Two sleeping bags huh? (a modular concept)

I wonder each month where my money goes. I am trying to save it, little by little, but I’m away each weekend and my rack continually grows. I’ve begun to see a trend emerging and I put my money loss down to rack increase (including winter climbing) and fuel (for jess).

So when it comes down to a “non-essential” item such as a sleeping bag, I can’t really afford to spend another £200 on a top of the range all singing, all dancing superlight weight down-bag (or similar). Obviously a sleeping bad is pretty essential, but it’s not exactly like I spend my time doing winter alpinism. I need something that will cope with biving out in the warmth of summer to coping with the depths of welsh and Scottish winter. Mainly I sleep somewhere in between these temps, I mean honestly how often is our summer actually hot!

So in an attempt to find a warmer sleeping bag at a cost effective option I ended up at Decathlon looking at their Quechua range of climbing & mountaineering equipment. Expect this to be the first of few blogs on Quechua equipment and clothing as for its price, it is damn good gear.I started with a “left over from childhood” mummy bag. Nothing wrong with it in itself, I still take it car camping especially in the winter. It big, heavy and synthetic, not exactly something I want to carry when I’m trying to go faster and lighter. I ended up spending about £60 on a down bag (Quechua S10 light). So what does £60 get you when buying a down bag? The answer: not very much. It has a simple outer, which is a little water resistant, but not much. It has a pretty decent down fill and lofts quiet well (though I do look after it at home). It’s also bright orange and does up well round your head when it’s really cold.

For a £60 bag this is well worth the price. It works well in reasonably hot temps, so about 0 to -5 degrees (if you can put up with a little discomfort). This is all good, but it’s down and I needed a slightly better sleeping bag for in the cold. Back to Decathlon…

In fact I did look around at a few other options, but came to the conclusion I would try out the “double bagging” idea. This concept means using two bags, usually a synthetic outer and a down inner to get a more adaptable sleeping system for bigger temperature range. I ended up coupling my S10 light with a normal S10 bag, but this one was extra large, meaning that my down bag would loft inside it effectively.

So how’s this been working so far. Well I’ve used it form the end of last summer and through autumn sleeping out in a tent, then through this last winter even getting a bit of snow holing in. I’ve slept outside in heavy rain in my sleeping bags and bivi bag. I find that because the synthetic outer bag is extra large I can get my down bag to loft effectively inside it. The down bag on its own is great for autumn and late summer and the light weight synthetic is good for biving in and warmer weather. Because its so big it makes a pretty effective blanket when it’s unzipped too. As for use together I I’ve been roasting everytime I’ve bivouacked out in them with my bivi bag. The synthetic does a great job of protecting my down bag (and majority of my warmth) from getting wet. It the end it’s only ever been a little damp, and not a full on soak so.

In conclusion I think that the modular sleeping concept has a lot to offer someone who cannot afford a load of decent sleeping bags (students). I’ll use these in the alps this summer and again into next winter until both together they are two cold. Then I’ll have to buy another sleeping bag, or get a better job? for more thoughts on this, and where I got the idea to try it out check out Andy Kirkpartick's ideas.All in all this isn't too bad from a sleeping system that packs down as small as my head.

(Even after everything, my sleeping bags make an awesome manta ray costume)