Erick L

My advice is to start with a thick inflatable mattress. You lose a crazy amount of heat to the ground when your body compresses that little 1" mat.

azza_333

How reliable are the EN ratings?

The sleeping temp range I listed at the start was the extremes High and Low 30°C (85°F) - 0°C (30°F).
It will be more like 25°C (75°F) - 6°C (43°F) as the high and low.

I'm thinking about these two
Sea To Summit Trek I Series Down Sleeping Bag
Sea To Summit Trek 2 Series Down Hooded Sleeping Bag

I'm also thinking of using this, will it be worth using the liner to keep the bag clean?
https://www.wildearth.com.au/buy/sea-...ine/asilkcsyha

Machka 

My current bag will do for now, but I think my next one will be a quilt.

Rowan

Yes, my bags are destined for modification to remove the zips and convert them to quilts. Now we have the down-filled Exped mats, the underside warmth factor is taken care of.

Weight is one thing that the synthetics might have caught up with down on, but volume is still a factor. I still prefer down compared with my other synthetic bags, one of which is very lightweight, and compacts quite well.

Which leads me to one solution I adopted a while ago -- I carry two lightweight bags, the synthetic one and a down one. They compress down nicely together in a Sea to Summit dry bag, yet have provided me with total flexibility to cover all temperatures (combined, of course, with additional clothing layers).

The advantage of converting each to quilts is that I can still layer (rather than having to slip into double bags), and control the heat levels on parts of my body such as the legs.

nun

I've gone to a bag from a quilt. I could never eliminate all the draughts. Quilts are a nice idea, but they need to be large to eliminate cold draughts and a bag is just a better way to keep warm IMHO.

Rowan

I have never been able to get a truly good night's sleep in any bag I have had. I find them too restrictive, and I am one of those people who tend to use their legs as temperature adjusters at home... pop the leg out from under the covers if I am too hot. That is not really possible with a bag. But I also move around a lot when asleep and turning in or with a bag I find to be a nuisance.

I get your point about drafts, but I figure that I can tuck the quilt under the mat like I do with the sheets and blankets on a normal bed... especially at the foot end.

Of course the one issue that remains is that I am a strong believer in silk bag liners to keep a bag cleaner. I suppose a silk sheet might be possible to use with a quilt.

nun

I'm the same, which is why I tried a quilt. I've now settled on the Montbell super spiral because it allows for a lot of freedom of movement because it's so stretchy. Also the two way zip lets you do "leg regulation".

You need a big quilt to tuck. Some on them come with fabric wings that you can tuck under you or your mat, but every time you move a new draught appears. So the solution is to get a quilt that you can wrap around yourself.......and now it's a bag. If you want the freedom of a quilt just unzip the bag.

mrv 

go with the hood - if someone didn't say that already.
eventually the desire to be warm will overwhelm the feeling of claustrophobia. promise.

Machka 

Personally, I found that I very rarely zip up my sleeping bag, and just use it as a quilt. The only problem is that I end up sleeping on the zipper. So ... as I mentioned ... my next sleeping bag will be a quilt and that will solve the sleeping on the zipper problem.

LeeG

Machka, I got a Sierra Sniveler for my adult daughter and slept under it one night, good stuff

,, Ultra light quilts and sleeping bags for outdoor camping | Jacksrbetter

mrv 

get the hooded bag - i spent about 7 hours shivering - hard and terrible shivering - in 40F weather trying to use a wool blanket and winter running clothes.
after that i got a nice REI bag, hooded. now when i'm cold i zip up and close up - only my nose is out in the cold.
it can get really cold in July on Lake Superior: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-c...o/DSC02299.JPG

azza_333

They are both hooded bags. i'm trying to find out how accurate the EN ratings are to figure out whick one of the 2 bags I should get.

Yan 

Take a sleeping bag rated for the lowest temperature you will encounter. When it gets hotter, sleep with the zip open, with it as a blanket, or without it at all.

Buy a down bag. My 0C synthetic bag has the same bulk and weight as my -12C down bag. These were both purchased around five years ago and were both mid range models. I don't know know much synthetic bag technology has advanced in the past five years, but I doubt by that much.

I only use mummy bags. They have the best warmth to weight ratio compared to square bags or quilts. The hood makes a huge difference to warmth. Of course if you are only camping at above freezing temperatures, then it doesn't matter too much. A hat will do at such mild temperatures. Buy a waterproof compression sack for your sleeping bag. If your sleeping bag gets wet, you will be miserable.

I'd think about using an inflating mattress as opposed to a foam pad. You'll be able to keep it inside your panner as opposed to on top of your rack. Not a huge deal but something to consider.

MassiveD

You can make your own quilt for a lot less than a bag, and given that all you really do is sew a perimeter stitch on the bag, it is really hardly even a "project". Get a Jardine one. You can find the same materials, and do your second for less, but his prices are reasonable and instructions are really good.

