what sleeping bag would you recomend

tea spoon · Senior Member

what sleeping bag would you recomend

RoboLB · Senior Member

Minus 5 to 10? Are you expecting freezing weather?

If I google average temps in Adelaide in October I get 21 day to 12 C night

When hiking in Europe, at a time of year with similar temps to SA in October, in fact a bit colder, I use a 5 to 10 C bag.

Whenarewethere · Guru

These days I need one I can get out of quickly!

I stopped using them as we sleep in or close to the car. Now use a doona. You can layer them up for different temperatures.

Underneath I use a Thermarest Luxury Map 75mm thick mattress. Very comfortable & plenty warm enough.

We also use a 1 litre Sigg water bottle in a very thick woollen sock for a hot water bottle. They never leak.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

Do you feel cold a lot? Are you all rugged up in jumpers? I feel hot most of the time, so a full-on sleeping bag would suffocate me. I do use a sleeping bag because it's very light and not bulky, but I use it opened up like a doona so I can kick it off if it''s too hot and can get it off me easily. If it's cold and I need more, I have another polyester "doona thing" that I can put over the top. It's a thing that you can put over your head like a poncho, or use as a picnic rug or as a blanket or a pillow (it has a bag). It's quite handy.

If you know you feel the cold, then get a warm bag, otherwise I'd recommend layers.

Ivan 01 · Guru

An empty one is generally the most comfortable but if its cold then an occupied one can be warming and beneficial. biggrin

At the end the choice is yours.

-- Edited by Ivan 01 on Friday 8th of July 2022 10:42:41 PM

86GTS · Guru

Reasonable quality sleeping bags at an affordable price have been available for some time.
They weigh very little so we have two Winter bags & two Summer bags.
Sleeping bag liners are available in cotton or warmer flanelette

hufnpuf · Senior Member

86GTS wrote:
Reasonable quality sleeping bags at an affordable price have been available for some time.

Aldi's got one today on their "special buys", down bag $129. Could be worth a look.

peter67 · Guru

86GTS wrote:
Reasonable quality sleeping bags at an affordable price have been available for some time.
They weigh very little so we have two Winter bags & two Summer bags.
Sleeping bag liners are available in cotton or warmer flanelette

+1,2,3,4 and 5 on the cotton liners for sleeping bags Sea to summit make expensive but good stretch liners, very comfortable when used with a Coleman C5 sleeping bag, cheers.

Bobdown · Guru

If you are in a 'tent'.........go for the -10.

Cheers Bob

Whenarewethere · Guru

Depends on the size of the tent. We have a 3 man (in all reality 2 man) Macpac tent. The smaller the tent the warmer you are.

I remember one campground, in the morning everyone else was frozen in their tents, the size of a country estate, they thought we would have turned into solid blocks of ice.

We were too hot & just survived! Maybe stretching it a little, but we were plenty warm enough & had to uncover.

Packing foam/sheet about 5mm thick is quite handy to create additional barriers. Helps reduce condensation. So do car windscreen sunscreens.

gold dandelion · Senior Member

the main thing is having a canvass ground sheet if sleeping on the ground.

Mike Harding · Guru

If you are going to sleep on something such as a self-inflating mattress then you are virtually on the ground so ensure you can get up from such a position without difficulty - I'm ten years younger than you and don't find it as easy as once I did.

Sleeping bags: temperature ratings are virtually meaningless as there is no standard so manufacturers just pick a number they think they can get away with. Sleeping bag liners? I loath them with a passion as I'm a restless sleeper and get tangled up in them. Also, despite the many hundreds of nights I've spent in them I tolerate rather than like sleeping bags, they are too confined for me.

Do you actually need a sleeping bag? Buy a decent 100mm thick self-inflating mattress (also called a 4WD mattress), put a flannelette sheet on it and take your quilt from home along with a blanket in case you need extra warmth - layers beat thickness every time.

If you really want a bag consider Darche "Cold Mountain" it's a -12C bag and I've used it down to -6C without issue but below that it needs a blanket on the top. *Ensure* you buy a sleeping bag with two seperate zips; one at the feet end and one along the side, keep the side zip mostly closed and use the foot zip to regulate bag temperature.

Buzz Lightbulb · Guru

Were used to have down filled, tapered sleeping bags that zip together for bushwalking with a three man tent. We don't to that anymore and we found that the tapered sleeping bags were too restrictive. However, we found down was the warmest.

