PHD Minim Ultra

Although I have a couple of light sleeping bag options in the form of a Mountain Equipment Xero 250 at 640g and an Alpkit PD200 Piéd d Elephant at 480g I was still looking for a lighter option. The PD200 is the lightest option if I use an insulated jacket which I'd be carrying anyway but my lightest down jacket is a Mountain Equipment Xero at 390g while my lightest piece of down clothing is a PHD Ultra Down vest at 150g which I bought specifically for summer use. Unfortunately the down vest doesn't work well with the PD200 as there's no arm insulation. I tried to sell the down vest to help fund either a Mont-Bell UL Down Inner jacket or PHD Ultra Pullover but didn't manage to sell it. It was while looking for my own advertisement on the OM classified section that I came across a PDH Ultra Minim sleeping bag for sale.

I'd looked at the Ultra Minim but thought that the asking price of £189 was too much so had dismissed it but this one was for sale at £135 shipping included. The suggested weight is 345g and I felt that it would work fine with the down vest so I ended up buying it.



It was a standard length bag and has no shoulder baffle or zip which helps keep the weight to a minimum. It came with a small stuff sack and large mesh storage bag as originally supplied and is really compact and light although mine actually weighs 365g. Overall it's lighter at 514g when combined with the vest than the ME Xero 250 at 640g and the PD200/Xero jacket combination at 870g

The suggested temperature rating is +8°C and I tried it out for the 1st time with my Phreeranger Flysheet set up in the garden. I also used the Ti Goat Ptarmigan bivvy that I normally use with the single skin set-up and had the Ultra down vest in reserve. I choose to wear a full Sub Zero F1 baselayer and was initially fine but as the temperature dropped to +4°C outside my top side felt cold although I was otherwise fine lying on an 8mm CCF mat. I added the down vest and that resulted in sufficient insulation to allow me to get back to sleep.

Since then I've used it again with the Phreeranger set up as a 2 skin tent, with the same CCF mat but with only the Sub Zero F1 long sleeve top and was generally fine although again I addded the down vest.

The verdict? well it does what it's supposed to do but I think it would work better as a top bag as the 75g (I'm assuming total fill is 150g) of down on the base isn't doing much and would be better added to the top as that's been the only place I've felt cold. I think the baffles are closed along the side seam which prevents you from shifting the down to the top but as I sleep on my side I think I'll try to shake the down to one side next time to see if that makes a difference. In the end I don't really mind having to wear the down vest from time to time as I'd be carrying it anyway. Combined with the CCF mat and down vest the total weight of my sleeping system is 709g but that includes extra insulation to wear around camp in the evenings, of course it's strictly a summer option.



At the price I paid I'm happy with it but for me anyway it's too expensive at full price for what is really a pretty specialist piece of gear, that said I haven't seen anything lighter costing less.

Update

Thanks to Andy (see comments) mentioning that the Minim Ultra might have open ended baffles I e-mailed PHD who informed me that the baffles are open at one end to allow down to be shifted from bottom to top (or vice versa). Thats useful to know and I'll definately give it a try next time.

Tundra Ethical Sleeping Bags (Down)

I don't recall having heard of Tundra before finding them while surfing the net but they seem to have an interesting range of sleeping bags.

Tundra bags are made in Warsaw, Poland by 'Warmth Unlimited' and are tested by Leeds University which should mean their temperature ratings are comparable to those of Alpkit and possibly PHD.

The thing that attracted my attention was the 'Ethical' tag, there's been some discussion about the various methods of collecting down, plucking down from live birds being quite controversial. It seems not all the bags are made using 100% ethical down, the figure of 95% is given for some of the range but certainly 96% is a vast improvement over other less ethical down collection methods.

The website is worth a look but unfortunately for the gram counters there doesn't appear to be any indication of the weights.

There is a link to a UK supplier, Tundra Stockists

Golite Adrenaline 0°

Only recently I mentioned that everyone seemed to be getting ready to pack away the heavy winter gear in anticipation of spring and yet I find myself writing about the Golite Adrenaline 0° sleeping bag. It's a full winter bag with 880g of 800 Fill Power down so what has prompted me to write about it.

Well I looked at this bag on different occasions but for a variety of reason, not least the price I didn't buy it. It was originally selling at £325 but the last time I added it to a shortlist it was around £250 (currently £229) from Ultralight Outdoor Gear. Again I decided against it even though I felt it would be ideal for my needs. I'd read that it was a fairly narrow sleeping bag and while most considered that a disadvantage I felt that for me it would be a benefit, I also liked the idea of the center zip and the Pertex Endurance on the hood and foot would be a benefit if using a single skin tent.

I just happened to be checking out the Outdoors Magic forums and clicked on the Bargain Alert thread where someone had posted that The Outdoors Warehouse were having a sale with up to 50% off Golite gear including sleeping bags. I went to the website immediately and to my surprise the Golite Adrenaline was listed at £150. I thought about it for approximately 10 seconds and decided to order one knowing that I'd be unlikely to ever get a better opportunity.



