Sleeping Bags

I know this question has been asked before but can't find an answer...

Anyone got any experience with the Deuter Orbit -5 sleeping bag?

I've got the Orbit +5 and it has been great, small, lightweight and done the job perfectly but need to get a winter bag and the -5 is in the right price range but more importantly I can use ebucks to buy it. Link: www.capeunionmart.co.za/deuter-orbit-5l

I'm quite a fan of the brand's quality, have 2 Deuter packs and 2 sleeping bags that have been all used extensively with not one stritch out of place yet.

My Trail -5 is close behind your Deuter, 1766g..

Think I will pop into Cape Union Mart and have a better look at it...maybe take my own scale as well - even the Deuter site says 1540g

I have other friends with the -5 Trail that were happy with it...the quality and ability to last a good few years would worry me, but for the prices they were selling for the risk would have been worth it...problem is I don't think they seel them anymore.

I decided to weigh the two bags I use the most.

First Ascent Adventure Light. An older bag, rated to +7 if memory serves. All sources I found say 550g. Actual 664g. (Their new replacement the Amplify Down Light is rated to +5 and weighs a claimed 710g which sounds more accurate.)

First Ascent Fusion 600. A discontinued model which was rated for -5 and a claimed weight of 1400g. I measured 1396g which is spot on then. It is 92:8 goose down, 600g fill. Maybe someone finds this interesting. It would be great if everyone could weigh their bags and see what the variance is between claimed and actual. Given that between 10 of the same bags there will be a variation anyway...

I threw a spanner in the works and bought this last night off Takealot: www.thenorthface.com/shop/aleutian-20-7

Was the last one they had, marked down from R2500 to R1999. Might be heavy, but I have found 7 different weight claims on 7 differnet reviews so will have to see when it arrives. Takealot has such a good returns department and policy that I figured it was worth the risk.

Will comment on what it is like when I give it a in a couple weeks time.

On the sleeping issue: I learnt the hard way during the last hike done, a few days ago. I bought a First Ascent Ice Breaker thinking it was a good upgrade from my trusty Mr Price Trail -8 bag, and used it for the first time in the middle of winter. On the second night close to Mponjwane in a tent I started to get hypothermia, with a shirt, light fleece and socks on. My body shook uncontrollably and after putting on extra clothing in the bag it took a couple of hours to get back to normal. After inspection of the bag the next morning I discovered a couple of the top panels had very little down in them compared to the bottom of the bag. On the 3rd night which was colder I turned the bag upside down with the more down side above and had a warm night with no problems....the cowl of course was a problem being above my head. What I learnt was: Do not trust a bag, no matter how good you think it may be, go through every panel on purchase and check to see it has been filled correctly and evenly with down.

Macc wrote: I threw a spanner in the works and bought this last night off Takealot: www.thenorthface.com/shop/aleutian-20-7

Was the last one they had, marked down from R2500 to R1999. Might be heavy, but I have found 7 different weight claims on 7 differnet reviews so will have to see when it arrives. Takealot has such a good returns department and policy that I figured it was worth the risk.

Will comment on what it is like when I give it a in a couple weeks time.

58cm when packed? Shew, quite a beast. But as you say, worth the risk as you can return easy peasy lemon squeasy

Richard Hunt wrote: On the sleeping issue: I learnt the hard way during the last hike done, a few days ago. I bought a First Ascent Ice Breaker thinking it was a good upgrade from my trusty Mr Price Trail -8 bag, and used it for the first time in the middle of winter. On the second night close to Mponjwane in a tent I started to get hypothermia, with a shirt, light fleece and socks on. My body shook uncontrollably and after putting on extra clothing in the bag it took a couple of hours to get back to normal. After inspection of the bag the next morning I discovered a couple of the top panels had very little down in them compared to the bottom of the bag. On the 3rd night which was colder I turned the bag upside down with the more down side above and had a warm night with no problems....the cowl of course was a problem being above my head. What I learnt was: Do not trust a bag, no matter how good you think it may be, go through every panel on purchase and check to see it has been filled correctly and evenly with down.

Richard. I'm not sure of the exact construction of the Ice Breaker bag, but if it's similar to the K-way Kilimanjaro, which I think it is, then it has continuous baffles,
The down can migrate in the baffles, but this can be advantageous, as the down can be moved to where you want it.. not as tedious as it sounds, a few shakes or swipes along the surface of the bag and the down moves along..
So you can shift it to the top when it's cold, or to the bottom for warmer weather
.

Hi Adrian,

I can confirm Papadragon's message above - the bag is designed in such as way that you can move the down around according to the temperatures. I've done that lots of times and it works very well. When hot you sweep the down from the top (i.e. the area on your stomac) to the bottom (behind your back). When cold you do the reverse.
However, it has also happened to me once where I also forgot that a lot of down was at the bottom and had a really cold night. Was just too cold to climb out and reposition the down in the middle of the night (ok, I was also too lazy to get up ).