3 season camping: down or synthetic (or other solution)

[mayfly]

I am curious to know what people prefer to use by way of sleeping bags (or other sleeping solutions) for 3 season camping (i.e. could be hot, warm, chilly, wet and windy but the temperature not likely to get very low and certainly not stay below 0 for any period). I think I know the advantages in theory of both materials, but it's always good to get practical views. If you could cite any specific bags that work for you, that would be great.

Chris

 

[Scout]

I use a synthetic bag with a blanket during the colder months.


Nathan

 

[Miyagi]

In the winter I use a bouncing bomb/green maggot.

The rest of the time I use an 80's envelope shaped foil lined moonbag (remember them) with a cheap tesco envelope bag on top. The tesco bag absorbs any condensation in the basha and dries quickly when aired. It also acts as a buffer against wet dog.

Liam

 

[blacktimberwolf]

I've been using a snugpak sleeper xtreme ( green) for the last 3 years & as yet, haven't been cold, even in temperatures below zero (°C), it is bulky though but that is no longer a problem now I use a PLCE bergen.
I've been using synthetic bags ever since I started back in 79, mostly because they are easier to clean & retain their insulation properties when damp & should they get wet, dry much quicker than a down bag ( without rotting either)

 

[Lou]

I now use a synthetic bag from Mountain Hardwear which goes down to -17c after being very cold whilst using an older bag but I also have a goosedown full length jacket from Patagonia which folds up very very tiny, which I use underneath and sometimes inside the bag.

 

[Kerne]

Being a kit junkie, I have two down bags - an Alpkit pipedream for the warmer months and an ME lightline for winter. I add a silk liner and sometimes a bivi bag when it's proper cold.

 

[Toddy]

I'm at the stage of giving up on sleeping bags altogether and using an ordinary quilt and woolen blankets on top of my down mat
Sounds really daft I suppose, but I've got really good bags and I'm not really comfortable in any of them. I hate being squished like a maggot.
My quilt weighs the same as a bag, is much more comfortable to adjust and it's easier in and out
I've used it the last two or three times out and it just works so well.

Yeah, yeah I know, white isn't such a good idea ...so I made dark green coverslip for it and my mat too They get thrown in the washing machine and tumble drier when I get home and it's all neat and clean for the next trip.

cheers,
M

 

[drewdunnrespect]

Why not just use a antartic re by snugpack and is synthetic and goes down to minus 50
Yes admittedly u need a 120 litre rucksack to carry it but its worth it cos u ain't cold

 

[comeonbabylightmyfire]

I too have the Snugpack Sleeper Extreme and although warm it's mahoosive and very heavy. Personally I find it too warm. Earlier this year I bought the down Alpkit Skyehigh 650 which has a much smaller pack size and is over a kilo lighter. I've got a choice of silk, cotton and fleece liners depending upon the conditions.

 

[treadlightly]

Unless weight is the most important factor (ie when backpacking), I take wool or synthetic so I don't have to worry about getting it wet.

 

[wizard]

I guess I am the ultimate kit junky as I have 5 down bags and at least as many synthetic ones...what can I say, I had a job that paid too much and I never saved any it!
I prefer to carry a down bag as long as I know I am going to be in a tent. Not a great a chance to get the bag wet. I like the lighter weight and I like the more breathable aspect of a down bag.
If I am going to be using a tarp or hootchie arrangement or a hammock (seldom) I prefer a synthetic bag. They dry faster and are warmer when damp. If you get down wet, it stays wet and provides no insulation. My most commonly used synthetic is a US GI green patrol bag, rated to 35F. I usually snap it into the Gore-Tex bivy if there is a possiblity of rain. I do live in the desert, so rain is rare most times of the year.

