Lightwt. 4 season sleeping bag

[wheezing donkey]

Thanks all - the Alpkit bags look great - but are completely sold out! DT - correct! Agree re down and that's definitely a consideration - but am trying to balance that vs weightt/warmth. I'm only little so weight is really important, and I feel the cold! Do you have any good synthetic suggestions? Cheers

Google "Snugpack" - their factory is in Silsden, 'just around the corner' from DT. Look at their "Softie" range. I have the lightest model in that range the "Softie 3 Merlin" which weighs approx 1000g. The professional Alpine guides in Cham reckon to use them for bivvying down to -5*C. A mate of mine has one that he uses every year for the OMM ( late October ) and he's usually in the top dozen at most Lakeland AL's - no slouch!
That range goes up to the "Softie 12 Osprey", about 1800g. Then again, her indoors has a "Softie ? Ultimate ?" which looks like it should be on an Antartic expedition. We had to wait about 6 months for it, as Snugpack's production of this model was tied-up with an order for 6,000 from the Latvian army!!

[Derby Tup]

Google "Snugpack" - their factory is in Silsden, 'just around the corner' from DT. Look at their "Softie" range. I have the lightest model in that range the "Softie 3 Merlin" which weighs approx 1000g. The professional Alpine guides in Cham reckon to use them for bivvying down to -5*C. A mate of mine has one that he uses every year for the OMM ( late October ) and he's usually in the top dozen at most Lakeland AL's - no slouch!
That range goes up to the "Softie 12 Osprey", about 1800g. Then again, her indoors has a "Softie ? Ultimate ?" which looks like it should be on an Antartic expedition. We had to wait about 6 months for it, as Snugpack's production of this model was tied-up with an order for 6,000 from the Latvian army!!

Great shout this wheezing. We had a lad who worked at Snugpack with us at K&C for a while. Des Fretwell accused him of 'not trying' when training. I would have died of shame because Des is hard as nails and a bit of a ledge in our area, but the lad seemed to think it was funny. He didn't stay with the club long :closed:

[ZootHornRollo]

Thanks all - the Alpkit bags look great - but are completely sold out!

haha! I didn't even see this.
Not like Alpkit to be out of stock of anything, eh...
Wonder how much in revenue they've lost out on over the years through their dreadful supply chain?
I reckon £300 from me alone.

[andy k]

last year santa brought me a phd ultra down vest.
its superb.
the only description I have is that it is like wearing a radiator.

so phd kit it great IMHO

if you look on their website the ultralight bags are lighter and cheaper than the figures quoted for the TGO review
e.g. minim 600. -16 degrees C is 900g £323
minim 400. -5 degrees 670g £265

[Derby Tup]

haha! I didn't even see this.
Not like Alpkit to be out of stock of anything, eh...
Wonder how much in revenue they've lost out on over the years through their dreadful supply chain?
I reckon £300 from me alone.

Service and products are both great from Alpkit but as you say Zed, it's a pleasant surprise when they have anything to sell :closed:

[ZootHornRollo]

tis one of my pet peeves in any sort of shopping, winds me right up, like when places have ten dozen garments in Large and XL, and none in Small or Medium ... Grrrrr

[Derby Tup]

tis one of my pet peeves in any sort of shopping, winds me right up ...

My guess is they don't have a huge amount of cash to run their company and place say twice yearly orders with suppliers (in mostly China?). The winter scramble for the (very good value) down jackets is the same every year and it's very rare they have any Ti camping kit

[ZootHornRollo]

My guess is they don't have a huge amount of cash to run their company and place say twice yearly orders with suppliers (in mostly China?). The winter scramble for the (very good value) down jackets is the same every year and it's very rare they have any Ti camping kit

yeah totally, small places like that can't have large amounts of stock sitting around, it's not viable

but at bigger concerns, it does wind me up

[IanDarkpeak]

tis one of my pet peeves in any sort of shopping, winds me right up, like when places have ten dozen garments in Large and XL, and none in Small or Medium ... Grrrrr

sounds like bad stock management to reduce orders of big sizes and increase smaller sizes.

My guess is they don't have a huge amount of cash to run their company and place say twice yearly orders with suppliers (in mostly China?). The winter scramble for the (very good value) down jackets is the same every year and it's very rare they have any Ti camping kit

Then they need to get some investment, they'll make more money if they have the stock in, it is good kit.

[ZootHornRollo]

Then they need to get some investment, they'll make more money if they have the stock in, it is good kit.

I think why it seems daft in their case is, they have a narrow range of products.
It's not like they have hundreds or thousands of lines to keep in stock.
They have a handful of tents, sleeping bags and mats, and a few other things, and that's it.