Sleeping Bags

Gday Mike
I purchased a few from Rays , minus 5 minus 10 and they are just to good when the weather is not cold enough.They were on special . Supposed to be $70 each, but they had some to get rid of, so I purchased 6 at $11 each. I have two, little Wes has two and little Ben has two.
Murray

Hi Mike, SWMBO and I have 0 degree bags that zip together, brand is Roman.

There was a thread on here recently about the rating method manufacturers use to come up with their 0 degree rating, and said it was not really accurate.

My wife bought 2 polar fleece blankets, and sewed them together on 3 sides, to make a liner. Very warm, too hot at times, but we are also in a camper trailer, which means off the ground and on a 5" foam mattress.

Might be best to do a search, see if you can find that thread, very informative.
I think the bags we bought were only about $90 each, so not exactly top of the heap.
Cheers, Dave

If you zip them together they are not as warm. Our sleeping bags have all been around the zero degree rating. We use a double swag - either out in the open, or in the tent. We zip the sleeping bags together when its not too cold, but when its near freezing we run them separate - its warmer that way and you can still cuddle up!

And like above, the mattress is half the story - air mattresses tend to transmit the cold. If you slip one of those high density foam campmats underneath your normal mattress, it provides extra insulation.

Hi Mike
There is no substitute for a warm night in the Desert, and I am afraid that a "0" Degree rated sleeping bag will not keep you warm when the mercury drops down below 0 and it gets down real cold. There are many factors that make a good bag, but you should start at a minimum of -5 rating or lower. Our Australian made Puradown Bags are rated at -7, cost us a lot of money 15 years ago and keep us as warm as toast in the coldest of nights. Our record so far in the swag is -5.5 out on Googs Track 3 years ago, and next morning you could tell who had good bags and those that tried to save a few dollars and have less rated bags.

Do yourself a favour, buy some good quality rated bags and you will be kept warm for many your to come.


Cheers

Stephen

Sounds Good we are looking at a couple that are about $170.00 { hope you get what you pay for they are Duck down} each & also we have one of those self inflating mattresses that are pretty dense foam which we found heaps better than a
Mike

I have a -5C sleeping bag, brand is Roman and cost was around $140. It's been the best bag I've bought for the cold weather. The coldest I've slept in has been -7C. I wear thermals to bed as well when it's below 0C.

While you can zip the Roman bags together, they're at their most efficient when you use the hood and tighten the drawstring so that only your face is showing. This means that your body heat is trapped within the bag. It's amazing how much heat you lose when the top of the bag is not drawn tight or no hood used. If you zip two bags together, make sure you can use the hoods and draw the bag in tight to prevent heat loss through the top.

I'd also suggest that you get what you pay for, especially in the quality and efficiency of the insulation material used. The quality bags also have overlays to prevent heat loss around the zips, some have foot pockets for extra warmth. A sleeping bag liner also adds to warmth, cotton liners are good but the silk ones are warmer. Hope this helps.

Get one with at least 500 gm of good quality down preferably 750 they will cost heaps but worth it. We have 30 year old good quality down sleeping bags Paddy Palin. Good quality sleeping bags will last a life time.

Hi. I'm not sure what some of these ratings are all about. I cannot believe you can buy a sleeping bag for under $100 that will keep you warm at 0 degrees C. We have several sleeping bags, and our serious bags are pure goose down, rated in the old language as 'four seasons bags', and we wouldn't expect to replace them below $500 each (mine is about 30 years old, so I can't remember what it cost, but it was hundreds then).
I can sleep with no thermals above the snow line, and I reckon Aroona Valley in July is about the same!!
Like others have said, if you want to be warm, forget about zipped together side zip bags. Best thing is to share a single mummy bag - that'll keep you warm - and busy).
The alternative to goose down is a synthetic bag, and the best of these are a fair bit bulkier and heavier than down (ie if you are backpacking), a bit cheaper, but still not that cheap if you are buying a serious bag.

Don't waste your money on the Oztrail Lawson Hooded -5C bags; they definitely DON'T keep you warm under 10C. They were a real dissapointment as we had heard good things about them. At the time of purchase they were supposedly heavily reduced at just over $80 each.

