Sleeping Bag - Mountain Ghost?

[UKYanky]

Went camping at the weekend (I'll post a vid and pics later) but damn my 16 year old Vango 1200 was not up to the temperature drop. I think the bags had its day and will be resigned as a summer bag for future trips (or maybe scrapped sadly :sniff: ).

So Im looking for a Bag that can do the cold nights, I have a 5 day Dartmoor trip coming up at Easter and Im looking for a bag that can stand up to the last of the 'cold' nights.

Seen the Mountain Ghost by Alpkit and wondered if any one is using it, is it any good? What about for back packing/ Wild camping?

Any other decent bags at the sub £100 mark?

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Are you well built and need a big bag, do you want something that packs small?
im a big fan of the Carinthia D4 as its wide and warm and can be had used for around 60-80 quid.

 

[UKYanky]

Yep I'm biggish. 6 ft and overweight lol.
I will take a look at that bag. Thanks

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

[Leshy]

The new issue midweight british army sleeping bag has carried me through this winter with just a bivvy cover.
Top bag for the price , and it's pretty much a copy of the Carinthia defense 4 .
Only slightly cheaper...

Alternatively , the old British surplus cold weather bags (pattern90?) I think are pretty good , just bulky to carry...

Either way good luck ip in Dartmoor bud!👍

 

[Old Bones]

If your looking at the £100 mark, see whats available on Ebay etc for 2nd hand down bags - warmer for the weight, smaller bulk and longer lasting.

 

[Amy Turner]

I have VAUDE Sioux 800 and its works fine in chill

 

[UKYanky]

Also seen this which might fit the bill,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Softie-Elite-Sleeping-Bag-Olive/dp/B0042QMGE6

 

[Highbinder]

The mountain ghost has a comfort of 4.3C, I would not consider that a bag for "cold nights" unless you're a very warm sleeper.

 

[caorach]

Also seen this which might fit the bill,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Softie-Elite-Sleeping-Bag-Olive/dp/B0042QMGE6

I have the Snugpack Tactical 3 which I believe they rate to -7. They are known for being very, very optimistic in their temp ratings and they don't use the standard testing method so they can't be compared with other bags. I have to use synthetic as the down ones make me ill, unfortunately.

However, I quite like the snugpack and it is a robust and pretty large bag, though I'm small but you can get extra long ones. In terms of temperature rating then that isn't so easy. In just a t-shirt and pair of y-fronts I woke cold in mine on a July night in the Hebrides but air temps were probably well down in single figures, maybe 4 - 5 degrees and I feel the cold when sleeping. I popped on a thermal top and went back to sleep and woke with the heat once the sun hit my tent around 0800 Given this, and assuming not wearing any thermal layers in the bag, then I'd guess that a Snugpack -10 rating is worth around about 0 degrees for most people but you can always add extra layers. The only slight problem is if travelling light you may not have dry layers to add, or you may not be comfortable sleeping in lots of layers. At nearly 2kg and assuming a 0 degree real world rating then the Snugpack is very heavy, and probably pretty bulky, when compared to a down bag with a 0 degree rating. A Marmot Hydrogen, for example, would give you an EN rating of 0.9 degrees for 0.7kg but you would be looking at a lot more cash.

Another thing that might be worth at least investigating is that I've heard that the UK made Snugpack bags are a lot better quality than the imported ones. I know my Tactical was UK made but don't know about the Softies.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I recently got the mountain ghost 300. Admittedly I've only used it once (two weeks ago!) but first impressions are very good. The 300 has a comfort limit of -5 (they have two other cheaper Mountain ghost bags with higher ratings). This is my second alpkit bag and in my experience their temp ratings are pretty good. Customer service is amazing too.

 

[JohnLondon]

How do you find the Mountain ghost for size? I do not like bags that are too restrictive & like a bit of room in a sleeping bag.

 

[Barney Rubble]

How do you find the Mountain ghost for size? I do not like bags that are too restrictive & like a bit of room in a sleeping bag.

I'm 5'11" and a little over 16st and find the bag has enough room. Only area where I have noticed a bit of confinement is around the shoulders. Alpkit put advice online about what sort of size person the bags wil suit and I don't think they're too far off

 

[UKYanky]

Hmm ok this puts the Mountain Ghost back in the frame I think. Im just shy of 6ft and my weight fluctuates to 16st now and again. How many litres of space does it take up Barney?

 

[Barney Rubble]

In terms of pack down size, the Mountain Ghost 300 is the largest of their synthetic range. Mine weighs just over a kilo and takes up about 10ltrs (maybe a little more) but thats a guess. I'm familiar with the size of a lot of Vango's 3/4 season bags and would be willing to bet a sizeable chunk of money on the Alpkit bag being smaller!

The other two sleeping bags will obviously be smaller as they have less insulation. It is a nice thick sleeping bag though with lots of filling, I've not doubt it'll keep me warm in just my undercrackers down to -5 and potentially render my artic sleeping bag as surplus to requirements.

My advice would be to just take a punt on it or one of the other variants in the Mountain Ghost range. If you don't get on with it then the worst case scenario is that you can send it back for a refund. I've nothing but praise for Alpkit customer service.

I had one of their older Mountain Ghost sleeping bags for almost two years, it was really good, held true to its comfort ratings (-1). But in the last couple of months the synthetic filling started to clump together (kind of like down). I emailed Alpkit asking for advice to rectify the matter (I figured I could tumble dry it or something) and without hesitation they replied stating that there was a known issue with the filling and offered me a replacement for one of the new models. They even covered the postage for returning my old bag. Given it was nearly two years old, I genuinely didn't expect that.

 

[UKYanky]

Wow, thats fantastic customer service.

Actually I think you have sold me on it. 10 Litres give or take is pretty good in my opinion for a warm bag.

Thanks Barny!