Choosing a down sleeping bag.

Choosing a down sleeping bag.

I've been looking to replace my down sleeping bag as my current Karrimor one has never kept me particularly warm. I camp in the north of England anytime from mid March to early November. Last year November was frosty at night so it can be fairly cold.

Having talked to a salesman in the lake district he advised that sleeping bag ratings are based on an average man, and don't necessarily apply to women. For women it is better to add on a few degrees. I have gone round and round in circles looking at different sleeping bags, but I seem to have settled on RAB - particularly because they are made in the UK!

I know that sleeping bags efficiency are based on body size - I am 5'7" and weigh abut 10stone, so I am not a big build and I do feel the cold. Would the RAB Atlas 750 Women's sleeping bag be suitable for the type of use I would make of it? I have also been looking at the Quantum 600, but I think this is probably over specced for what I need? Or would you suggest anything else. Any help would be gratefully received!

Many thanks, Sue

Dear Sue

Thank you for looking at www.walkandtravel.com and for your email.

It can be hard choosing a sleeping bag there is an element of confusion out there as to what warmth you should go for. From my experience Rab tend to be more accurate than others when they measure the rating of their sleeping bag. But you are right, they are based on an average male wearing a t shirt and shorts.

Women usually fell the cold more and if you have a high metabolism this can make you feel the cold a little more as well as many other factors such as how fatigued you are are, how much you had to eat, your size (if you are very petite there can be a lot of space in a sleeping bag for you to warm up!) and of course what you are wearing.

If you are buying the bag to use mainly in the summer and there is an odd chance that you will use it when it is colder you can always wear more clothes or add a silk sleeping bag liner. Silk sleeping bag liners can add warmth to the bag because of their thermal properties, but silk is also good at wicking away moisture from the body again reducing any potential cold spots that this may cause. A cotton liner on the other hand will adsorb moisture, but hold it next to your body which can create cold spots and draw the heat away from you.

The other really important aspect when choosing a sleeping bag, is thinking about the sleeping mat you are using. You can lose a lot of heat through the ground, more so that you lose though the air, through conduction. A good highly rated sleeping mat can also help with the efficiency of your sleeping bag.

One last consideration is the number of people in a tent! If you are in a three man tent on your own there is again, a lot more cold air sloshing around. If there are three of you in the same tent the air temperature will warm up considerably.

I think your choice of sleeping bag, the Rab Atlas 750 would be ideal, based on the info you have given, Rab class it as 3+ season with a comfortable temp rating of down to -12C.

If you are feeling chilly at the end of March or start of November you can always add an extra layer to sleep in. I would recommend the silk liner anyway as it will help keep your sleeping bag cleaner and you should only need to air it.

The Rab Quantum 600 is slightly warmer, going to -17c due to the better quality down that they use which also really helps to keep the weight down, weighing 1050g compared to 1500g for the Rab Atlas 750 Women's. The Quantum also uses Pertex Quantum fabric, which is much lighter. If you want a lightweight bag for back packing I then recommend the Rab Quantum 600, but for more general purpose use the Rab Quantum 750 would be better.

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions please let me know.

Sleeping Bag for the OMM Original Mountain Marathon

I am looking for a bag for omm in October , I was thinking Rab 250 endurance whats the view on need for this water resistant protection?
Also I am 5'6 tall so would I be better off with a shorter bag?

Regards, Jon

Dear Jon

Firstly sincere apologies for the late reply of the email, for some reason I missed it.

The Rab Quantum 250 Endurance is designed with mountain marathons in mind, along with the Rab AR (adventure racing) top bag.

The Endurance coating on the fabric does add another 50g to the weight of the Rab Quantum 250, taking it from 650g to 700g so if weight needs to be kept to an absolute minimum, then you may want to consider this. The Endurance coating makes the fabric waterproof, but the bag is not as they do not tape any of the seams. It make the bag ideal for things such as the OMM where there may be two of you squeezed into a very small tent such as a Terra Nova Laser Lite, where you can get condensation on your bag, making it heavier to carry the next day - then you have to make sure it gets dried out properly after the event.

The Rab Quantum series of sleeping bags is smaller all round than, for example, the Summit or the Atlas series, at 210 by 75cm, compared to 220 by 85cm. Sadly they don't do a shorter length in the Q250.

I hope this helps, if there is anything else you need to know, please feel free to ask.

The Rab Quantum 250 Endurance is now back in stock if you are still interested. It will be dispatched to you the next day after you order by Royal Mail Special Delivery, so it will be with you before 1pm the following working day.