Anybody any experience with carinthia sleeping bags ?

[Nelis]

OK here is the deal...

I have some money comming in soon and am looking to replace my very bulky 5 kilograms worth of sleeping bag (dutch army) for something lighter. As I'm a big guy (about 2 meters and 120 kilograms) I need something with a lot of room.

Also would like something nice and warm.

I came acros this one:

http://www.military-sleeping-bags.com/sleepingbag_details.asp?Sleeping_Bag_ID=4

Still bulky, but 5 cm in each direction smaller and a whooping 3 kg lighter.

Anybody any experience with them or can reccommend something similar ?

Oh yes imnportant.... I like the centre zip for getting into the hammock more easily.

 

[Alfa]

Hi,

I myself have the sleepingbag system Defence 4. It consist of their Defence and their tropical sleeping bag. Together they make a very warm, versatile package. Mind you it is not the smallest package, not the lightest. Quality is top notch. For me it works great, if fact so good that I don't use my Ajungilak's anymore( which are very good also).
I used the Tropical down to about 5°C with no problem. The Defence 4 was used to about -10°C again with no problem. One word of causing though, be mindfull of the temperatures. When both bags are used together, it must me really cold. I made the mistake of using them together at the aforementioned -10 and was sweating like ...
For me at least, their temp ratings are very good.
I bought it at [http://www.riehl-military.com/shop/catalog/default.php]. I bought them at their special offer price, 229 euro's excluding shipping ( 17 euro's). That's about 193.5 pounds and 14.5 pounds for shipping. Again, maybe not the cheapest, but IMHO worth every penny.
I have no connection with either the shop of Carinthia apart from being a happy costumer and user.
I'll report later on the Defence 4 when I'm back from the Ardennes.

 

[Mastino]

I use the Brenta (-10) and it is an excellent bag, snug and not too heavy. Ik can reccomend it. The Carinthia bags are IMO also standard issue for the Swedish & Finnish armies; perhaps there are some nordic servicemen that can elaborate on their experience...

 

[big_swede]

Yep, used our version of some sleeping system, i.e. a summer bag, a winter bag, and a bivvy. The two sleeping bags can be combined into a extreme cold bag.

Too heavy to be of any recreational use for me at least. Buy a good down bag instead. It's always worth it.

Sure, their hard wearing and green. But the weight and the fact that they loose insulation over the years make them a bad investment imho.

 

[Nelis]

OK but I'm concerned about buying a down bag, because everyone in the stores always say they are not for outdoor use here in the netherlands, because it gets to moist in autumn.

Also the carinthia are the only ones I have found so far that do special bags for taller persons. And since I already have 2 (cheap) bags I don't fit into, I don't want this to happen if I buy a bag of 180 euro's or more.

Any opinions on these remarks?

 

[big_swede]

Stupid salespersons then. I only use down bags (if I use a sleeping bag, often it's the blanket) nowadays, with a bivvy it's no problem. www.roberts.pl does hi-quality custom bags for a small price. Alpkit also does tall versions, very cheap too. Cheaper than carinthia, and countless times better.