Blog

The NEMO Pulse quilt offers standout cold-weather performance in a refined ultralight design. With 1,000 fill power, a sculpted cut, and a snug, enclosed footbox, it's an ideal companion for early spring, late autumn, and fast and light long-distance trips throughout the year. I had the chance to put the NEMO Pulse quilt through its paces during a week of mixed camping in March—first at a f …

Incredibly eager to start this year's winter camping season, I headed to the Cairngorms for this year's first glimpses of snow. I wasn't planning to camp on the plateau itself, and the expected temperature was supposed to hover around 0° throughout the night. I arrived at the Corrour Bothy at about 3, pitched my tent, The Hillerberg Soulo, next to the river Dee, and settled in for …

After a couple of days spent in the Lake District, I was able to gain my first impressions of Enlightened Equipment’s Enigma Quilt (20F). My first impressions were that it seemed well-made with an interesting angular U-shaped baffle design and fully sewn in footbox. The 850 fill allowed the bag to loft with ease and the bag packed down smaller than expected. Whilst it comes with a stu …

As a cold sleeper, I find the combination of the Nemo Women’s Riff 15 Sleeping bag and the Tensor Insulated sleeping mat perfect for 3 and 4-season use in the UK. The spoon shaped Riff 15 has 825g of down in the Women’s (and 540g in the men’s) and 800 fill power in both versions giving a comfort limit of -9C for both men and women. As a side sleeper, I find the Riff has the ben …

850 Fill Power down / -6.6 Comfort rating / Regular Length / Wide / 683 grams Fill Weight (Regular Wide) 479g In the right conditions quilts are an amazing way of sleeping outdoors,  Enlightened Equipment specialise in quilts and are very good at it. When Summer camping you can sleep under a quilt and feel really comfortable compared to the restrictions of lying inside a co …

850 Fill Power down / -9 Comfort rating / Regular Length / 1007grams Inner bag weight 482grams / Outer Bag weight 530grams Inner bag Fill Weight 227g / Outer bag Fill Weight 198grams I have a natural aversion to this type of product because multi-functional products often tend to be less effective than individual products designed to fill a specific niche, however I was v …

Picking a sleeping bag for a 2-week trip is a difficult one; the time of year, where you are hiking, how changeable the weather is, and what altitude you are camping at, should all be taken into account when choosing what bag to take on a trip. May in Scotland is arguably the most unpredictable month, in the most unpredictable of places, it could snow, and it could also be a heat wave, …

Quilts have been a popular choice amongst American backpackers for years but took longer to gain popularity in the UK. We have seen a significant increase in quilt sales and enquiries over the past couple of years. There are clear pros and cons of a quilt vs. a sleeping bag, read our article here ‘Why choose a backpacking quilt?’ As a long-term user of mummy sleeping bags, i …

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 r …

“The Lost Ranger 3N1 20° sleeping bag is part of our latest evolution of the Big Agnes Sleep System. This modular bag design offers just what you’d expect: three bag configurations in one simple, yet technical sleep system.” Combining sleeping bags has long been a choice of ours for a few reasons, including boosting the warmth of an older bag extending its use, or combining separat …

The Cloud 800 came to us not only with some unique stand-out features, but also accompanied with a range of awards. It’s certainly an interesting bag with the most obvious aspect being that it bridges the gap between a traditional mummy style sleeping bag and a quilt.

On paper the Marmot Phase has impressive stats, by using ultra-lightweight Quantum GL fabric and certified, responsibly sourced 850 Fill Power down it achieves a comfort rating of +6C and a comfort limit of -1C, this is at an overall weight of just 506grams or 539grams if you include the stuff sack. So, by deducting the weight of the down from the total the shell of the bag comes in a …