We ended up buying two of these:

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/coleman-pilbara-c-5-sleeping-bag

When zipped together they are just like a sheet with a doona on top and bottom for insulation from the cold. I imagine that a single is similar because it has a foot and side zip.

In hot weather the liner is enough to take the chill off in the mornings. It's also great because we only have to wash the liner and not the whole bag.

We find in cooler weather the bags combined with the liners is warm enough but it all depends on the individual.

We also carry a feather doona just in case it gets really cold but we've never had to use it so far. We keep the doona sealed in a vacuum bag to save space.

Tent World was the cheapest when we bought ours but maybe Snowys or other camping stores would be cheaper nowadays.

My wife has complimented me on my choice of sleeping bags more than once so it was a good decision.

All the best with your decision.

Wannabe nomad · Senior Member

We ditched sleeping bags years ago to restrictive and we got cold even in the expensive ones, plus blankets ect slide off them so your extra layers fall off.
We now use quilts.
Plus we use blankets under you blankets over you, because we camped by the river in December last year and the nights got really cold, especially for the hubby who slept in the tent.
You can always shed layers if you get hot, but if you don't have enough and your cold it's a miserable night

Mike Harding · Guru

Wannabe nomad wrote:
the nights got really cold, especially for the hubby who slept in the tent.

Why? What did he do wrong this time? :)

Sheffield-er · Senior Member

Feather sleeping bags are useless if they get wet and take ages to dry out. I used to camp for weeks at a time up in the Vic. high country when we went up there with horses. I had a dacron hollow fill bag. The tiny fibres are like drinking straws with a hole up the middle. They remain warm even if wet. A thermarest air matress was great to insulate you from the cold coming up from the ground below.

Val smile

Plain Truth · Guru

I know I shouldn't recommend this,but you don't want a new one ,you want one about the same age as you or younger.

You want quality,one that is well built,one that is soft and cuddly,they don't come cheap but they keep you warm and satisfied.

Good luck .

Bobdown · Guru

Plain Truth wrote:
I know I shouldn't recommend this,but you don't want a new one ,you want one about the same age as you or younger.
You want quality,one that is well built,one that is soft and cuddly,they don't come cheap but they keep you warm and satisfied.
Good luck .

They can cost a lot of money Alan, and sometimes they snore....... smile smile

Cheers Bob

Blues Man · Guru

Bobdown wrote:
Plain Truth wrote:
I know I shouldn't recommend this,but you don't want a new one ,you want one about the same age as you or younger.
You want quality,one that is well built,one that is soft and cuddly,they don't come cheap but they keep you warm and satisfied.
Good luck .

They can cost a lot of money Alan, and sometimes they snore.......
Cheers Bob

I also have one of those sleeping bags biggrin and they are very comfortable ,warm and cuddly . biggrin biggrin

dogbox · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:

If you are going to sleep on something such as a self-inflating mattress then you are virtually on the ground so ensure you can get up from such a position without difficulty - I'm ten years younger than you and don't find it as easy as once I did.
Sleeping bags: temperature ratings are virtually meaningless as there is no standard so manufacturers just pick a number they think they can get away with. Sleeping bag liners? I loath them with a passion as I'm a restless sleeper and get tangled up in them. Also, despite the many hundreds of nights I've spent in them I tolerate rather than like sleeping bags, they are too confined for me.
Do you actually need a sleeping bag? Buy a decent 100mm thick self-inflating mattress (also called a 4WD mattress), put a flannelette sheet on it and take your quilt from home along with a blanket in case you need extra warmth - layers beat thickness every time.
If you really want a bag consider Darche "Cold Mountain" it's a -12C bag and I've used it down to -6C without issue but below that it needs a blanket on the top. *Ensure* you buy a sleeping bag with two seperate zips; one at the feet end and one along the side, keep the side zip mostly closed and use the foot zip to regulate bag temperature.

did he say what he was sleeping on in an earlier post, camp cot or air mattress ? the self inflating air mattress might be okay for younger people but us older folks who tent a bit, an air mattress that is around 50 cm high makes it much easier to get out of bed

tea spoon · Senior Member

im sleeping on a camp stretcher that is about 1 foot 6 inches high got it from anaconda and a thin mattress for free with it ........i sleep reasonably warm at home on cold nights with a rug and a doona on my double bed .....so that is why i have asked .....cheers and im glad the replies are sensible to

Mike Harding · Guru

tea spoon wrote:
im sleeping on a camp stretcher

In that case I recommend you definately put a doubled blanket on top of the camp stretcher mattress to provide more insulation - ideally a good quality wool one, wool is good... that's why sheep use it :)