Originally Posted by
Rowan
The other option is a duvet arrangement. I would never have thought of this as a good option until we stated using our Exped mats, and taking the advice of some posters here.
Now I leave my light down bag unzipped and use it as a duvet, although I still use a silk liner. I tried sleeping with the bag zipped up the night before last, and... I was too restricted to be comfortable to the point I was starting to get sore hips.
Further to Rowan's comments about the Exped mats ...
When I first started cycletouring, I didn't use any sort of mat at all. That was on a tour of Wales in late summer 2003. I froze!! And I ended up using my cycling partner's goretex jacket as a bit of a mat. I'm glad that tour wasn't any longer than 6 days.
Then I graduated to a small bit of blue foam mat that covered me from shoulders to hips, with an emergency foil bivy spread out under it. I toured for 3 months in Australia with that, and thank goodness my cycling partner and I spent nights in hostels about every 4th or 5th night. It was much better than nothing at all, and the emergency bivy helped protect me from the cold, but I never did have a really comfortable night's sleep.
One of the first things I did when I finished that tour was to purchase a 3/4 Thermarest mattress ... and that was much better than the bit of blue foam. I did several tours with that Thermarest mattress, and I'd recommend going with a
t least something like that. But I still used the foil emergency bivy under it for warmth. And I still struggled with sore hips and back after sleeping on it several nights in a row. I came up with a system using my panniers and several inflatable pillows on Rowan's and my tour in France in 2007, where we spent about 20 nights in a row in the tent, to try to make things a bit more comfortable.
I was planning to use that Thermarest mattress on this tour we're on now, but then Rowan suggested the Exped mats and that's what we decided to get. I have to say, they are indeed warmer and more comfortable than the Thermarest. I think they have been a very good choice ... I haven't had to use an emergency bivy underneath, nor have I had to rig up a pillow system to make mine more comfortable.
As far as sleeping bags go. I've used very small, light sleeping bags in the past, but this time, I bought a down one from MEC which I really like. I use a sarong as a sheet over me, and then I kind of wrap the sleeping bag loosely around me, sort of like a folded duvet. In fact, on one very hot night recently, I slept on top of the sleeping bag with just the sarong over me. I think I've slept with the bag zipped up once or twice on this tour so far, on particularly cold nights, but I don't like feeling restricted.