I've got that bag. Had it out twice in -10 the last few weeks (pre lockdown). I use it with a Sea to Summit Thermolite Fleece Liner on a summer mat (2.4 r value). Id say it is good for zero degrees comfort on its own, which is probably adequate for most. Top tip: I don't use the stuff sack, I just stuff it in the bottom of my rucksack. My rucksack has a built in liner. If you don't have that, just make sure you have some kind of liner as you obviously don't want to get it wet. Easy to access and put away, plus it makes it easier to pack other items around it. Try it, you won't look back.
3 unsolicited tips on kit packing/compressing the sleeping bag, which I would say try before dismissing because you don't see many people do it this way: 1) If you're going to put the bag in the bottom of the pack, don't use that style of compression bag. They turn the bags into a very inefficient shape as they make the bags rounder than they need to be. Instead use a standard square/flat bottomed dry bag - I recommend the Osprey 12 litre drysack for that size of sleeping bag. Or even just a stuff sack, anything is better than that style of compression bag. Drysacks get more air out, believe it or not, as you can really compress them. I can get a Rab Neutrino Pro 600 into a 6 litre Osprey drysack if I try. Try it for yourself. Don't use polyester dry sacks, they don't hold the air out, go for a silnylon. Also - don't compress the drysack top to bottom (i.e the dirrection you'd roll it down), compress side to side - you want a longer thinner/flatter pancake shape, not a short fat ball shape. It'll fit the pack easier that way if you aren't going to do the next suggestion... 2) Don't put your sleeping bag in the bottom of the pack on it's own! It's common to put the sleeping bag at the bottom, then other stuff on top. Don't! Pack some things into the bottom/sides of your pack if you have a bucket style pack without a separate sleeping bag compartment, then slip in the dry bag as mentioned above, then shove in the sleeping bag inside that - yes, try it without putting the sleeping bag in the dry sack first. Instead of turning into a round ball, the bag will fill the irregular remaining space/cavity in the bottom of the bag left in between the other kit. The main point here is that nothing should be on top of each other, everything is in next to each other, not layered one on top of the other. This makes it easier to get things out. Good kit to pack in the bottom/sides are things like the tent body, change of clothes, sleeping pad etc - stuff that doesn't need to come out. That will save a surprising amount of space. Having other items around it means that if the air seal on the dry sack doesn't hold perfectly, the other items keep the bag compressed and stop it from fluffing up and the 'direction of expansion' is more sideways and not up towards the top of the pack. What can happen if you put the bag in the bottom of your pack is it can expand and push kit upwards every time you open the pack or take something in and out. I've seen it many time where people struggle to get stuff bag in after they've taken stuff out and it's often because the sleeping bag expands without the weight/compression of the kit on top of it. Which is why those special sleeping bag compartments bare so loved... 3) If you have a 'sleeping bag compartment', don't put the bag in there! Put things in there that you want easy access to. It's a perfect place to put some cook kit or warm kit or whatever you want access to when you pause during the day. Save the inside of the pack for the sleeping bag/emergency kit which only comes out at the end of the day. You can replicate what I just suggested in point 2 with the sleeping bag, just do it in that 'top' main part of the bag above the 'sleeping bag compartment' Doing this you can save a lot of space and you can have easier access to useful kit throughout the day. Great video guide on what I mean here, turn on captions, there are English subtitles: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xD-uHm9ksI4.html
That is some great advice , and a really good video on the topic - I have taken this into account - and even grabbed the OSprey 12L drysack (At the moment as little as £8.55 at All Outdoor tidd.ly/3llTG43 ) - hopefully its big enough, if not, I have a larger one I can try it with. Thanks for taking the time to share that - hopefully I can get some better packing going into my backpack from here - one thing I have always failed at haha!
@@SummitOrNothing Cool, glad I could help. If you're going to try option 1, when you compress it in the dry bag, you will probably need to compress 'top to bottom' for the first squeeze of air out, depending on how big the sleeping bag is. Don't try squeeze all the air out, just enough to get say half or bit more out. Once you've done that, lay the drybag on its side (keeping the top sealed as best you can, and kneel on it with all your body weight. This will flatten everything and push every bit of air out. Once you're happy you've got all the air out, roll the top at least 3 times, but not all the way down tight. Clip up the buckle, then you'll have a fairly flat 'package' with the air squeezed out. You can now actually shape this further, stand on it a bit, stretch it etc etc so you get it even flatter and make sure the bag goes as flat as possible and not clumped into a ball.
