Sleeping systems - bags, pads, matts, liners

I did a bike tour across the sates on the mass drop version for a few years back and it was fine. coldest night on it was prob 4 degrees

Is £300 likely to get me a decent bivvy, sleeping bag and mat? Like everyone I want something reasonable light, not bulky etc. Probably more for spring/summer temps. What would you buy?

Used it would it you're prepared to wait.

My stuff would be roughly 200 bivvy, 200 bag, 100 mat at full retail so used or discounted you should be able to get a setup for 300 quite easily.

All depends on your expectation of 'decent' and intended usage. I've slept out many UK spring/summer nights with a £110 Decathlon sleeping bag, £35 decathlon mat and the £40 alpkit bivvy and always been absolutely fine. That all packs to a size and weight that I consider reasonable for the use case I have (touring and just sleeping outside whenever possible because I like it). My uncle does the same using probably £80 max worth of kit from army surplus and ebay and he's entirely satisfied with that. I'm sure enduro racers looking for maximum efficiency and marginal gains have different critera...

Appreciate this isn't entirely helpful, but without knowing exactly what you want to do and what your priorities are it's very hard to answer.

Ok cool, good to know. Cheers

Thanks for this. Ultimately for some short backpacking trips (UK & Europe) and some races this summer.

Should have said, materials need to be synthetic.

For my fair weather camping setup I think I spent 300 quid in total on bivvy, quilt and insulated mat. The mat was the only one I got full retail though, the quilt I got in the a sale and the bivvy on a good discount. I've also got a tarp, ground sheet and poles which cost me about 60 quid in total.

need to be synthetic.

Should be quite a bit cheaper then. Might be bulkier though for same warmth.

Depends on temps and how you sleep though of course. I raced with no sleeping bag but it's shit if you're trying to enjoy yourself. My current setup is more sleep friendly and involves half bag and down jacket but £££

Yeah I was looking at half bag and jacket as thought that could work well but seems to get quite expensive.

I did this simply because I already had a down jacket and was looking for racing kit.

For normal camping I've got my ancient down bag but I need another one if the missus comes with and I only have a summer and winter bivvy, not two of each, so again for the Scotland trip we were thinking of doing I was going to buy a bikepacking tent.

Don't know if anyone mainstream does synth half bag/jacket

When I was in your position everyone on here heckled me enough about the synth bags that I bought a second hand down bag from the bay and decathlon mat. I think I curated a list of "somewhat reputable" sleeping bag manufacturers that you could plug into ebay further up thread.

I feel like one of these days surely someone has to make a break through on the synthetic down thing. It doesn't sound like anyone actually wants real down but end up obliged to because synth has such relatively bad packability.

The very best general purpose sleeping bag/quilt available, very rare 2nd hand:
http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?threads/katabatic-gear-palisade.9023/

Not needed for me but thanks for posting stuff like this from more specialised parts of the net/eBay.

Anyone got any experience with a nature hike inflatable mat?

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Having checked their website, it seems to be air only, with no insulating material. As such, it'll set up convection currents which will transfer heat away from your body and into the ground. I would not recommend this.
If you do use something like this, consider using a light mat of closed cell foam (CCF) on top of it for insulating purposes.

If I didn’t already have a thermal mat (that’s probably a little too small for me...) I’d be tempted by one of these ones that at least suggest that they could have a decent R value.

￡26.90 43％ Off | Camping sleeping pad mat Ultralight Inflatable mattress in tent Folding bed Portable Travel hiking trekking Air matt
https://a.aliexpress.com/_vd2nHR

Personally, I'd not trust that one either, not without a stated R-value.

There's a decent write up on R-values here, pay particular attention to which standard manufacturers are using. As a decent rule of thumb, for year-round use in the UK (assuming you're not doing winter mountaineering in Scotland), an R-value of 2.4 or more using ASTM FF3340-18 should be fine (4 or more under the old rating systems).

If you're only planning on milder weather, you could consider a less effective mat doubled up with some CCF, but this will add bulk and faff.

Bear in mind that you'll pretty much never have a mat that is "too hot", unlike sleeping bags where you wouldn't want to use a 4-season bag in the height of summer.

Thanks for the wisdom, landslide.

OMM do a synthetic half bag.

Personally, I'd not trust that one either, not without a stated R-value.

My aliexpress mat is fine in the middle of summer. Froze the only time I tried it in cooler conditions.

Any opinions about this Planet X mat? Seems to have some foam in it but no R-value stated: https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CPJOMGIM/jobsworth-inflatable-mattress

It's PX.. .if there was any claim they could make about it, they'd make it. I'd assume it's mostly uninsulated. Basically looks identical to a lot of Aliexpress ones

Bit late, but cheers for this.

Hey folks,

Had a quick skim but can't quite find anything that fits the bill.

Looking for a sleeping back that I can order in time for the weekend.

Must pack small enough to fit in a saddle bag, be warm enough for use down to 5deg and under £100.

Any suggestions?

looks like a copy of the cheap Berghaus ones. With mats my experience is go big or go nothing. All the inbetween stuff is usually crap. Happy w/ my NeoAir XLite