I like doing stuff myself, but there are even more reasons, for at least a person who has some budget, to make a quilt. FIrst you can make a second if you find you are off on your guesses. The Jardines will help you, and they have more experience than most, obviously particularly with their gear. So you probably won't miss the temp. It is also nearly a piece of clothing. It needs occasional washing, and then at some point it is done. People keep bags too long. You don't even lie on quilts, but they will loose loft, and when the time comes you can relegate them to the couch, or just build a new one. Possibly Nun would have been comfortable if his quilt had been properly designed. These days it is perfectly possible to put a quilt together without any sewing.

I have no connection to the Jardines:

Ray-Way Quilt Kit by Ray & Jenny Jardine

MassiveD

They sell 3 season bags that normally are designed for about 20 degrees to summer night temperatures in non-tropical regions. I find the numbers reasonable, though I would not use one to sleep at consistent temperatures of 20 F. If I hit those temps I would be dressed in my warmest clothes. However, if you follow Rowan's advice and you do what many people do, which is basically use a 3 season bag for the 6 months centred on mid summer, your bag will be too hot in most cases, and sleeping on top of it is a big drop in comfort and temperature protection. You are too hot, and are now dropping 2 inches of loft. Not much tapering there.

I am not saying rowan in wrong, because if you have to prepare for a month sleeping at 20, or a month sleeping at 75, you would be smarter to choose the warmer bag. But if you live in an area where the heating bill is greater than the cooling bill, and you are camping six months of the year centred on summer, go for the warmer weather bag.

Rowan

Eh, what?

I think you have me confused with someone else. I am never wrong when referring to my personal experiences.

staehpj1

I am sure it varies with sleeping styles and conditions, but that is my experience as well. For me a slim cut bag is warmer and more versatile than a quilt. I zip it open and use it like a quilt in warmer conditions. When it gets colder I zip up and pull the drawstring tight. In that mode I find it warmer than a quilt due to the lack of drafts and the slim cut. I actually have not found a quilt that works for me that isn't as heavy or heavier than my Mountain Hardwear Phantom 45, which is one of my very favorite pieces of gear and has served me well in a wide range of conditions backpacking and bike touring.

I wanted to like quilts, but have not found them to deliver the versatility or the weight savings they promise.

nun

Well my quilts were all from "Jacks r Better". With my Montbell bag, if I want a quilt I just unzip it.

CliffordK

Lots of interesting info here.

You may choose to purchase more than one bag.

1 winter bag.
1 summer bag.

Then I would plan on the bag for the typical temperatures you expect to encounter on the trip. As mentioned, you can adjust a bit depending on your clothing.

I think this is my current model.
Field & Stream Mountain Trail Lite 40?F Sleeping Bag Reviews | Buzzillions.com

Unfortunately it may be discontinued, but there are others that are similar. Quite compact. Reasonably light. Not great for sub-freezing weather, but not bad for summer camping.

RiseAlways

+1 on this recommendation. A lot of backpackers go this route.

djb

although in this case, it seems that on his planned trip, he will be in places with a range of 0c to 30c, so would only want to take one bag.

azza, if you figure you "sleep warm", then you probably have to advantage of perhaps going the route of a bag that is good to, I dunno, lets say 5c and the times on your trip it is down to 0c, sleep with all your warm clothes on (as suggested by others). This way, the sleeping bag could perhaps be smaller and less bulky--and/or not to sweltering in warmer temps---and you will have a toque (winter hat) warm pants, fleece top and all that stuff anyway with you, given what riding conditions you will be in sometimes.

I guess you should try to figure out how often on your trip it will be colder, and then go from your experience with sleeping bags in varying temps in the past. Like others have said, everyone is different, being skinny, I'd go more towards a warmer bag, I've had some cold miserable nights in not-warm-enough sleeping bags, and its no fun.

Perhaps a warmer rated bag that works for you could save a bunch of money too, although I dont have any suggestions of specific bags for you.

RiseAlways

Right...
My thinking was more so that in the future he think about two bags.

djb

righto, the good thing about summer camping is that there are tons of inexpensive, compact summer bags out there that work fine for nights that probably dont get down below 15c or 20c. Which in my case is a vast majority of when I camp.

woahdae

+1 on the liner strategy. It's also nice because it's easier to wash or shake out a liner.

I have a +10 silk liner (a sea-to-summit), it compacts down to the size of a fist and is really light. It's actually one of the things I always throw in my bag when I'm going pretty much anywhere because it can be used like a lightweight blanket around a campfire, etc, and "costs" relatively little in weight and size. In money, however, those little things aren't the cheapest...

CliffordK

Another option... Are you bringing along a "sleeping bag warmer"?

You can buy 2 identical bags that lay flat, then zip together to make one large bag.

Potentially you can get one thick one, and one thin one. On cold days, put the thick one on top, and the thin one on the bottom (with some kind of pad underneath). On hot days, reverse it, with the thick on the bottom and thin on top.