Those little pockets in the sleeping bags make a perfect holder for one of those hand warmer bags .... like a mini hot water bottle in your bag .. toasty warm 👍👍
Another well reviewed option is the Kelty Cosmic 20f Down Bag which Amazon are currently selling reduced for £114.08 (Prime). It weighs less at 1.16kg, however, from my early testing I'd say it's more of a 30-25f (-4c ish) comfort temp. All the best and cheers for the content.
Nice report. Thanks for posting. Top tip:when stuffing the bag into compression sack, stuff it in foot box first. Allows air to escape from hood end. Also undo zips to let out more air. Keep up the good work.
Hi Trev... I was in the market for a new doss-bag. Watched your review and I'm now a proud owner of the OEX 900. Fantastic review and cant wait to try it out up on the hills. Thank you for sharing Stay safe.... peace 😎👍
Great video as always Trev. You inspired me to go off for my first ever wild camp a couple weekends ago on Dartmoor. We did a 10 mile hike and pitched at Oke Tor. Amazing and can’t wait to get out again! I don’t want to take away from your links about but in case anyone is interested Millets are selling this bag for £100 for the next few days as they are currently offering 20% off many items. Thanks again 👍🏻😀
Damn - I wish I knew that before, I could have got Go Outdoors to knock it down with their price fix scheme. Cheers for the heads up, and well done on your camp, bud! Oke Tor is among my favourite tors. Cheers!
Return it and repurchase it with the savings 🤑 I would buy one myself but at 6’ 9” my sleeping bag options are limited so I’m thinking about getting a down quilt instead. I have an Exped down insulated mat already so hoping that paired with a quilt will be a good solution for me. I currently use a Naturehike Cloud Up 3 and sleep diagonally but I have just ordered a Dan Durston Drop X-Mid 2p trekking pole tent. It looks an interesting, innovative design and is about half the weight of my Cloud Up. Thanks again for your vids and enthusiasm! 👍🏻
Interesting. Could you give us a proper shot of the board games? Always interested when someone else also keeps theirs in the front room. Also, I prolly need a proper winter bag.
Hi Trev, I really dislike mummy sleeping bags 😏 I have been using a Snugpak 3 season square bottom, plus it unzips into a quilt. What also helps is a good R rating mat such as a 4.0 or above. As I don't like using a sleeping bag liner I plan to place my mat and sleeping bag inside a Miltec Bivi bag to increase warmth. I do have an OEX Evolution 4 season synthetic bag. I hoping my new Eureka TCOP tent will also increase insulation. I'm eyeing up some thermal wear for night time. I've invested in quilted Montane booties. I'm planning using a tarp above my tent in the woods to reduce the tent being susceptible to frost and heavy rain. Thanks for the review atb Taff 🤠
Sounds like you've got all bases covered to keep warm on the hills, Taff's. I've always found mummy bags ok, my Vango has been 4wally comfy and snug, have gor twistes up with my liners in there too in the past, so hopefully the new one will mean I don't need the liner. Cheers for watching, mate.
I hi trev. Only thing I would say is be wary of the temps on OEX. It is a great bag for the price though, I had one for one night and found it warm but too short for me as it wouldn't reach my shoulders for some weird reason unless it tightened the collar ties. I changed it and got the Vango Vulcan -12. Another £50 but I can already feel the difference in quality and loft. Cant wait to use it this Friday on dartmoor!! 👍
@@SummitOrNothing I think you'll be alright. It wasn't too tight but tighter than the EV300 I have. Its mainly the length on me. Im 6'4 and although its 220cm long I fitted but the hole I found was just to big unless cinched up and it was too warm to cinch it. Just found it annoying. Im sure you'll love it as its very popular. Might do a little early review after Friday.
