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Chinese sleeping bag.

Chinese sleeping bag.


Postby Jon and Jen » Tue Jun 19, 2018 2:12 am

Our Vango bags (synthetic) weigh over 3kg and are very bulky so we have been looking at duck down alternatives. Best I could come up with was the OEX Helios 300 at £129.99. We were about to buy when I checked alixpress as I buy lots of stuff from there and they have similar 400g/m2. Duck down bags, rated to same temps and @ 900g packed to 17 x 20 cm they tick all the boxes. They are coming in at around £40 delivered.

Has anyone taken a punt on these? Jen and I are both always too warm so 400g is grand for us. There seems to be good feedback and they look good in the photos. I'm probably going to buy one for now just to see what's what as Chinese stuff is coming on leaps and bounds but just wondering if anyone has any experience with them that might save me £40? :D
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Giant Stoneater » Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:12 am

Depends whither you care for ducks welfare as Chinese have a awful record for this kind of stuff.Lots of major sleeping bag companies have a traceability record for their down. A few pointers for down sleeping bags,down comes in different categories from old ducks to young ducks from where you get the.warm air trapping benefits, is down treated with nikwax water repellent, outer is it water repellent,does bag have zip,shoulder and head baffles,do you have choice of size,right or left zip opening,how evenly spread is the down and how is it held in place,is the bag just for low level summer use.I have a £20 synthetic sleeping bag for my grandson would I have bought a adult version no way to many drawbacks,grandson only uses in height of summer.
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby nick70 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:53 am

Hi Jon and Jen

Just to throw my tuppence worth in here. Apologies I don't have any experience of the Chineses bags you ask, however I do have experience of the OEX Helios.

I have to admit to being very, very disappointed with this bag. I bought this bag mainly due to its weight and the fact it is 3 season. I intended it mainly for WHW which I done this year late March/early April.
I had used it a couple of time before (although in more temperate conditions) and it seemed fine. However whilst using on WHW with temperature through night dropping to zero (maybe slightly lower) I found every sleep in this bag uncomfortable and not very warm at all. Every morning when waking up I was noticing feathers coming loose from the baffled sections. I never found this bag easy to fluff up in an evening and it just felt like a very thin, flimsy cloth.
Towards the end of the trip I also noticed the eyelet at the drawcord had also come loose and disappeared (despite never using it) and this again was causing more feathers to come loose.
I took it back to Go Outdoors and they exchanged it for me. This was mid April. I have since used the new bag once (mid May) and I am again noticing feathers coming loose and again I feel I did not get a warm, comfortable sleep with it. If this continues again I feel that I may well exchange bag. I feel that this bag is no more better than any other run of the mill 2 season bag.

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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Hola » Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:35 am

OR you can buy a goose down bag
To get decent loft you will need at least an 850 fill.
Lower at 700/650 etc, the feather or down is a smaller diameter therefore limited in amount it can loft.
But then there’s the cost....
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Caberfeidh » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:30 pm

Or try a hollofill bag, with synthetic fill which will keep you warm even when damp, and this is Scotland...

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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Robinho08 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:05 pm

You get what you pay for, plus I can't imagine the welfare of the staff or geese being very good either. :?
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Jon and Jen » Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:53 pm

Giant Stoneater wrote:Depends whither you care for ducks welfare as Chinese have a awful record for this kind of stuff.Lots of major sleeping bag companies have a traceability record for their down. A few pointers for down sleeping bags,down comes in different categories from old ducks to young ducks from where you get the.warm air trapping benefits, is down treated with nikwax water repellent, outer is it water repellent,does bag have zip,shoulder and head baffles,do you have choice of size,right or left zip opening,how evenly spread is the down and how is it held in place,is the bag just for low level summer use.I have a £20 synthetic sleeping bag for my grandson would I have bought a adult version no way to many drawbacks,grandson only uses in height of summer.


Not overly concerned about the welfare issue. The bags are sold as 800+ fill which would be from older ducks so much better. Not sure if down is treated but outer is water resistant. All choices of size, zip placement etc available and the baffles are all there. Bag will be for general use. We used our similarly rated Vango bags in February in Glen Tilt without issue. They do offer much colder rated bags but it's weight and size we are buying for, hence the 400g/m2.

Just to throw my tuppence worth in here. Apologies I don't have any experience of the Chineses bags you ask, however I do have experience of the OEX Helios.

I have to admit to being very, very disappointed with this bag. I bought this bag mainly due to its weight and the fact it is 3 season. I intended it mainly for WHW which I done this year late March/early April.
I had used it a couple of time before (although in more temperate conditions) and it seemed fine. However whilst using on WHW with temperature through night dropping to zero (maybe slightly lower) I found every sleep in this bag uncomfortable and not very warm at all. Every morning when waking up I was noticing feathers coming loose from the baffled sections. I never found this bag easy to fluff up in an evening and it just felt like a very thin, flimsy cloth.
Towards the end of the trip I also noticed the eyelet at the drawcord had also come loose and disappeared (despite never using it) and this again was causing more feathers to come loose.
I took it back to Go Outdoors and they exchanged it for me. This was mid April. I have since used the new bag once (mid May) and I am again noticing feathers coming loose and again I feel I did not get a warm, comfortable sleep with it. If this continues again I feel that I may well exchange bag. I feel that this bag is no more better than any other run of the mill 2 season bag.


