Climber September/October 2017

Alpkit PipeDream 200
Weight: 545g Comfort limit: 7C RRP £140
If you are looking for a lightweight two season
bag to take on routes needing a bivvy then this
bag from Alpkit is worth a look. Aside from the
good price, it’s what is inside the bag that makes
it stand out, and it’s a bit of a mouthful; 200g
of 750 fill power RDS certified ethically sourced
Nikwax hydrophobic 90/10 goose down. All
these feathers are contained in a well-made
DWR coated polyester shell and constructed
with a stitch-through method with the whole
lot weighing an impressive 545g.
The bag packs down well in its stuff sack
or can be compressed further if you shove into
something like a two litre roll top dry bag, which
has the bonus of keeping it protected from mother
nature if you are caught in a deluge. The bag
has a lovely soft feel and it glides over your base
layers when you hop inside it. It is surprisingly
warm given how thin it is. The zip opens close
to the base of the bag, but the toggle could be a
bit bigger so it’s easier to grab in the dark. Once
snug inside the drawcord pulls the hood nicely
around your face and when pulled tight leaves
just your nose and mouth exposed for when you
want to really seal out the elements. The testers
found the hood quite spacious and the bag itself
fitted most well, including one who is a 6’2”
skinny man.
So how warm will it keep you? You’ll get a
good night’s sleep at 7C or warmer is what Alpkit
themselves say, which does assume you’re wearing
only base layers. But you can probably push
that a little lower once you’ve got a few extra
layers on and then jump in a bivvy bag or throw
in a silk liner.
The trickiest thing I find about selecting a
sleeping bag is deciding whether to go for a
lighter bag where you may get a bit cold when the
temperature drops, or to go for the heavier and,
crucially for me, significantly warmer next model
up. If you like the 200 but want more warmth,
the 400 model is £60 more and 320g heavier but
you’ll get a good night’s sleep at -6C. Both ways,
there’s a PipeDream for everyone and you won’t
regret buying it especially if you are on a budget.
Mountain Equipment
Women’s Helium 250
Weight: 675g Comfort limit: 3C RRP £200
A women’s specific sleeping bag, the Helium
250 builds on Mountain Equipment’s long
experience of making the ideal bag for a given
scenario, in this case two to three season use
with a comfort limit of 3C.
The bag comes in an attractive blackberry
colour and is constructed using slanted box-wall
baffles and stitch-through baffles. The filling is
243g of 90/10 Pure Duck Down with fill power of
700 and the outer shell is Helium 20 which is very
light and breathable. There is a full length baffle
backed two-way zip (and thankfully snag free) to
allow maximum ventilation and integrated neck
baffle with an easy to operate Lode Lock closure
to secure the neck baffle closed and allow no
heat loss. To complete the picture there’s an
anatomically shaped hood and offset foot-box
plus it comes with a waterproof dry bag stuff sack
and funky storage cube for when it’s not in use.
In use, Mountain Equipment uses something
they call Alpine fit with zoned EXL system and
this maximises thermal efficiency throughout the
bag and it works well. The bag was used to 5C
Rab Neutrino
Endurance 200
and was found to be nice and warm. It offered
just the right amount of space for our female
tester, being a good size space wise and a good
compromise between room to move and less air
space to heat up. The foot box was generous too
with room to wriggle your toes and the hood was
very well fitted, moving with the head when
cinched up but never feeling claustrophobic at
any time. The drawcords for the hood and neck
baffles were easy to use in action. The shorter
length of the bag was also a plus point and if you
are a tall woman they do a longer version. The
pack size was pretty small and the weight, to say
it is packed with great features and a full length
zip, is first rate. If you are a female climber
looking for good sleeping bag it’s one you
should take a look at.
Rab Neutrino Endurance 200
Weight: 742g Comfort limit: 0C RRP £240
Rab offer two versions of the same sleeping bag,
the Neutrino and the one we have, the Neutrino
Endurance. The difference is the outer shell
fabric. The Endurance has an outer of Pertex
Endurance fabric which gives a high level of
water resistance and coupled with Nikwax’s
hydrophobic down treatment makes it ideal for
bivvying. The shell does add weight so if you
don’t want to bivvy nor need extra protection
look at Rab’s Neutrino 200 coming in at 620g.
The bag is filled with 200g of top quality 800
fill power 90/10 European certified goose down
and is hand-filled in Derbyshire. Other key features
include a close-fitting and generous neck baffle,
collar and hood drawcords that are easy enough
to use and a small internal zipped stash pocket
near the top of the zip. A slightly over ½ length
zip with anti-snag webbing tape that does exactly
what it says with the zip running freely. The zip is
covered by a good size baffle, this time using
Primaloft, with a Velcro clasp at the top of the zip.
The bag is constructed using a trapezoidal baffle
design to eliminate potential cold spots. Another
neat thing is the Pertex inner fabric treated with
Polygiene odour control. The anti-bacterial fabric
treatment used in the sleeping bag’s lining, using
recycled silver salt technology to inhibit and
guard against the growth of odours so you can
use your bag for longer trips, means it will still
smell fresh. This is a great idea given how smelly
sleeping bags get and we are surprised it’s not
adopted by other manufacturers. Finally, it comes
with an excellent waterproof dry bag compression
stuff sack plus a cotton storage sack.
Mountain Equipment
Helium 250 Womens
Alpkit PipeDream
200
70 Sep–Oct 2017 www.climber.co.uk