Sleeping Bags

It is important to choose a bag according to the activity you’re going to do most often. Are you planning a basic camping trip in a tent or camper, long distance trekking, high altitude mountaineering or going on hunting expeditions etc. Your exposure to the elements differ in all of these situations and therefore the application of the sleeping bag is different.

• Choosing a bag for camping or hunting expeditions
  Here the emphasis is on comfort. If you have ample space and weight is of no concern, choose the shape that fits you the most comfortably and that has a temperature rating warm enough to sustain you whether you’re planning your trip in the heat of summer or in the middle of a brutal winter. A typical winner in this category is our rectangular bags.
• Choosing a bag for trekking
  The perfect bag for trekking long distances or hiking up into the mountains, is the one where weight, compressibility and warmth are well balanced. You need a bag that won’t weigh a ton and doesn’t take up all your pack space yet will be warm enough to ensure comfort in the outdoors where you’re exposed to the various elements. Our mummy shaped sleeping bags cut out unnecessary centimetres that would’ve added to extra weight and size.
• Choosing a bag for high altitude mountaineering
  Your pack size and -weight are vital in the mountains, so your options are narrowed down to those bags offering more features enhancing compressibility and warmth. These features include water resistant/breathable fabrics, added baffles, hoods, the best quality insulation available (which inevitably means a higher fill power down).

This refers to the lowest temperature at which your bag can be used to sleep in and stay comfortable whilst using a sleeping pad. For guidance, you can use the pointers below:

• Summer bags: 20 degrees and up
• Standard/3-Season bags: 0 – 25 degrees
• Expedition bags: below 0 degrees

Our standard bag is highly adaptable and can handle most weather conditions well. Unzipping your bag to air your feet or when the temperatures take a dive, layering up or using a liner can buy a few extra degrees of warmth.

Even though we only supply goose down filled bags, we find it worthwhile to add some info on the differences between down and synthetics. There isn’t much out there that can top the insulation superiority of goose down. It is warm, yet weighs little, it has the capability to compress into the smallest of balls without losing its ability to loft and has longevity that synthetics cannot get close to. What tips the scales back in favour of synthetics though, is the ability to retain your heat even when it’s soaked, it dries out fast and is much more affordable. Still, all of that said, synthetics cannot equal the many advantages of pure down bearing in mind that keeping your bag dry during wet conditions isn’t all that difficult either.

• Fill power
  This refers to the numerical analysis of the ability of the down to loft and trap the sleeper’s body heat. Down with a higher fill power can more effectively keep you warm, which means that you’ll need less of it which in turn results in weight saving. All our Hex Valley Down sleeping bags are filled with top of the range locally sourced pure goose down with a fill power of 850+.

• Rectangular
  A great choice for recreational camping trips. This spacious bag facilitates comfort sleep at its best, letting you sleep in any position you’d like. Adding to this is the advantage of being able to unzip it fully to be used as a quilt-like cover or zipped to a second bag to create a twin bag. Though these are great perks to be had, simultaneously they give cause to a much bulkier and weighty bag with more fill and fabric used. Unfortunately, as heat gets lost in the dead space created, the insulating properties are compromised to some extent.
• Mummy
  Certainly not a favourite for those struggling with claustrophobia, mummy bags however, do make up for it by saving significantly on weight and space, and being a much more efficient insulator as in the snugger fit. If you plan to carry your bag on your back whatever the distance, this is the one to go with.

Hex Valley Down sleeping bags are made with a finely woven nylon which is showerproof and wind resistant yet breathable. This downproof fabric dries quickly and wicks off moisture. Approximate weight: 55-70 gsm (grams per square metre). We leave you with the choice of using this fabric as shell and liner or as shell only in combination with a cotton liner. What is the difference between a nylon and cotton liner? Cotton weighs more, but is more breathable than nylon. Colours are subjected to availability.

Zips with larger and more robust teeth don’t snag as easily as its dainty counterparts. The added antisnag backing along the zip ensures smooth zipping. Also the brand YKK is an added benefit.

The anti-draft tube refers to the insulation filled tube running alongside the full length of the zip to prevent cold drafts from penetrating. This is an essential for all bags other than the summer bag. The anti-draft collar is situated around the neck when the bag is zipped up to prevent heat loss. This is ideal mostly for the expedition bags and can be an option for the standard bags.

These refer to the down filled chambers inside of the sleeping bag shell which runs horizontally and are boxwalled. Boxwall baffles are the simplest baffle with side walls (vertical walls of lightweight mesh) and are designed to create sufficient space for down to loft fully but not too much space so that the down disperses. This means the inner and outer shells are separated where otherwise heat loss would have occurred as in the case of stitched through baffles. The side wall allows for down to loft better
also along the edges and decreases the chances of cold spots.

• Continuous baffles
  Being exposed to a much wider range of temperatures, the standard/3 season bags need to be more versatile therefore they can also be built with continuous baffles encircling the bag from zip to zip. This enables you to shift the insulation to the area needed more to maintain a snug temperature inside the bag. For instance, during colder nights, more down can be moved from underneath you to the top to enhance insulation, and vice versa.
• Side block baffles
  Found on the opposite side of the zip, this barrier blocks insulation moving from the top of the bag to the bottom

This is where the inner lining of a bag is cut smaller than the outer shell fabric as, typically with the mummy bags, the inside of a bag has a smaller circumference than the outside. This promotes better loft through the outward expansion of the insulation which reduces the appearance of cold spots.

To be considered for bags to be used in colder temperatures. A snug fit is preferable which is obtained through a reverse differential cut. This means that the larger piece of fabric is used for the inside of the hood. The loose down filled fabric surrounds your head creating better insulation without needing to tighten the cord.

The length of your bag will be determined by your height, and as a standard we offer the following:

• Extra length: 210cm
• Regular: 200cm
• Short: 180cm

Bear in mind that a bag too short will result in insulation loss due to down being compressed by your head and/or feet. A bag too long has dead space that takes much more time to warm up.