I bought one of these last week and seriously doubt the -9c comfort. Slept overnight in a bothy on the Lairig Leacach the other night and I can’t honestly say that it’s any warmer than my old Snugpak. Marginally lighter but not anywhere near -9. It was probably -4 or -5 that night. Good job I had a Patagonia Nanopuff jacket. I’m probably going to go for one of the Alpkit bags since I need to be sure that I’m not going to have another sleepless night in a remote glen
Hi Trev. I remember your excitement at the start of this journey with Nathan when you purchased the Vango bag off ebay. You’ve definitely had your money’s worth out of it and upgrading to the Leviathan is an excellent choice. You will certainly appreciate it in the Himalayas! ATVB Graham Ps Give my very best to Nathan as I miss seeing him in the videos.
Hi Graham, nice to hear from you. Yea its a decent sleeping bag looking forward to testing it out proper in the winter. Must say though, you must have missed a few of our videos as Naths made a return this year and even ventured out on another wild camp which went up last week!! Definitely a return to classic summit or nothing.
Yes, I saw him in one recently but thought it was just another guest appearance. I missed the two of you ‘playing’ off each other and that’s what made your channel unique in amongst the vast array of wildcamping channels. So, if Nathan is back I’m back! 😂
Got the OEX Leviathon 900 a couple of weeks ago, took it out last night on Gutter Tor in the wind and rain. Absolutely toasty warm, and packs down quite small in the compression sack provided. Highly recommended piece of kit
Hi Trev that OEX looks like a quality purchase, i use the Snugpak Sleeper Extreme which is an amazing bag and really warm in the cold, I've picked up some Ex Army softie trousers and jacket as well, they weigh next to nothing as i love wildcamping in bad weather so just for the just in case scenario, keep up the good work buddy 👌🏻
Cheers Ken. Sounds like you're fully prepared for the winter. Gets exciting campinv this time of year, right up until we have to spend 14hours in a tent lol. Thanks for watching
The OEX Leviathan is a great bag for cold dry weather, but when I used it in rainy damp conditions, it was a little damp on the upper surface in the morning. So I've now bought the Fathom EV 400 which is synthetic for cold damp conditions. And just in case it's not warm enough have a Thermolite Reactor liner.
Still use my old army bag from back in the day... It's heavy but... I ain't cold in winter , anyone looking for one the going for 20 grade one,on a certain site that I know if I can help anyone looking on a budget for winter! Nice one mr summit as usual 👌👍
Awesome buddy that’s the down bag for mr Awesome price as well .. £119 ..I’ll be getting the osprey kestrel 48 back pack & the OEX down bag soonish buzzing cheers Chris & Sam
The oex one is mint Trevor I was out in mine last winter it felt very comfortable and warm you will love it I normally sleep in a t shirt and long John's but not in that bag enjoy mate atvb jimmy 😎😎👍👍
Hi Trev. Just bought the Leviathan, tried it first time last night. Wasn't cold enough to give it a proper test, but at 5C I didn't even need it zipped up. So signs are good that with it zipped up and the hood and baffle cinched up, it will be toasty. ATB mate!
I can only imagine though that it takes up half of your backpack! The 300 was big enough, another reason I went for a down bag this time. Thanks for commenting!
@@SummitOrNothing its not that much bigger and alot warmer iam always dubious with down bags on the moors and coast so much moisture in the air and that never goes well in my experience with down the new treatments help i hear in that regard interested to see how you get on with mate 👍
Great video Trev, I have just discovered I have a 4 season sleeping bag ,that I didn`t know I had. It`s the Vango Nitestar 400, not used it in winter yet. But decided I need a 3 season bag so have just ordered the OEX Evolution EV 300 from Amazon at the sale price of £38:21, due in a couple of days.
Hi Trev, I'm a new sub here, found your channel looking for a lightweight tent and got the Naturehike Cloud Up 2, have since used it and am a happy camper, cheers mate 👍🙂
Hello Trev. Good content as always. I bought the Leviathan in about 2017 and although it's not been heavily used, I've found it haemorrhages down, and even more so when I washed/treated it. There are some VERY down free areas now. That said, maybe their fabrics have improved since I bought mine. It was really warm when new though. Careful on those compression straps, mine snapped easily. A great starter for a winter bag at a good price like! All the best.
