


Cheers


Paul

[ozzyshane]

Hey Frank what brand is the Gtx bag xped is said to have a great one out .Thanks Shane

[STEALTH]

Shane it is a mont.Its the only one I have owned so I cant compare it to others ,but it kept me dry and warm in freezing rain the other day so it gets a thumbs up from me.

[adam]

How'd they go Piggy.

I've kept shopping around for a bargain sleeping bag for a while, now back in cold canberra I figured I best be getting one sooner then later as the one I usually take in the swag is for warm weather. Anyways brought a oztrail mountainview -5 exotherm, just for the swag as its a larger bag. Now I just have to get my hands on a compact sleeping bag for hiking trips.

Adam

[dazza]

yeh nothing wrong with oz trail adam, ihave 1of them plus 2 woolen blankets from the op shop [about $3 each] folded and sown half way up and a good thick matteress in the swag,i,ve woken up in snow and thick frosts [sambar hunting] warm as .Ifind it very hard to get out of in those conditions thow.Got mine 10-15 years ago.cheers.