Sleeping bag for my wife.

[Sparrowhawk]

Hi all.
I'm in the process of equipping my wife for her first ever taste of Camping and I'm stuck on the sleeping bag. It needs to be warm enough to keep her toasty in the most inhospitable British Easter weather (she's a very cold sleeper) and also light enough to be hauled around the countryside (she's 5ft tall and weighs 98lbs) and also needs to come in at no more than about £100.00 (we're skint!).
I know that I can make it warmer by adding a liner, but to be honest I'm going to do that no matter what I buy; she really is a very cold sleeper.
She wants me to buy two of a kind that I can zip together to make a double (her reasoning being that I can keep her wearm) but won't that be way too pricey?

Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

All the best,

Josh H

 

[plastic-ninja]

I know what you mean Josh.My wife is freezing in any sleeping bag.Grab her a Snugpak softie and then add a cheap fleece blanket as a liner.You could sew up the edges to make it warmer still.Softies are often for sale on Ebay for reasonable money.
If that doesnt keep her warm she may be undead!!!! :-D

 

[unorthadox]

Hi all.
I'm in the process of equipping my wife for her first ever taste of Camping and I'm stuck on the sleeping bag. It needs to be warm enough to keep her toasty in the most inhospitable British Easter weather (she's a very cold sleeper) and also light enough to be hauled around the countryside (she's 5ft tall and weighs 98lbs) and also needs to come in at no more than about £100.00 (we're skint!).
I know that I can make it warmer by adding a liner, but to be honest I'm going to do that no matter what I buy; she really is a very cold sleeper.
She wants me to buy two of a kind that I can zip together to make a double (her reasoning being that I can keep her wearm) but won't that be way too pricey?

Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

All the best,

Josh H

Some decent pjs will also help a lot, plenty of smart thermals on the market which are also pretty cheap

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

^^ hot water bottle or or really really hot coffee in a alum canteen work nicely

 

[mcniac]

my girlfriend love a synthetic bag i have, is rated -12C (as extreme) I use it for mountaineering, specially if I go in winter and without tent, she uses it even in spring! I wouls suggest some synthetic bag, and instead of a liner get some sort of bivy bag, those can add up to 5C over the confort level of the bag.

I hope this helps

 

[Nova & Pinky]

Pinky and i have Alpkit Skyehigh 600s in left/right versions that can be zipped together. We used them at -5 in January. It's not a great idea to zip them together for warmth though, as when you sleep like that, larger air pockets form which are less efficient at keeping heat in, so you can actually get colder.
Invest in good sleeping mats as well, as they are just as important. The exped downmats are good, or i use an Alpkit Dirtbag.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Pinky and i have Alpkit Skyehigh 600s in left/right versions that can be zipped together. We used them at -5 in January. It's not a great idea to zip them together for warmth though, as when you sleep like that, larger air pockets form which are less efficient at keeping heat in, so you can actually get colder.
Invest in good sleeping mats as well, as they are just as important. The exped downmats are good, or i use an Alpkit Dirtbag.

Yeah I've looked at the alpkit stuff, it looks like pretty good kit with a reasonable price tag. I do take the point about zipping together though, that thought had gone through my mind a few times.
The advice about the PJs and hot water bottle is also very helpful.
It's the same old conundrum: Do I buy a lightweight bag because she's such a dwarf and the risk her being cold, or do I buy a nice thick bag because she's one of the undead and then risk her being bowed under the weight of the thing?

The general consesus, if I'm right, is to buy a mid weight/mid range bag and then take good insulating mats, thermal PJs, blankets, liners and hot water bottles.

Can I get a Amen?

 

[Nova & Pinky]

I'd agree to that - and it's generally easier to warm up than to cool down. A midweight bag will be better in summer anyway and give you more overall flexibility.
To be fair, I prefer to sleep cool, but I was warm enough wearning non-thermal base layers and using a 5mm self-inflating mat when it was freezing. I'd imagine wearing thermal base/mid layers and a hot water bottle, she should be fine.