Hi just brought one today spoke to the chap in go outdoors about feather loss and he said they have updated the material used in 2019 to help with down loss hope this helps great channel
I bought one the OEX leviathan bags in August this year. Great discount from GoOutdoors. I havent used it yet but got into it at home and had to get out of it after a few minutes as the heat was mental. Hoping to use it soon.
It’s an impressive looking bag Trev, and was already on my list to upgrade too. I have the oex fathom 400 and bought it for the disgustingly low price of £35 on sale from go outdoors, I wanted to spend a bit more but I had to shell out on a tent, air mat and a few other bits all at the same time
Yea - it all adds up - this is the most I have spent on a sleeping bag - but for the temp, and the fact that it was down - the price was fairly good. Lets see how I get on with it, now! Thanks for watching!
Summit Or Nothing I will be watching and if it’s good value for money I will pull the trigger and upgrade (depending if I need too, not had the 400 in the cold yet)
Looks like a good buy does this. I’m currently on a Vango nitestar 375 for winter. It’s a great bag for £45 and has kept me super toasty but the downside is it’s large pack size and £2.1kg weight. I wonder if I could accidentally loose this one in the loft somewhere so I’d have to buy the OEX leviathan 😁
Awesome, Bari, you haggler you... i did a little bit more off at go outdoors yo be fair, showed my national trust card and got a further reduction.. but my go outdoors card had expired so ended up spending a further £5 🤣
Good reviews. However one thing I never understood, my old carp fishing sleeping bag had crash zips. So it opens quickly if needed. Normal bags don’t seem to have this. The crash zips really help if u need to get out quick. I.e need a wee etc.
Thats a great point - I recall my brother (who loves his course fishing) showing me that on one of his old bags. Really durable too - surprising more companies dont just put them on their bags!
How strange I have the same Vango bag think it's gonna be at its limit now for keeping me warm ,I'm a cold sleeper and have been looking to get the laviathan myself. Hopefully it's not long before we get a field test video !
So my 4 sessions sleep bag cost me 33 pounds plus dliver it a britsh arm article sleep bag the organic fill one is not good but works and I am hot as toasty inside Trev buy one and try one there on budget and work well but used in good condition normal up green camping on budget
Hi Trev. I have an old pattern 58 army bag,from 1986. Luckily,it’s a good surplus bag in ‘Long’,which hasn’t really been used much. I have had it professionally dry cleaned and it still retains its loft,but… I just fancy something more modern. Would you say it would be better to not go on a impulse buy and just put up with it until I have enough cash to spill out on Rab 900 or something similar? As you get what you pay for? Even though the army bag is old,I like the ‘front loading’ zip on it,as opposed to a side zip. What d’ya think? R.S.V.P Regards
Not good for down to conpress too much? In Aliexpress ad for the Naturehike down bag they show that bag shouldn't be compressed too much. It says: Ultimate compression; for less space (not recommended). But maybe they warn to not store bag compressed for long time.
Yea, I think for the duration of a hike they are ok compressed slightly, but they usually give a net sack to store them in so that they do not compress whilst in storage.
Now then Trev!!!!! Hope you are well lad. I have to ask you. I have £250 to spend on a good winter tent. In the peaks in windy/cold conditions. I need something almost bulletproof.... Big task at £250?............
There's a lot on offer at the £250 mark - the cloud peak 2 or the Vango Mirage Pro are supposed to be bomb proof though they do get a little heavier. But anything with a geodesic design is going to be considerably more stable. Check out some of the comemnts in my top 10 tent video, perhaps there is more information from viewers in there.
I have had a sleeping bag nightmare with go outdoors, they misinformed me then sold me some bags on a lie which are to small, they then refused to help me only offering me 10% discount to buy more sleeping bags. I think I'm going to boycott go outdoors from here on in and go with decathlon as I have heard really good things.
