I'm toying with upgrading my sleeping bag. I don't really know much about expensive bags, so could anyone give me some advice ?
I'm looking for a 3 season bag, that packs small and light, for under £200. Any recommendations?
The Vango Venoms look like quite good value, are they?
Also has anyone used the Nordisk Oscar?

Thanks.

The Venom bags aren't fantastic value for money given the spec (unless you can find a heavily discounted one).

This would be a very good buy and would see you through the entire year.
http://www.climbers-shop.com/10023547/p ... g-bag.aspx

I have had a Cumulus 350 down bag for a good few years. Super light and packs down really small. Down is great, unless it gets wet of course. The Cumulus stuff seems good value for money. Good quality down. I used mine to tour Europe for a few months, bikepacking trips etc. Still going strong and nice and toasty. I run it with a silk liner for a bit of added warmth on frosty nights.

s8tannorm wrote:The Venom bags aren't fantastic value for money given the spec (unless you can find a heavily discounted one).

This would be a very good buy and would see you through the entire year.
http://www.climbers-shop.com/10023547/p ... g-bag.aspx

Hi thanks for the info, I'd found a venom 400 at £130, but alas, all sold out. Just like the rab ascent 700 you linked to, only ones I can find in stock are about £210

biggaygibbon wrote:I have had a Cumulus 350 down bag for a good few years. Super light and packs down really small. Down is great, unless it gets wet of course. The Cumulus stuff seems good value for money. Good quality down. I used mine to tour Europe for a few months, bikepacking trips etc. Still going strong and nice and toasty. I run it with a silk liner for a bit of added warmth on frosty nights.

I think it's been rebranded to criterion ? http://www.downsleepingbag.co.uk/sleepi ... CU350.html

Looks very nice.

Another vote for the Quantum 350. Mine gets used all year round, possibly slightly warm for the height of summer but otherwise perfect. Great weight and pack size

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... max-saddle

Not mine, but maybe worth a punt?

boxelder wrote:http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... max-saddle

Not mine, but maybe worth a punt?

Thanks for the link but comfort rating bottoms out at 10c

Anyone got any thoughts on the mountain hard wear lamina 35?

Anyone got any thoughts on the mountain hard wear lamina 35?

Probably one of the best synthetic bags available ... obviously still not as light as down for the rating but reasonable.

Have you looked at one of the new Alpkit bags?

It seems the alpkit bags are either all out of stock, mega expensive or the pipedream 300 which is 1-2 season or a winter liner bag according to the blurb. Am I looking at the wrong thing ?

I'd like to see a lamina 35 in person, to get a handle on how it compares to my vango when compressed. On psoer it seems to tick all the boxes, and I'll have some cash left to grab a decent compression / dry bag for it.

It seems the alpkit bags are either all out of stock, mega expensive or the pipedream 300 which is 1-2 season or a winter liner bag according to the blurb. Am I looking at the wrong thing ?

I don't really know why the down Pipedream is described as a 1-2 season bag ... although I was chatting to Alpnick this morning and he was saying that they rate their bags very cautiously. It contains 300g of 750fp 90/10 down, most bags with a similar spec will have a comfort rating of +3 - +5 degrees.

Ah ok cheers for the update.

ootini wrote:

biggaygibbon wrote:I have had a Cumulus 350 down bag for a good few years. Super light and packs down really small. Down is great, unless it gets wet of course. The Cumulus stuff seems good value for money. Good quality down. I used mine to tour Europe for a few months, bikepacking trips etc. Still going strong and nice and toasty. I run it with a silk liner for a bit of added warmth on frosty nights.

I think it's been rebranded to criterion ? http://www.downsleepingbag.co.uk/sleepi ... CU350.html

Looks very nice.

Criterion are what they are sold as in the UK - you can get the Cumulus bags from European shops (they are good bit cheaper too). There are suppliers that will deliver to the UK in this thread http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... lus#p57689

I spoke to Cumulus and they confirmed that next year they will be supplying direct to the UK.

Any good about these bags? http://www.militarykit.com/product_cate ... olive.html

I have a PHD minum 300 which I use for spring and autumn, it weighs about 550g, 95/5 900 fill down from memory, rated about 0. The loft is amazing, it lofts almost as big as my alpkit pipedream 600 winter bag when stored loose but folds down much smaller.

I think mine was premade and in stock rather than put together to my spec and from memory was about £180 a couple of years back.

By the way I'm not knocking the pipedream, I really like that bag too, but they don't make the 600s at the moment and it's obviously heavier and bulkier than the PHD, but it's rated to -7 and I've used it to -15 with a down jacket on.

Went to blacks to check out the Eurohike 500 for £75. It seemed very thin and the staff keep the bags in compression sacks, which put me off. I did end up grabbing the last of their mountain hardwear lamina 35s for £65 though. Very, very impressed with it so far. Packs as small as the Eurohike and cosmos down bags, probably a touch heavier but also lofts up a lot faster, being synthetic. Either way, I'm chuffed, especially at that price.

I have a Lamina 20 which I've used down to at least -5 in conjunction with a down jacket. It's an excellent bag and I'm sure the 35 is just as good. The only downside is the pack size.

The pack size of the 20 was a bit on the large side, the 35 was exactly the same as the cosmos 300 and eurohike 500 down bags.

I've just bought a PHD Minimus bag from their ready made section. It was £258. Quite a lot but I've only heard excellent things about them. They currently have one called a minix or something like that which is in their 'summer lightning' range. Looks to be a great bag for £199.

They also have excellent customer service and are manufactured in the UK.

Dainiusd wrote:Any good about these bags? http://www.militarykit.com/product_cate ... olive.html

I bought one, while I was in..
It was better than the issue doss bag, but I'd not buy another...