Well...... good morning.... sort of.
Last night I slept in my new Snugpak Antarctica Code Green Softie 18 Sleeping Bag, on the ground and on my Exped Synmat 7DLX sleeping mat.
The bag is rated down to -20C degrees, and as the weather forecast was for as low as -16 degrees I thought I'd give it a try out..... in the back garden in case I needed to chicken out and seek the warmth of the house. Go for it, I thought, dressed in only a T shirt and underpants plus thick socks. I expected to feel too hot in the bag. In the event, I was just right. Plenty warm enough but not too hot, even though I had the hood right up over my head, which was necessary. The bag did a great job of simply regulating my temperature and I didn't sweat up. My nose was cold, and I woke with a sinus ache in my right cheek and eye from the cold, (I slept on my left side), but I was aware of making sure that I breathed outside the bag.
I slept through to 7am, but in a fitful and disturbed sleep. Not because I was cold. Because I was constricted and uncomfortable. OK, I am a little over 15 stones in weight and 6ft 2" tall, but the main problem area in the bag was at the shoulders. It just wasn't big enough. It was extremely tight. Even at the hips it was only just possible to slide one hand between the bag and my skin.
I wanted to sleep longer than 7am as it was still dark. But I gave up due to the discomfort. A few times during the night I had rolled over onto my back..... and off the sleeping mat, which woke me up. There just wasn't room to turn without taking the whole bag with me. I think that if I had been in a hammock I might have rolled it over. There was plenty of room at the legs and feet despite the bag being a mummy shape, and there was room at the waist. But the hips and shoulders, no way. Now, Snugpak also sell a zip in infill expander panel which would have overcome those problems, I think, but I hadn't bought one of those. I will need to.
One of the main reasons I had purchased this bag was the advantage of the full length centre zip. If I was to use it in a hammock, then I wanted the security and balance of being able to get into the hammock with the bag open, and then zip it up around me. That zip. The manufacturers state that it is good for a quick exit if needed, and yes, it does that perfectly. But it was a sod to zip up. Once the zip reached the tightness of the hip area, and then on up to the top it was a real struggle. I made a mental note to add a good lanyard to the inner tag of the zip. By the time I got that zip all the way up I was warming up well..... with the effort. I also made a mental note to pre tighten the head hood in future too. It wasn't at all easy once inside the bag because of the restricted arm and shoulder area, and even when I did get it tightened and I relaxed, I found the cords dangling on my face as I lay on my left side. Eventually I sorted it though, and settled down to sleep.
The packed size of the bag. Its big!
When stuffed into its sack and compressed it is a massive 20" long and 12" diameter. (51cm x 30cm). That's a huge 36 litres. (And the best part of 3Kg in weight). In reality, if I put it inside my Karrimor Sabre 75 then there's precious little space for anything else. The Karrimor doesn't have any convenient places to put the bag on top or below either. So the Snugpak Antarctica is a sleeping bag that is for a base camp close to a vehicle, or I need to hire a Sherpa.
I apologise if much of this review sounds negative. But I am writing this after not having had a very good night's sleep. The Snugpak Antarctica Code Green Softie 18 Sleeping Bag is a very good bag, and it does what it claims. But only if you are lightly built person, and don't need to carry it far. I am going to have to spend another £30 on one of those expander panels, or perhaps even two of them. That's on top of the £125 that the bag cost.
Rod
Last night I slept in my new Snugpak Antarctica Code Green Softie 18 Sleeping Bag, on the ground and on my Exped Synmat 7DLX sleeping mat.
The bag is rated down to -20C degrees, and as the weather forecast was for as low as -16 degrees I thought I'd give it a try out..... in the back garden in case I needed to chicken out and seek the warmth of the house. Go for it, I thought, dressed in only a T shirt and underpants plus thick socks. I expected to feel too hot in the bag. In the event, I was just right. Plenty warm enough but not too hot, even though I had the hood right up over my head, which was necessary. The bag did a great job of simply regulating my temperature and I didn't sweat up. My nose was cold, and I woke with a sinus ache in my right cheek and eye from the cold, (I slept on my left side), but I was aware of making sure that I breathed outside the bag.
I slept through to 7am, but in a fitful and disturbed sleep. Not because I was cold. Because I was constricted and uncomfortable. OK, I am a little over 15 stones in weight and 6ft 2" tall, but the main problem area in the bag was at the shoulders. It just wasn't big enough. It was extremely tight. Even at the hips it was only just possible to slide one hand between the bag and my skin.
I wanted to sleep longer than 7am as it was still dark. But I gave up due to the discomfort. A few times during the night I had rolled over onto my back..... and off the sleeping mat, which woke me up. There just wasn't room to turn without taking the whole bag with me. I think that if I had been in a hammock I might have rolled it over. There was plenty of room at the legs and feet despite the bag being a mummy shape, and there was room at the waist. But the hips and shoulders, no way. Now, Snugpak also sell a zip in infill expander panel which would have overcome those problems, I think, but I hadn't bought one of those. I will need to.
One of the main reasons I had purchased this bag was the advantage of the full length centre zip. If I was to use it in a hammock, then I wanted the security and balance of being able to get into the hammock with the bag open, and then zip it up around me. That zip. The manufacturers state that it is good for a quick exit if needed, and yes, it does that perfectly. But it was a sod to zip up. Once the zip reached the tightness of the hip area, and then on up to the top it was a real struggle. I made a mental note to add a good lanyard to the inner tag of the zip. By the time I got that zip all the way up I was warming up well..... with the effort. I also made a mental note to pre tighten the head hood in future too. It wasn't at all easy once inside the bag because of the restricted arm and shoulder area, and even when I did get it tightened and I relaxed, I found the cords dangling on my face as I lay on my left side. Eventually I sorted it though, and settled down to sleep.
The packed size of the bag. Its big!
When stuffed into its sack and compressed it is a massive 20" long and 12" diameter. (51cm x 30cm). That's a huge 36 litres. (And the best part of 3Kg in weight). In reality, if I put it inside my Karrimor Sabre 75 then there's precious little space for anything else. The Karrimor doesn't have any convenient places to put the bag on top or below either. So the Snugpak Antarctica is a sleeping bag that is for a base camp close to a vehicle, or I need to hire a Sherpa.
I apologise if much of this review sounds negative. But I am writing this after not having had a very good night's sleep. The Snugpak Antarctica Code Green Softie 18 Sleeping Bag is a very good bag, and it does what it claims. But only if you are lightly built person, and don't need to carry it far. I am going to have to spend another £30 on one of those expander panels, or perhaps even two of them. That's on top of the £125 that the bag cost.
Rod
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