That's a shame. I like the oex products but I know what you mean about go outdoors. I had a nightmare online with them earlier in the year and it was hard to get sorted, and as for their local store to me, always a mess, the staff are clueless and the shelves are bare. I must say I visited a Decathlon store at Farnborough back before covid and would love to gwt back there again. If only they had more closer to us carrot crunchers lol
@@SummitOrNothing they never have any gas? Shortly if you run out so often you would make sure you had a ton in stock .badly ran business. I too like oex, I brought to oex bags which are too small but they told me they would suit my size...I'm 6.5. they guy who sold me them messed up my order so I had to take these and pointed out they were smaller but he told me he was around my height and used the same bag. Now they won't take them back. I will not even buy gas there anymore after this service. Watch out for 2 oex fathom 350 bags on eBay at a bargain price.
@@breakbystealth terrible to hear that, their customer service sounds shocking. Paul Messner raves about a Decathlon down jacket he owns and generally I've only heard good things about them. Hope your bags sell for a decent price and you get some good replacements.
@@HazzM thanks. I have since had go outdoors email me back asking what they can do to fix the issue.i will give them one last opportunity to fix the issue. I have been looking for a down jacket and I think the one everyone raves about is the trek 100 whi h is about 40 queen's heads. I'm very close to ordering one to be fair. If go out doors fail to replace the bags I will definitely nevr use them again and I will be looking to decathlon. So much budget friendly gear that is higher spec than go outdoors for the money. Few good videos on here showing some top buys from decathlon.
@@SummitOrNothing can you do a 1yr on update, you've done a good video and it would be nice to see how it's fared over the year of your professional use 😊
Hi trev New subscriber here..loving the channel bud....i see what you call budget...i would call expensive...i know you often get what you pay for but would you consider doing a few vids for those of us on a shoestring budget?..i bought a secondhand artic army bag...I recently bought what I thought was a second hand one man hiking tent...but when I opened it up it was like a coffin and could only fit a kid in..my mates were pissing themselves..im itching to do some of dartmoor but im inexperienced and not sure where I can cut some corners...would any of the decathlon tents be any good?..they seem a lot cheaper but im not sure if they would stand up to dartmoor weather?..could you road test some real budget gear please? Or is this a false economy?..i don't think I'd be out in serious weather..more the 3 seasons Cheers bud
Hi Mike. I must admit i have always been the budget hiker / camper but have started to realise that in order to save weight and space im having to spend a little bit more than im used to. I've not tried any if the decathlon tents, so must have a look into that for you. It'll be interesting to see hiw thwy hold up. Thanks for the heads up and thanks for watching.
Sorry my response is so long got carried away. I have seen a crazy cheap tent on strong winds on Dartmoor and it survived. I was in one myself in torrential rain and it was ok. If you a looking to test out the experience see if you can beg and borrow spares from friends etc. If you end up loving the experience then start looking at buying gear. Personally I would start with sleeping system (Bag and mat) then tent. If you go synthetic it is cheaper and very warm. Just not as light or small. Dan Becker has great videos about sleeping mats. Also I use the hiking mat and sleeping bag for family camping as well so it’s a double usage. I like/used the euro hike synthetic hybrid they have at blacks. It’s a great intro to backpacking sleeping bags. Cheap at the moment as well. www.blacks.co.uk/15981459/eurohike-down-hybrid-sleeping-bag-15981459/?istCompanyId=d92b362f-ac8a-4a8a-87ca-c56eafad7955&istFeedId=2f99410f-1124-43d5-8232-86c184f09479&istItemId=ilprmtmww&istBid=tzpr&gclid=CjwKCAjwzvX7BRAeEiwAsXExozXoNYxWb4lB8iSeFL2zGu2H-S95QQAW5EicZK7qRSqCikN0qInbhxoCrJ0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds My friends still have the same gear they had from when we started because they have been camping the same amount of times in 10 years as I have in 6 weeks. Horses for courses but also try it first see if you like it and then invest if you think hell yeah. Being cold is just horrible at night so don’t skimp on warmth.
I have managed to fit mine in an 8L compression sack (from decathlon) because the original one wasn't good enough for me. I reckon that I could get it inside an 8L dry bag too easy enough
Great review on the bags bud, Ill be using mountain hardwear clouds rest for winterwhich is a down. I got that for a bargain. And that packs down to nothing too. I like the look of that oex bag too. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BAtWG2-t9rk.html ATB Adam 👍👍
