A new sleeping bag

My trusty sleeping bag is over 30 years old and was a spring/summer bag in the first place, you can imagine that it was not the most comfortable night at the Autrian – Italian border last September.
When we woke up there was snow up the mountain we looked upon that wasn’t there the evening of arrival.
Doing a trip like that made me realize that this is what i really like and you could have read the plans for the upcoming 3 to 4 years and investing in a new sleeping bag is a very sensible thing.

Like always i started online checking out prices to get a feel about what i have to spend, i was willing to pay for quality but was not planning to take that into ridiculous figures.
It had to be comfortable around freezing point knowing that i have some passes planned in Romania and also want to go to the North Cape and in both places it can be already a bit chilly in September.
After making a pre selection online and checking stock in the stores it was narrowed down to 2 stores, one in Eindhoven at 75km and in Genk (Belgium) at 35km.
The store in Eindhoven still works with shopping on appointment, a corona measure that has been lifted a week ago and the first moment i could fit in would be Tuesday after work but i am planning to go on a trip on Thursday.
That leaves me not al lot of time to find an alternative when i was not happy with their options.

Genk it is, A.S. Adventure to be precise. It is also the mother company from the other option.
The weather report was not very promising and the radar this morning backed that up so i skipped the touristic route.
It was a nice big shop but not too big and enough staff to help you out.
After talking about what i did and my plans and my pre selection the advice was to get something different with a down filling but i ruled that out because of the big risk of wet conditions.
In that case my choice was not bad at all but than came the reason why i always go ta a shop when i buy important gear.
There was another option giving me the packing size of down and options to choose during the trip when i get in various environments along the trip like the Balkan trip.
On that trip i expect cold weather at the passes but i know that around the time i get in Montenegro it is still possible to have 30 degrees Celsius during the day.

The solution was a sleeping bag with a higher comfort temperature with a separate liner.

The sleeping bag has a comfort temperature of 15 degrees (all Celsius), limit 10 and extreme -2.
The liner lowers all those figures with 15 degrees and when it gets real hot i can use it separate. When it still is too cold i can keep my riding under layer on.
The sleeping bag has the same packing size (maybe even a bit smaller) than the down version able for the lower temperatures but that one would be too warm, even when i just lay on it or completely opened.
But now you have 2 packages i hear you think!

That’s correct…

But…..
When i put them together and roll it back up it still fits the compression bag and is strangely enough almost the same size as only the sleeping bag???

All in all a great advice and i’m a happy man.
During the talk the guy who helped me said that i might want to talk with a colleague too as he rides a motorcycle and also follows Itchy Boots.
They both wrote down the address to this blog so to the salesmen from A.S. Adventure, when you get here i welcome you.
Keep up the good work, thanks for the talk and de good advice.
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When i need new gear (replacement or add-ons) you will see me back.

Thursday i planned to do the TET Belgium and the last bit of the south NL section (from Nederweert to the Belgium track).
Hopefully it will be dry because i read that some parts can get treacherous when wet, a bit warmer would be nice also but for the night i think i get it covered 😉
Tomorrow i go figure out how to pack Ecstasy and i’m planning to pack for a longer trip than the 2 nights i will do next weekend, just as a test for the plans i have next year.
When the weather is good enough i will do a review of the gear on this trip, if not it just will be another episode of mudmasters i guess 😅.