Hello. I have owned the same Defence 4 for more than ten years now, and the coldest i have used it in is -14c. I had my termo original warm underwear on, and a balaclava and i was laying on a 3cm inflatable sleeping mat and i was comfortable, not warm, but not cold either. These are my tips, that i can remember on top of my head: The key to keeping warm in a sleepingbag is the sleeping mat and stay out of the wind, if you dont use a sleeping mat, all the cold and moisture from the ground will keep you cold. Dont exhale inside your sleepingbag, it will make it damp and wet within hours and then get cold. Its the trapped air that keeps you warm and you are the heating source. Insulation is not a heating source and is not warmth in itself, it can only slow down the speed at which heat travels away from the heatingsource, just like a house. Therefore the more baggy and "loose", the more trapped warm air = more warmth. I guess we all feel cold and warm different, everything above +5c and i change to my 2 season sleeping back.
The defence 4 manage -11 C no problem. 1) always use sleeping pad or else compression between you and ground makrs you cold. 2) Prolong the sleeping bags full function by keeping a liner inside your sleeping bag, so dirt (skin oils etc) don't reduce its insulation capacity you only wash the liner not the sleeping bag. 3) dont sleep with your head inside the sleeping bag, You sleep with its hole around your neck, this way you seal heat in and breathing vapor outside the sleeping bag. Use balaclava , hood , cap in any Combo. If you do all those you will reap the full potential of your defence 4 bag.
Great video. I have been reading the comments, only civilians use the pertex shell on the outside and military we use Carinthia inside out, as pertex shell on the outside creates an isothermic barrier you wont feel the benefit of the insulation below you. If you use the pertex shell on the outside like a civilian, then its best to have a foam mat/pad inside the bag with you. You must have bought a bag from an ex-soldier. I hope this clarifies this argument in the comment section for you....peace,
I slept in that sleeping bag at -17c in a hammock (borrowed the bag from a mate) I put the bag inside an old Dutch army m90 bivy bag for added comfort and to keep the snow of. Was warm and comfy all night.
i do actually remove every visible piece of lint and little fibers from velcro on account of my ocd when i'm bored and sitting around or travelling or just laying there if i see it. been doing that since i was a kid lmao stg if you got my used bag you would think it's brand new 😂
I have slept in -14 C in a hammock with that sleeping bag and a under blanket from dd. I was pretty warm and never cold. Only wore t-shirt, underwear, socks and a hat. In plus 4 I had to open it a bit to cool of.
I just ordered the Superior Gear -30F hammock with -30F top quilt, all handmade by Danny in the USA. Should keep me cozy warm up here in the Finnish arctic!
I purchased the Carinthia 6 version, because I live very close to the cascade mountains and you never know when SHTF a need for the extra protection from the severe cold. I plan on purchasing the gortex cover, but it is so expensive compared to the sleeping bag!
Close your eyes! This is how I would imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger camping 👍🏻 Carinthia is the best gear you can buy but I would like to see a tent not civilian camping also - maybe a 2 person tent with cooking area
I slept with tropen on -1 celsius. If i say i didnt even close the zipper completely, it was about 1/4 of the way open and i was wearing boxers and long sleeved shirt, people probaply will accuse of being all bs because this dude was freezing with defence 4 in -4 celsius... i used Finnish army defence 4 (same temperature ratings, same manufacturer, slight changes...) in as low as -20 and didnt freeze. I slept outside like 120-130 days when i was in the army and that was the only bag we used, if it was +30 on summer day we used it, if it was -22 during winter we used that, it was the only bag we got.
I'm confused. Isn't the sleeping bag inside-out in this demo?? The plain side, without the horizontal stitching, goes on the outside, doesn't it? And then you mention that when you press a knee against the side of the bag from the inside you get a cold spot. Well you would get a cold spot if the bag is inside-out because it is differentially cut. If it is the right way around, the inner wall of the bag is narrower than the outer wall, so when you press a knee into the side from the inside you don't compress the insulation and you don't get a cold spot.
@@ZadovApproves OK, we forgive you. ;-) Thanks for doing the video. But what I want to know is whether you were USING the sleeping bag inside out and whether that might explain why you experienced cold spots on your knees, etc. I'm thinking of buying a sleeping bag and i don't want to buy this one if it has cold spots like that.
