Sleeping Bags

G'day,

make sure you get ones with a hood. this is important to retaint the heat around your head, beanies tend to come off easily.

don't know how small you wish them to pack up but we use Roman Big Man bags and they have plenty of room inside but are not a compact pack. You should also be able to choose between right hand and left hand zips incase you want to link two together to form a big doona.

Ian for camping in the Simpson during winter most require a comfort rating of between -2 & -4 (4 season), possibly a little lower for woman. Alternatively you can get a 3 season bag with a zero degree rating & throw a spare blanket over when required. Features to look for are a drawstring hood, zip & neck draught strips & box or slant wall construction. Bags that are sewn straight through are definately not suitable. If there is a possibility the bag could get wet a synthetic fill would be best but if you want to save weight & space a down bag would be superior. Mummy style bags are both lighter & warmer where the rectangle cut bags often have left & right zips for joining 2 together.
Many of the cheap generic brands of bags are pretty good now with all the features you need for about $100 or for a little better quality you can get something like a Roman for $150 up to the best Macpac for $400. The price has probably more to do with how long it will last than how warm you will be.
Cheers Craig.................

Hi there Ian we use the big man Roman bags as mentioned above. Tried the ones that are shaped like a mummy but couldnt stand it. I like to be able to move where as I found with the mummy type ones if you move around the sleeping bag goes with you. My wife was the same and couldnt stand them. Luckily we only borrowed the mummy type ones from brother in law so didnt cost us anything. But the big man ones we actually own. Rated -5 but they dont have the hoods on them but they are big enough and long enough to drag your pillow down in under with you. Even in sub zero temps I still only sleep in my undies and still keep warm no problems,but as mentioned above they are quit bulky especially for the likes of us as we have two of them like most people but can also be joined together if your going to have a romantic night LOL. Regards Steve M

I have two Outer Limits, Traveller 302 bags. Hood with draw string, angle stitched pockets, quality zips, inner draught excluder over the zips. Filled with a synthetic material with a name about 20 characters long :) These bags are rated at -5C and will actually go down to that temp and still keep me warm as I discovered in the High Country earlier this year. They are also OK on hot nights - I just open the zip as much as required to keep cool. I paid $125 each (left and right zip so they can make a double) from Grangers Camping but they no longer appear to be on their website.

Beware temperature ratings on sleeping bags - afaik manufacturers (especially the cheapies) just pick a number and slap it on any bag they feel like, I am not aware of any standard.

Mike Harding

Ian,

Having worked in the outdoor industry, teaching for many years, I actually have 2 very good quality 'goose down' sleeping bags. One I use for general purpose 3 season camping and the warmer 'winter' bag I use mainly for snow camping. The warmer of these two bags is worth about $700 and has a goretex outer shell and is a great bag. I happened to be camped out near Charlottes Pass on the coldest day ever recorded in Australia (-23C) and whilst I was in a tent with another I was warm. Ice formed on the inside of the tent and around my hood!

However, I also like to use a swag when I'm car touring and have found that down bags compress under the weight of the canvas and become cold...even these expensive ones. For car-camping and general touring, I would recommend similar bags to those other replies in the thread and agree to ignore the numerical rating system. Look for a 3 - 4 season bag made of a good quality synthetic, such as Hollowfill/Qualofill etc (there are probably more fancy names for it these days). Also consider looking for one with a water resistant outer that breathes....ie Gore Dry Loft or similar....even swags get a little condensation in them, particuarly in colder weather.

You will know if you are a 'cold sleeper' or 'warm sleeper' in comparison to others that you go away with. If you're a cold sleeper get the next warmest bag than you think you'll need and vice versa.

Cheers,

Mark

PS yep....bit of a gear freak!