Good portable sleeping bag for outdoor usage in Irish winter conditions

fguihen

Im doing the Comeragh Challenge in September and need a sleeping bag and bivy bag as we will be sleeping outdoors.

Someone has recommended Alpkit, goosedown, with reviews online saying that although they are competent products, there are better.
Ive also heard mention of snug pak, which are synthetic bags and quite portable.
Can anyone recommended a decent sleeping bag, that will allow portability and protect the user in extremes.

Also, what is recommended, synthetic or goose down?

All recommendations greatly accepted.

westeire

If you don'nt mind army surplus, then the US Army do a modular sleeping bag system that has a goretex bivi, 2 sleeping bags and a compression sack. The goretex bivi bag gets good reviews and can be picked up quite cheaply on Ebay,or you can buy the complete system brand new for 125 pounds on Ebay.

preacherman

fguihen wrote: »

Im doing the Comeragh Challenge in September and need a sleeping bag and bivy bag as we will be sleeping outdoors.

Someone has recommended Alpkit, goosedown, with reviews online saying that although they are competent products, there are better.
Ive also heard mention of snug pak, which are synthetic bags and quite portable.
Can anyone recommended a decent sleeping bag, that will allow portability and protect the user in extremes.

Also, what is recommended, synthetic or goose down?

All recommendations greatly accepted.

Down bags are lighter than syntethics for a given temperature at twice the price generally. They are warmer no doubt about it but if they get wet they are redundant. A good bivy bag should prevent this happening but a good bivy bag is waterproof and breathable and therefore goretex or similar and pricey. You can get ex army goretex bags at a reasonable cost but there is a weight penalty there too.

My current lightweight sleeping system for this time of the year is a snugpak SF 1 with a thermalon liner in a SF bivybag. This fits into a medium size waterproof compression sack (podsac). The bivibag is waterproof but I wouldnt use it without a tarp unless I knew for certain that it was not going to rain ie probably never in this country..... It is made from pertex or something similar and is not as breathable as goretex or e-vent so condensation can build up inside and this may effect a down bag. I use a snugpak softie elite 3 in the winter months but it is at the edge of its rating and if I could I would get something else. There have been nights this winter where I had to put on a warm jacket during the night.

I would add a couple of degrees to sleeping bag ratings aswell as some of them are not taking into account our damp cold which can get into your bones.

What you sleep on makes a big difference too. A thermarest or similar insulates you from the ground where a lot of heat is lost when camping.

A good night sleep is worth anything so my advice would be to do a lot of research before you buy and buy the best you can afford.

I am sure somebody else will be along with more info later.

Enjoy your trip.

Andrew

concussion

Seeing as it's just for one night, you may get away with just an orange survival bag instead of a breathable bivvy, especially as you'll be building some shelter over yourself. Bivvies can be expensive things to be buying, unless you're going to get a lot of use from them.

preacherman

concussion wrote: »

Seeing as it's just for one night, you may get away with just an orange survival bag instead of a breathable bivvy, especially as you'll be building some shelter over yourself. Bivvies can be expensive things to be buying, unless you're going to get a lot of use from them.

Concussion, just read your account of the Comeragh Challenge and realise whats involved. I presumed that fguighen was going to be bivying out in the open on the hills with only a bivy bag for protection. You are right about the plastic survival bag doing a job for that night. I wouldn't get into it though. Condensation cant get out and you can get soaked from the inside.

fguighen if it is only one night and you will not be doing any serious amount of camping over time I would get a 3 season Vango or similar syntethic sleeping bag. They are not going to pack down anywhere near a down or snugpak bag but they will do the job at a fraction of the price. I know a guy who uses a vango in a hammock. He was out in Jan this year and he was okay.

Andrew