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Sleeping bags, quilts, blankets, oh my!

matty said:
In all but the very warmest of Temps, i use a vry old but well made and cotton lined with eider down Brass Zipper sleping bag that has only two small Patch repairs and some new stitching on the zipper tape in my own use in the best part of fifty years. I got it in 1974 and would say it was fiftys or sixtys when produced.
Not waterproof not light not compact . not easy to dry if your unlucky enough to get it wet(Never a good idea with down).
I use and have done since the 80s British army gortex bivi bag this combo keeps you dry and super warm no matter the weather and even if your fly sheep camping.
I have a few Lighteight Synth bags , not bad for what they are and ok for summer temps, but i have had to keep gear on on occasion when using in colder temps.
I have used wool army blankets on occasion in the past, and they work to a point, and if you can build a bit of heat in the tent and its not too cold wool blankets will suffice.
Not just the thermal efficiencey but more the breathableness of bags etc, I once had a thiner down bag great for packing smallish, but it was a sort of glossy green/ blue nylon sort of outer, that was an absolute pain for condensation and ultimately WET, I hated that bag, i woke up one morning at a bike meet yet again shivering and that was it the straw that broke the camels back it was draped on the door of a skip and left, no doubt some poor sould took that thing home and had a few thourghly misserable night with that before perhaps pitching it down for the dog to sleep on perhaps.
My tip for cold in a tent or even a fly, keep youur throat well covered covered and your mouth out.
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Well seeing you are from the UK, do you remember the company Blacks? In 1969 I bought a Blacks Icelandic down bag for $49.00 canadian. Egyptian cotton with brass zippers and pure down no feathers. What a great bag it was! I also bought the down filled cotton liner which allowed me to winter camp in as low as minus 25 C. I had this bag and liner for 42 years until repairs would not hold any more and down floated in the tent every time I used it. I watched our buy and sell for a year and then one day up pops 2 Blacks Icelandic bags!! Owner used them as quilts in his volks van for a year and then hung them in his closet, they were mint! I bought both for $75.00 A down bag of this quality if still made would be close to the 1000 mark. Does not pack very small but on a moto, I dont care, what I do care about is sleeping warm.
 
I use the Zenbivy down filled. Paired with a insulated pad... Awesome! It's a quilt or a bag. I would never go back to a Mummy bag. Ever.
 
cal said:
Well seeing you are from the UK, do you remember the company Blacks? In 1969 I bought a Blacks Icelandic down bag for $49.00 canadian. Egyptian cotton with brass zippers and pure down no feathers. What a great bag it was! I also bought the down filled cotton liner which allowed me to winter camp in as low as minus 25 C. I had this bag and liner for 42 years until repairs would not hold any more and down floated in the tent every time I used it. I watched our buy and sell for a year and then one day up pops 2 Blacks Icelandic bags!! Owner used them as quilts in his volks van for a yer and then hung them in his closet, they were mint! I bought both for $75.00 A down bag of this quality if still made would be close to the 1000 mark. Does not pack very small but on a moto, I dont care, what I do care about is sleeping warm.
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Yep I know blacks products well, i curently have a blacks tent and have had nemerous blacks gear over the years. i had a Small blacks dome tent, my brother Borowed without my consent (Late 70s) on one of his drunked fishing jaunts with the gang retrobates he associates with, and he promptle decided to cook in it and set fire to it and only thing i am rather glad about, it was a wet misserable time, and he had to sleep in a ford escort mk1 van that was wetter inside with the condensation than it was outside.
Blacks gear i think is ok, its got china buiild these days AFAIK but my blacks 3 Man is well made and surviving well and in its 10th year now and we use it between 20 and 30 times a year all weathers.
 
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Besides a good sleeping bag or quilt, the other important part of a sleep system is the sleeping pad. The right one can add several degrees of warmth, not to mention being more comfortable being on the ground.
Personally I use a Exped down filled mat which is both warm and comfy no matter the conditions. YMMV
 
I have two thermarest pads which are rated to minus 6 c, wife and i use in the caterham camping trips. i also have a z lite sol i use solo camping in summers on the bikes , the ground sucks heat out of you even in relatively mild temps.
If you are on a super tight budget a cheap sleeping pad thats suprisingly thermal retaining for the money is one made from 5 £ shop neoprene lap top covers fastened together with fishing braid, dont laugh, they actually work and for a fiver the cheapest show in town.
 
Quilts are the best. I have two. An enlightened Equipment Revelation from around 2015 and a newer Hammock Gear Burrow econ. Both 20. The burrow was meant to be an upgrade from the EE. I store my quilts uncompressed, but when traveling I compress as much as I can. I like saving the space, and when I got my EE, I asked them about it, and they said knock yourself out, so I do:lol3 Over the years, I started noticing a loss in fluff and figured I'd replace it with the HG. It packs twice the size, but is quite nice.

Recently, I tried washing the EE in Nikwax Downwash, and wow! What a difference after tumbling low/no heat with tennis balls for a couple hrs. I noticed some of the fill was just gone from the baffles. A google and I found Loose Goose down supply. Currently, topping up the EE with 900fill hyperdry goodness. Even have a decent system down. If you've never worked with down. I mean, wow, what a potential for a mess! Looking forward to being back to my EE. An 8oz bag goes a loooooong way! The Burrow can be back up for the wife if she ever decides to go camping
 
Good info about the down. All of my down bags and jackets are fine for now. Looking forward to get a top loading washing machine without agitator as that will work for cleaning them all.
 
This is a very informative read. I’m new to camping off a bike so I never really had to pay much mind to the size and weight of my gear. My first overnighter was last month and then did another trip earlier this month. I weighed every item I packed and my tent and sleeping gear was by far the heaviest out of everything. There’s a lot to learn.
 
DJ_MI said:
This is a very informative read. I’m new to camping off a bike so I never really had to pay much mind to the size and weight of my gear. My first overnighter was last month and then did another trip earlier this month. I weighed every item I packed and my tent and sleeping gear was by far the heaviest out of everything. There’s a lot to learn.
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The advancements in Down and synthetic shell fabrics have made some really light weight sleeping kit. Unfortunately you have to pay to play
 
x2 on the pad. I finally ponied up the coin for a Big Agnes Q-core Deluxe Insulated. Holy cow, why didn't I do this earlier? I sleep better on it than my mattress at home.

In another shout out to Big Agnes: their 'bikepacking' tents are fantastic. The poles are shorter for bicycle camping, but it makes them short enough to go into rackless or panniers great too. The bikepacking version comes w/ a molle-like compression sack that can pack outside your gear bags on the bike great too. I have the Copper Spur 2 person. Perfect for 1 person + all your bike gear so it doesn't get wet/dewy. 3 of us have the same ones and love them.
 
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