The bag arrived within 2 days and I have to say it's very impressive, it's amazingly soft, lofts well and feels very thick and comfy. I tried it for size and yes it is quite narrow compared to my PHD Minim 500 but it wasn't at all uncomfortable even allowing for the fact that I was fully clothed.

The center zip works as well as expected (I had an army issue sleeping bag with a center zip so knew what to expect) and when fully zipped the hood is almost like that on a jacket and although there are draw-cords to tighten it further I doubt they'll be necessary.





The bag has a Trapezoidal box foot to allow plenty of room for your feet and the Pertex Endurance extends up to about mid calf height, from there up to just below chest level the down baffles run horizontally but change to vertical baffles over the chest. The hood, like the foot uses Pertex Endurance for water-resistance and breathability. The center zip has a baffles both inside and outside the zip and there's also a neck baffle.

It is as you'd expect quite bulky compared to my other bags, the heaviest of which is the PHD Minim 500 at 850g but then the Adrenaline has significantly more down. The stated weight was 1250g but mine weighs 1320g which isn't too far off the mark. It'll fit into a Sea to Summit 13L dry bag with room to spare although it does take some effort/time to expel all the air.

The only problem I can see is that I won't be able to try it properly for another 10 months or so as it's much too warm for temperatures above -5. I very much doubt if I'll get another bargain like that again but you never can tell, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time as they only had 2 in stock when I placed my order.



The technical specification of the bag is as follows;

6" baffles, differentially cut with 7" loft

Waterproof and Breathable Pertex Endurance at head and foot

Trapezoidal box foot

Baffled hood with drawcord

Insulated draft-tube in hood & zipper

50/50 distribution of insulation

Durable zippers with snag-proof draft tube stiffeners

Internal, insulated neck collar with elastic drawcord

880g of 800 fill power down

Rating, -18° (EN 13537 -12°)

The Adrenaline range has been updated for 2010 and are now named as Adrenaline 3 Season, Adrenaline 4 season etc rather than named/classed by temperature rating in °F. The equivalent bag is now known as the Adrenaline 4 Season with the same quantity/Fill Power of down (880g/800 FP) with a stated weight of 1350g now using Pertex Shield rather than Endurance and retails at around £300.

New Lightweight Sleeping Bag from Mountain Equipment

I was having a quick look on the Mountain Equipment website and noticed that the Xero 150 sleeping bag isn't listed anymore. I had looked at the Xero 150 as I already use a Xero 250 which I'm very happy with as the elasticated section reduces the size of the bag without feeling restrictive. There is mention of a new bag, the Xero MM (I assume that implies Mountain Marathon) although as yet there are no images of the bag. The interesting thing is that they mention a product known as the 'Balloon Bed' saying that it helped inspire the new Xero MM.

To be honest although I'd read about people making air mattresses using balloons I wasn't aware that anyone was actually selling them. It appears that there is, http://www.balloonbed.com/ and while it isn't something that really interests me I'm curious to see what the Xero MM has to offer.

With a stated weight of 400g with 175g of 750 FP down it's closest competition would probably be the PHD Minim Ultra Down with as far as I know 150g of 900 FP down. Reading between the lines it appears that the Xero MM may incorporate channels on the base to allow some kind of air chamber to be inserted, whether those chambers are re-useable and supplied with the bag or whether like the 'Balloon Bed' you simply use modeling balloons remains to be seen but it's certainly something different.

New gear Reviewed, PHD Minim 500

Sleeping Bag - PHD Minim 500

Initial Impressions

I’d ordered the PHD Minim on the last day of the sale prior to setting off on the last trip. The amount of loft was amazing and even with a Half Zip and stuffed into a Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil roll top the weight was only around 900g. There seemed to be plenty of insulation and the hood looked good so I had high hopes for it, intending to use it as a winter bag and only taking it this time as it was the lightest bag I had even though I expected to be too warm in it. I opted for the Drishell outer and the bag looked the business, it came with a storage stuff sack and a normal stuff sack.

In the Field

I spent both nights in the bothy and I didn’t feel particularily warm. The 1st night I changed into my spare base layer and socks but felt a bit cold around my lower back. This may have been due to the lack of shoulder baffle but as I tend to wrap the bag around my shoulders with the hood up it’s more likely, given that I’m pretty skinny, on the amount of space in the bag as it isn’t particularily close fitting for me. The 2nd night I only changed into my spare socks but ended up sleeping with base layer, trousers, fleece, wind shirt and a Montane Flux and it still took a hot cuppa soup before I could get over to sleep. I’ll assume that my (quite possibly) slightly damp base layer was to blame this time as my feet were toasty in dry socks. Both nights I used a Pacific Outdoors Ether Thermo 6 mat, the 1st night on the wooden bench, the 2nd on the wooden floor.

Conclusion

I‘m slightly disappointed as I expected the bag to over perform given the time of year, I know that I need about 5 deg more than the rating for a Snugpak bag but didn’t expect to need it on the PHD, clearly I sleep very cold. I’ll certainly be careful to check the dimensions of the next bag I buy, particularily the width as I feel that too much extra space is part of the problem. The Mountain Equipment bags with the elasticated mid section might be worth considering but I’d be reluctant to buy another bag without a shoulder baffle in any case.