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Criterion has two particularly lightweight ranges of sleeping bags of interest to backpackers, they are the Ultralight range and the Quantum range. The former uses 700 Fill Power down and the latter uses 870 Fill Power, therefore the Quantum range has the highest warmth to weight ratio of the two so is of most interest to us.

Down Quality
At 870 Fill Power Polish Goose down (in a ratio 95:5 of pure down versus feathers) the Quantum bags use just about the highest quality of down available, yes there are some manufacturers using 900FP and even 1000FP but these come with significantly higher price tags.

Criterion believe that Polish Goose down is the highest quality anywhere in the world because of the environment in which the geese live. In addition, the down is ethically sourced because the two highest profile issues with down (‘force feeding’ and ‘live pluck’) are illegal in Poland. Criterion buys its down from the largest meat producer in Poland, it is a by-product of the meat supply industry.
At Ultralight Outdoor Gear we only stock ethically sourced down products. You can read more about Criterion’s policy in this area at https://www.criterion-sleepingbags.co.uk/technolo...

Construction
The bag looks fairly simple but it isn’t, it has trapezoidal baffles which offset the stitch lines of a box wall construction to avoid any cold spots. It has a full length zip with its own baffle and an anti-snag strip that helps reduce snagging.
The zip baffle carries on around the lower edge of the neck opening to act as a neck baffle, reducing heat loss through the opening/hood. This is a neat and lightweight alternative to a full shoulder baffle.

It has a boxed foot section which is adequate rather than spacious, but this bag is all about performance and if you create too much volume in a sleeping bag it won’t provide the same level of insulation.

Performance
I used this bag on a winter backpacking trip where I slept on snow and the temperature dropped to zero inside my two-skin tent, which probably means it was slightly below zero outside. I slept on a Thermarest Xtherm mat which is one of the warmest available and wore bed socks and a long sleeved baselayer. I usually sleep cold, i.e. if its minus 5 °C out I need a sleeping bag with a comfort limit of minus 10 to be sure of keeping warm.

As previously mentioned the temperature fell to zero and I was very warm, I could easily imagine the temperature dropping another five degrees and still being warm, perhaps even further. My view is that the rating of this bag is spot on.
The overall girth of the bag is just right, perhaps even a bit snug, I’m 5’ 11” and on the larger side of an average build. A snug fit helps the bag keep you warm, whereas a tight fit would prevent the down from lofting properly and would compromise its insulating value.

I loved the tiny stuffsack it comes with, it weighs just 20grams and means this sleeping bag packs down to just 15cm x 15cm x 30cm, saving lots of space in your pack.
I had no problems with the zip although I can’t claim it was completely snag free. On the occasion it did snag it was released very easily. The zipper is YKK, full length with a venting slider at the bottom. I didn’t feel any issues with the smallish foot box which caught my eye on first inspection.

I did have an issue with the hood, it didn’t seem big enough, when I cinched the elastic drawcord the top edge only crept to the middle of my forehead no matter how much I tried to tighten it further. Other bags I’ve used enabled me to cinch the hood until it was covering most of my face, essential when it gets really cold.

Overall

Criterion clearly make excellent bags, of which this is a good example, they use high quality ethically sourced down and the highest quality materials, and they use appropriate construction techniques. The result in this case is a bag with one of the best warmth to weight ratios available – they achieve this by using a performance sizing model and intelligent weight saving design.

The Quantum range are Criterion’s highest performing bags and therefore the comments I made about a small hood, neat fit and extended baffle rather than full shoulder baffle are just the places you have to go to achieve this level of performance.

Being a small company focused on a narrow range of products they also manage to sell their products for slightly less than the equivalent bags from the big names. Criterion represents a really good choice.

Mark Richardson
Mark was the founder of Ultralight Outdoor Gear back in 2006 and has completed long distance backpacking routes in some of the remotest parts of the world. His favourite hikes have been Torres del Paine (full circuit), the John Muir trail and the Markha Valley trail (Ladakh, India). Although semi-retired Mark has not lost any enthusiasm for minimalist backpacking and is tackling Scotland’s Munros choosing multi-day backpacking routes over the more usual guide book excursions. Read more from Mark Richardson