@@paulmackilligin1754 it's good sleeping bag. I think I found problem. I was sleeping in car cargo area while on trip in Sweden. Problem was moisture forming inside without ventilation. When too much it prevented sleeping bag from releasing moisture away and this was an issue.
@@ZadovApproves Ah yes, if you were sleeping in an unventilated car then the air inside the car would have 100% humidity so water vapour would have no reason to leave the sleeping bag, especially if it has a semi-waterproof outer covering as the Carinthia bags have. (Waterproof layers are always far less 'breathable' than non-waterproof layers.) I've slept in cars a bit. Ventilation and condensation are always an issue. What I found works is to not try to use the car for warmth at all. (Rely entirely on the sleeping bag and sleeping mat.) I point the car into the wind (better if there IS some wind) open the front windows a bit, and open the tailgate by 100mm so the wind can slowly blow through. Opening the tailgate also gave more room for my feet. (It would be better to sleep with head near the partially open tailgate, so your moist breath will be blown out of the car, although I generally slept the other way around.) [Edit: Also good to park on high ground if possible, not by the side of a lake. Partly because a bit of wind helps with ventilation, partly because humidity by a lake at night is VERY high, and partly because mosquitos and midges don't like the wind, and do like water.] You can still get moisture building up inside a sleeping bag in winter even with perfect ventilation, which is why people use vapour barriers inside sleeping bags during winter expeditions, but if the space you are in is ventilated then the sleeping bag has at least a chance to dry out. But did you find that the sleeping bag dried out more easily if it was turned inside out?
@@paulmackilligin1754 basically I never tried;) i store them usually in reverse. So it's always dry and moisture can dry faster. Also I don't compress them when not in use.
You are right. Looks like it is inside-out in this demonstration. That will probably mess with the rating as the reflective layer in the bag might not work as intended.
Maybe you’re a cold sleeper, i’ve slept in the defense 1 at 33°F, 0.5°C with just sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt it was perfectly comfortable. Obviously the temp rating won’t be the same for everyone.
I used my defence for on our winter sleepover at 2000m on a mountain at -13C° and a shitty tent and 50cm snow. And it was very cold 😅😅😅 but i think the tent was the problem it was a summer tent with a net as inner shell and yea the wind blew the whole night threw my tent 😅 but i got some sleep. At the moment i looking for videos on the bivy bags from carinthia to deside witch one to buy
Hello, I would like to know if I leave the tent and the bag set up outdoors, at bedtime they will be frozen, can I use a bag when it is 1 degree outside? How do you do it? Thank you.
Hello! The lithuanian military doesnt get these issued. We get the tropen and defense 4 but not the bivy. At least regular infantry. Maybe special ops, yeah.
I've used the defence 4 on cold conditions (0°C and below) and i'm a cold sleeper, no problem with wool socks and underwear, what R-value is your sleeping mat ? It's crucial to have a big R-value for winter (min 3 or 4) if not the ground will suck all your heat.
I don’t think they use this bivi bag in the Danish army, they use another, not hooped one. But the Dutch army use this one, and you can get a used one, but in almost brand new conditions for about 100 Euro. The Dutch army version have another color DPM camouflage, but apart from that it’s exactly the same.
I'm curious if you've tried the Tropen and Defence 4 combined? I've heard this combination is supposed to be extremely warm, but I haven't heard any first-hand anecdotes. I own both myself but here in Texas we rarely see weather below -6 or -7 C.
Have you stored your bag correctly ? I stored mine mrztty badly, stayed in the compression bah for too long, now I'm cold at 0°C but before I was naked on the snow by -5°..
The loops are for attaching the liner you can buy seperately. Yes , I said liner, because you are using the bag inside out, idiot. The waterproof outer is the one piece material, not the soft stitched baffles. You might have realised when you saw the label as these are always on the inner and if you actually tried using it the right way, you might find it warmer.
Carinthia combat bivy bag is listed as 250cm in lenght. Why so fukin long? Most people are propably 180-190cm at tops. Is there really going to be 70-60cm room for foot??