 

[Andy BB]

Over the years I've collected dozens of sleeping bags, and survived them all! My first snow-camping kit was two ultra-cheap nylon sleeping bags, one inside the other. As warm as my subsequent Blacks Karakorum down bag (then the ultimate bit of kit for bike rallies), but not as comfortable. Thats also when I found out that - despite a decent waterproof tent (Vango Force 10 Mk 5), sleeping bags could still get wet for a whole variety of reasons, and when they do, down bags are a complete bust. Which was when I got my first fibre-pile bags (Survival Aids) - they made an inner/outer combination that you could mix and match depending on the temperature, and had nifty gadgets like zips so you could stick your arms out whilst the rest of your body was still in the bag. The key feature however was that they retained heat even when wet, much better than an equivalent "artificial down" bag. I still have - and use - one of these some 30 years after buying it (in fact it stays in the car for those Just-in-case situations). I believe Buffalo still make something similar. Really easy to wash too.

 

[ged]

I'm allergic to down so for me it has to be synthetic. I find it difficult to control my temperature when I'm asleep and so I tend to overheat and sweat a lot. That means my sleeping bag invariably used to end up wet in the morning, just from sweat condensing on the outer shell. I found that sleeping with a breathable bivi as well as the sleeping bag (even in a tent) seems to prevent the condensation from forming on the sleeping bag and it stays a lot drier, although I tend to wake up with both bags unzipped because I've been even hotter. Just a thin bivi gives quite a lot of extra warmth.

Late last year I got a Jerven bag. They're absolutely fantastic and although I've only really used it in very sub-zero conditions, just lying it on the ground with a sleeping bag inside it, no tent or tarp. I think it would be excellent without even a sleeping bag for anything that you're likely to experience in the UK. I tried it once at Rough Close in late spring and I was too hot, so I'm looking forward to winter! Jerven bags are totally impervious to water so they need airing often and definitely before packing them away. Oh, I forgot -- the main reason I mentioned the Jerven bag is that there's loads of room in them. Mine's big enough for two people, in fact the wife and I have been in it comet watching in the snow in November.

 

[Lurch]

My top favourite bag right now is the Nanok Airlock (no link so I don't get a slap for advertising!), this is down on the inside and synthetic on the outside.
The blurb:

This sleeping bag has a design solution never seen before; a patented self closing neck baffle. This feature, combined with a construction that involves both fibre and down makes this sleeping bag a unique product. The sleeping bag is a two layer construction with fibre as the outside layer, for optimal protection against the elements. The inner layer closest to your body is down filled; thus protecting the warm down filling from the damp inside the tent and providing the maximum comfort.

Mine is a -5 which I'd rate as actually warmer than my Endurance -10 (definitely way more comfortable), Nanok have also just introduced a -10 (in summer!) which I'll also be liberating for 'long term test'!

 

[Tiley]

The choice depends on a number of things: am I carrying it? Will the weather be dry or wet? are the two principal questions. For the first, down is lighter and more compressible but next to useless if the weather is going to be s**te and you get it wet. I have and use a Kifaru synthetic bag which is superb as it is roomy enough to move around in, warm enough for most conditions wherever and both compressible and light. That said, I do like the look of the Nanok bag that Lurch mentions...

For colder weather, I would always use down simply because pound-for-pound weight, they are warmer and I am generally more careful about my set-up in winter so the chances of getting it wet are dramatically reduced!

 

[Squidders]

I used to have to decide on which of my many sleeping bags did I want but I found that made me a terrible bore.

Now I just use my british army 90 pattern (or whatever it's called, the one with the 2 mesh pockets.) - this is nice and warm in the winter when i'm in it and fine when it's warm when i'm either on or under it with my feet out. No more packing dilemas, the bag is built like a tank and is warm-ish when damp if the excrement hits the fan.

 

[wentworth]

Down for me. I've used it on extended wet weather trips in my hammock under a tarp. It's carried in a drybag lined with a garbage bag. What are you all doing that you end up with sopping sleepingbags?

 

[ged]

... What are you all doing that you end up with sopping sleepingbags?

Sweating, in my case. It's always been a problem for me, especially when I've been training a lot. I'm well past my competition days but I still often wake up soaked in sweat. Sometimes I go to sleep on a towel, then I can throw it out in the middle of the night when it's soggy.

 

[wentworth]

You sound like a human furnace! I agree, down may not be the best choice!

 

[udamiano]

In our wonderful British Climate I tend to opt for Synthetic, especially if bivying, if in a nice dry tent I use a down bag in the winter, if unsure what the weather I take the synthetic