Sleeping Bags

Needle Sports stocks the very highest quality mountaineering sleeping bags made by firms such as Rab and Mountain Equipment, and these are mainly down bags. Here are some notes on the selection and care of a down sleeping bag.

Temperatures & Season Ratings

A very rough guide to the approximate use you might expect from a sleeping bag is given by the use of season ratings. These indicate the temperatures at which a sleeping bag should keep you comfortable if camping outside using a tent or bivibag and a reasonable mat for the conditions.

However, as a result of EU legislation most good quality bags now display something along the lines of the following rather confusing ratings:

Needless to say this is a typical example of bureaucrats making things far more complicated than they need be, and also unfortunately the whole testing procedure is flawed in that it is possible to "fiddle" the results by careful positioning of the bag's fill. Moreover, bags are tested using a copper mannequin and there is only one supplier of such mannequins - so a vested interest in promoting such testing is possible, if not probable. We feel it much better to rely on the accumulated experience of years of manufacture and that none of the top firms, Rab, Mountain Equipment, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear etc are likely to fib about their bags' capabilities. The temperature ratings we give are thus the manufacturer's, not the EU version.

Sizing: The obvious way to make a bag lighter is to make it smaller and many budget companies do just that. However most of our sleeping bags are generously sized - they are definitely not budget bags! Unfortunately Rab have had to drop special widths and no zip options as they are no longer economical to produce. The term right-hand zip means the zip is on your right as you are lying in the bag. In general right-handed people prefer a left-hand zip and left-handed people a right-hand zip, though it isn't really that important.

Repairs and possibly Bespoke Work: may be able to be undertaken on Rab bags. Please contact Rab.

Weights: are approximate. You may notice that they vary from those published. The reason for this is that the weight of each bag consists of three components: the Outer Fabric, the Down, and the Inner Fabric (ie the baffles). Whilst the weights of the Outer Fabric and the Down are virtually always the same, the manufacturers will try to use the lightest suitable fabric that they can for the hidden components of the bag such as the baffles. However if such fabric is temporarily unavailable, they may use the next lightest suitable fabric that they can get, rather than not make any bags at all, and this can increase the weight of a bag by as much as 100g. Another factor is that the baffles are nearly always filled by hand and, if having filled all the baffles bar one, the filler realises that he is a bit short of down he will just add a little more, rather than redistribute it all. The weight of the stuff sack is not included in the bag weight so allow an extra 50g or so for this.

Down Quality: On Rab bags this is the best in the world. The down is sourced in Eastern Europe and it is cleaned thoroughly before use, so removing nearly all of the "bird dandruff" that makes some people allergic to down. This is not always the case with many Far Eastern sourced bags (especially cheaper ones). In addition all the bags are filled to order in Derbyshire (as opposed to being filled in the Far East - often in humid conditions - and then spending months closely packed in a warehouse and on a container ship). By keeping our stock levels low, Needle Sports' Rab bags are as freshly filled as they can be and are never kept densely packed.

Most of the down used is goose down as this is widely believed to be of better quality as the spines of the feathers are softer and so less likely to pierce the outer fabric of the bag. However the most important measure of down quality is fill power.

Construction Method: Down is sewn into baffles (sausage like tubes). On cold weather bags, to prevent cold spots along stitching lines, two lots of baffles may be offset. On some recent artificial fibre bags, a glued together shingle method of construction eliminates sewing altogether and results in a warmer bag. Other aids to warmth include having the bag shaped to your body (mummy shaped), a neck collar to prevent warm air escaping, a well fitted hood and a down-filled baffle behind the zip.

Washing & Repairs: Please see the instructions for Nikwax Down Wash. Please note that sleeping bags should not be dry-cleaned as noxious fumes can build up inside the bag (more noxious than usual that is!). If you do not fancy cleaning your sleeping bag yourself, Rab will do it for you it for you as long as they made it. They will also undertake repairs - please see the Rab Service Centre. There are other firms that off similar cleaning and repair services - see our Repairs Page for a few.

Bivi Bags & Keeping Your Bag Dry: Sleeping bags can only get wet two ways, from the outside and the inside. For the outside we highly recommend a lightweight breathable bivi-bag which can be used as a bivi bag in emergency but also just as a bag outer to prevent condensation problems when sharing a tent. The main way that the inside of the bag gets wet is when you get into it with wet clothes on. Use of a vapour barrier liner (which can be as simple as a large bin bag) will prevent this – or take any wet clothes off first. If your bag does get wet, don't panic, put it in a tumble drier on a low setting with an old training shoe or similar to knock it about a bit. When done, air well. In fact air well after every use.

Artificial Fibre Bags: Why use an artificial fill sleeping bag, when good quality down is warmer, lighter and lasts longer? Well, maybe you are going somewhere very wet, or you are allergic to down, or possibly you are a vegan. Whatever the reason, artificial bags have their place in the great mountaineering scheme of things, and though they are invariably heavier (warmth for warmth) than down, and bulkier, and last about half as long, they are also cheaper.