Thanks for this. The OEX has such great reviews online. I was about to buy two @ £104 but they went up to £129.99 before I pulled the trigger. I then watched two second hand ones sell for over £100 each on ebay. Your review here more than anything is pushing me towards taking a gamble on the Chinese offerings.

OR you can buy a goose down bag
To get decent loft you will need at least an 850 fill.
Lower at 700/650 etc, the feather or down is a smaller diameter therefore limited in amount it can loft.
But then there’s the cost....


Outside of our price range for sure. Universal credit doesn't stretch that far.

Or try a hollofill bag, with synthetic fill which will keep you warm even when damp, and this is Scotland...


More our budget but seemingly no difference in weight or size?
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Giant Stoneater » Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:38 pm

Would be very interesting if you did go for the £40 bag if there was feedback from yourselves on this matter,would be very interesting on quality and performance.
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Jon and Jen » Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:56 pm

Giant Stoneater wrote:Would be very interesting if you did go for the £40 bag if there was feedback from yourselves on this matter,would be very interesting on quality and performance.


Have decided to buy one for now and see how we get on. Will write it up when we have tried it out. Will take a month to arrive so will be a while. Watch this space.....
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby davekeiller » Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:18 pm

£40 is suspiciously cheap.
One reason that down is so expensive is the welfare standards required in the EU, and I'm in little doubt that to keep the price down, your Chinese made bag simply won't meet those standards. It's up to you and your conscience whether you think that's a problem.
At that price point I wouldn't expect any water resistant coating to last, and I'd expect poor workmanship. Construction is unlikely to be as good, so I'd expect the down to distribute itself unevenly and give cold spots. I'd also expect cheap feathers rather than quality down.

£40 is very much the budget end of the market for a synthetic bag, and I simply can't see how a down bag can be any good at this price point.
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Gareth Harper » Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:07 pm

One reason that down is so expensive is the welfare standards required in the EU, and I'm in little doubt that to keep the price down, your Chinese made bag simply won't meet those standards. It's up to you and your conscience whether you think that's a problem.


Dave,

Jon and Jen has(have) already stated “Not overly concerned about the welfare issue.” In other words they don’t seem to give a whatever with respect to the welfare of the animals.

From the Peta web site;
"Plucking causes geese and ducks considerable pain and distress. Typically, they are lifted by their necks or delicate wings, their legs are physically restrained or tied, and their feathers are ripped right out of their skin. The struggling birds are often plucked so hard that their skin is torn open and the hurried workers sew up the wounds using needle and thread and no painkillers. Plucking may begin when the animals are just 10 weeks old and be repeated in six-week intervals until the birds are slaughtered for meat long before they would naturally die."
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Jon and Jen » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:15 am

Gareth Harper wrote:
One reason that down is so expensive is the welfare standards required in the EU, and I'm in little doubt that to keep the price down, your Chinese made bag simply won't meet those standards. It's up to you and your conscience whether you think that's a problem.




Dave,

Jon and Jen has(have) already stated “Not overly concerned about the welfare issue.” In other words they don’t seem to give a whatever with respect to the welfare of the animals.

From the Peta web site;
"Plucking causes geese and ducks considerable pain and distress. Typically, they are lifted by their necks or delicate wings, their legs are physically restrained or tied, and their feathers are ripped right out of their skin. The struggling birds are often plucked so hard that their skin is torn open and the hurried workers sew up the wounds using needle and thread and no painkillers. Plucking may begin when the animals are just 10 weeks old and be repeated in six-week intervals until the birds are slaughtered for meat long before they would naturally die."



The irony of your first sentence pointing out the futility of the rest of your post. :clap:
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Caberfeidh » Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:21 am

Jon and Jen wrote: Or try a hollofill bag, with synthetic fill which will keep you warm even when damp, and this is Scotland...More our budget but seemingly no difference in weight or size?


They do not weigh a great deal more, mine does not cripple me or drag me downhill. A compression sack will crush it down nicely to fit in your rucksack (the separate bit at the bottom, if you have that kind of rucksack) but just remember to take it out of it's compression bag and hang up loosely in the wardrobe when it is not in use, as the fill is destroyed by long-term pressure like being left for weeks or months in a compression bag. A good one is the three season snugpak . I use this is summer and put it inside a Buffalo outer for winter.
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby Caberfeidh » Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:48 am

Or you could really go upmarket...

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Lacoste Designer Sleeping Bag
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Re: Chinese sleeping bag.

Postby matt_outandabout » Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:37 pm

Let us know how you get on.

FWIW, our two bought-in-the-sale (synthetic) Vango Ultralights have done well. About the right temp rating, 1300-1500g and survived battering by two teenagers taking on DofE and mountain marathons....but, both outers are now showing rips and pulled seams at only 3 years old..

Our new (Synthetic) Ayacucha is disappointing in not being as warm as rated. And heavier by 150g. Hi

My wife's Mountain Equipment Iceline is 20 years old and now feeling thin/lacking in heat. My even older ME Classic 500 is getting a re-stuff of shiny new down this year. Both have been toasty warm over the years, down to around freezing regularly.

I bought them concerned about damp - but never really had an issue.
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