K-Way Extreme Lite 500 Down Sleeping Bag

@ghaz - If you get hot quickly, be wary of bivy-bags. They warm up quickly and feel rather suffocating. I used one one night, the same night it got blown away. Thats because i was not in it, because it just got to dam hot inside. If you are still keen look for one with a large vestibule and a hoop over your head.

Thanks for the advice ST

That would actually be great if using a not particularly warm sleeping bag. But maybe I should try one of those cheap non-breathable plastic ones before dishing out real money on a proper one.

I'm starting to realise that the Berg is full of great undocumented caves, I am even starting to worry less about bivy's and tents. While walking in thick mist on the escarpment from Jarding to Giants we saw at least 2 big usable caves. The one just over the Giant's Ridge (south slope, about 500m east of the low point between Lotheni Peak and Long Wall) had a roof high enough to crawl into, but was at least 4m deep and could easily accommodate 8 people. I actually wish now that I got some pics and a GPS co-ord of it.

I think that wld be worse than the so-called breathable ones. I would rather look for a small one man tent to lower the weight.

I agree that you are better off with a 1 man tent. They are getting so light now! The only thing might be cost because the better stuff is usually an arm and a leg unless you are going to the US.

I would prefer to get a bivy bag constructed from eVent and then use a poncho as a tarp over my head so that I didn't have to synch up completely which would still feel suffocating. I think Joshilewis demonstrated a great way of using a trekking pole for this recently.

Mountainhardwear make a great looking 1 man tent which you can order from Drifters or Mountainmailorder for about 1.7k I think.

I still like the idea of a bivy bag as a back up for cave hikes because you never know when you might be stranded (shit happens!)

PS. I forgot to mention - a lot of top manufacturers are making -7 bags at under 1kg now. It's the new benchmark level for down bags in the US. A sleeping mat and bag combo has gone from 2kg to 1.3kg in weight for anyone who cares...

@Moderators: A thread split may be in order.

The MSR E-Bivy (R1325 from MMO) is under 300g, I have never found a 1 man tent sub 800g. Any specific recommendations? I'm not closed to the idea of a 1 man tent.

If money grew on trees I would get a Bibler Bipod as a 1 man tent, it is about 1kg but looks really good.

I'll look into sub-1kg down bags - any particular ones you have in mind? As far as competition goes, a 500g bag that is rated to 2 degrees is great. But if I can get something rated sub zero it would be much better.

ASL wrote: PS. I forgot to mention - a lot of top manufacturers are making -7 bags at under 1kg now. It's the new benchmark level for down bags in the US. A sleeping mat and bag combo has gone from 2kg to 1.3kg in weight for anyone who cares...

That's amazing, I'd love to have kit like that (time to sell a kidney or something). Any specific models?

I found this list www.alpkit.com/sleeping-bags/compare

With those prices you may have to sell a bit more than a kidney

I'm only aware of 2 tents that are lighter - BD Betamid Light from Mountainmailorder.co.za has a packed weight of 680gm's and Big Sky in USA make the Big Sky Soul which weighs slightly less.

I agree on the Bibler Bipod though!

For sleeping bags there is nothing local I'm aware of. You would have to import/ buy on the net.

Check out on the net for: Marmot, Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, Montbell, REI or just search on Backpacker.com

There are many good companies in the US market. Most of the above have impeccable reputations. On price, the new REI bags are great value and don't cost more or even as much as FA. It's just a matter of figuring out how to get the to SA!