Bags do perform differently under different conditions, as do people. It isn't easy to find something just right for you. Unfortunately, stores don't run a try before you buy for sleeping bags. Which is a pity.
So good hunting....

We use the Roman Swag Bag. 2 zipped together keeps us toasty. The most we have needed is a crochet blanket over the top of it on some really frosty nights.

Also as said above, the mattress is key. It must have some sort of foam to insulate between you and the ground. It can come down to a balance of the amount of insulation versus the amount of space taken up in the car. We use a 50mm queen size thermarest mattress that folds in half (or in quarters if you push more air out of it). That insulates really well.

Cheers
Muddy

I disagree re advice on down and superdown. If you are getting down, superdown is far better BUT. It's a question of weight. Really good down is ultra expensive. It's big asset is weight for warmth. Fantastic if you want max warmth for min weight ie, snow hiking or mountaineering. Overkill for the $ if you have a campertrailer and vehicle to carry stuff in my opinion. Also, all down is completely useless if it gets at all wet. Good quality synthetic is much more durable, easy to wash and dry (ever washed a superdown bag? I have both super down and synthetic bags and only use the superdown when weight/warmth is a major issue). We also have a QS superdown doona that we have used in a double swag below minus 6 in central Oz, when there was ice all over the swag. Warm as toast inside however.The big advantage of the doona is that it is in a doona cover so the down bag itself is going to stay clean. But you have to have a goodinsulating matress as well no matter what is on top. Completely support previous comments about not using inflatable matress underneath
Really warm bags are orrible when it gets warmer. Usually now we have a double swag, a QS synthetic doona (from Target) in a cotton doona cover plus a polarfleece qs blanket for extra cold nights. That combo is cheap; versatile for any temp range and all easy to wash and dry and all will keep you warm even if they are wet. Add beanies for reaaly cold nights to take care of the ears. If hot, sleep inside doona cotton cover with doona underneath.

Two bags are better than one. After all we are travelling by vehicle, not hiking with a backpack. We like a good wide, comfortable bag each (Roman from Dept store around $60) plus a similar one that opens out and can be used as a throw over on extra cold nights. 100mm self inflating "Jumbo Mats" to lie on inside the tent of course. I hate those cocoon or mummy bags that don't allow you to spin around inside.

Kingo

Probably not the answer you were looking for about individual bags but I went to the Salvation Army op shop and got a couple of cheap bags to use as doonas over the top of our regular bags. If it's warm we use single bags if it is cold we cover up with the second bag opened out and used as a blanket. We also have thermal underwear and wool beanies to use at night if it's really cold.

KK

I got a Caribee Tundra to replace Roman Big Boy [it died a natural death]....use it above Thermarest + sheet of closed-cell foam = toasty

eng

G'day Mike

Not sure if Roman still make a 'Four Seasons' and think it was later labelled 'Gemini'...it's rated to -7C and comprises of two sleeping bags (one inside the other). The beauty of this is that in hot weather you just use one bag which is much thinner than carting the thick bag during the warmer months and naturally in cold weather use both. They connect via long zips and also open out flat or can be zipped together to make a double...which btw, won't be as warm as both of you in single bags. Can't remember exactly what I paid for mine but $170 comes to mind. I also carry a feather and down doona and have been glad I had it in the desert on several trips.

A silver tarp on the ground is good for insulation, then on top of that I spread one of those 70's style woven cotton single bedspreads (stop laughing!!) LOL!! Being cotton and reasonably thick it does a fabulous job of insulating you from the cold ground, if I'm camped in a tent I use it as a floor rug. These days I think the only place you'd find one would be the local Op Shop.

Finally pack a polar fleece blanket or two, they are extremely lightweight and trap body warmth to keep you really warm. Rather than buy a ready made blanket, just buy 1.5 or 2 metres of polar fleece from Spotlight...would probably be on end-of-season sale around now sometime. It doesn't fray so if you don't have an overlocker won't need to have the edges finished. Some polar fleeces are bonded to a similar weight but different colour, these would be Ok too. If you sew, you can make the polar fleece into a poncho which can be worn during happy hour then double as a blanket for sleeping.

Hope this helps?
Bronwyn ;-)