Finding the best sleeping bag for my requirements

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Finding the right sleeping bag can be a total nightmare. I thought that I'd done my research but when my bag arrived today, I sent it back to the store.
Why? Too large packed volume. Need something smaller to fit on my bike.

This  post is tagged Stelvio 2019 as that is the trip that needs a sleeping bag. And there are some requirements that the bag needs to fulfil. Mainly

• Light, preferably less than a kilo
• Cheap, or at least cheap-ish. Originally budgeted 1000 SEK (around $100) for a bag but I think that I'll end up doubling that after the fiasco with the one I had to return.
• Comfort temperature as close to zero degrees Celsius as possible. 
• Suitable for a 190 cm person.

Why zero temperature, the trip is in June, European summer! 

True, but we will be crossing the Alps.. Temperature in Bormio is 6-13 C in June and I don't want to freeze and catch a cold if the weather is worse.

My current sleeping bag case extreme temperature set to 12C so it's not making the cut, it is pretty much OK during the warm summer months but not even close to spring or fall usage.

Now that we know the requirements, let's start looking at technical stuff related to sleeping bags.

Temperature ratings

So, I know that sleeping bags have comfort and extreme ratings. But how do that actually work? What should be read into the temperatures?

Let's look at the European sleeping bag ratings explained on Wikipedia, the EN 13537:

The standard measures four temperature ratings:

• Upper Limit — the temperature at which a standard male can sleep without excessive perspiration. It is established with the hood and zippers open and with the arms outside of the bag.
• Comfort — the temperature at which a standard female can expect to sleep comfortably in a relaxed position.
• Lower Limit — the temperature at which a standard male can sleep for eight hours in a curled position without waking.
• Extreme — the minimum temperature at which a standard female can remain for six hours without risk of death from hypothermia (though frostbite is still possible).

Don't know if I care that much about the Upper Limit, if it really gets that warm then I think that I can sleep with the bag used as a blanket.
So: To fulfill the requirement the lower limit should be close to zero and comfort around 5. Let's start with that.

Filling material, down or synthetic

	Down	Synthetic
Insulating power	Very high compared to the same amount of synthetic material.	More material needed to get the same insulation as down
Compression	Very good	Not as good as down
Durability	10+ years	Breaks down faster then down
Insulates when wet	Not really	Yes, and dries faster
Made from	Animal, a byproduct from the food industry. Make sure to use certified products to minimize unnecessary harm.	-
Cost	High	Cheaper than down

It rains in Europe in the summer... A bit unsure about the down, but hey.. low weight and high compression ratio sound really nice. So maybe I will go for down.

More reading on sleeping bag fill:

• One Planet: Sleeping bag fill
• Outside Online: What Is the Best Fill for a Sleeping Bag?
• Gear junkie: Down Vs. Synthetic: Understanding Sleeping Bag Insulation

What are the options?

A lot. But seems to be hardest to find a bag that fits the length requirement. A lot of bags are 185 cm, so lets see what sleeping bags I'm choosing between that are suitable for us longer people.
I ended up compiling the following table of the best things that I found. The Cumulus is there for reference as my travel mate is looking at that one.

Sleeping bag	Filling	Comfort	Lower Limit	Extreme	Max length	Weight	Pack volume	Pack size	Price
Cumulus LITE LINE 300	Down 850	4˚C	0˚C	-14˚C	185	600 g	5.7 l	17 x 25 cm	2290 SEK
Fjällräven ABISKO TWO SEASONS LONG Unisex	Synthetic	6˚C	-1˚C	-14˚C	195	1050 g	-	19 x 32 cm	1599 SEK
Marmot MICRON 40 LONG Unisex	Down 650	8˚C	3˚C	-11˚C	198	723 g	3.9 l	-	1999 SEK

Conclusions

Damn. OK the Cumulus did not really fit as it is too short for me.
The Fjällräven and Marmot did not have comparable pack volume/size so unsure. 3.9 liters sound small though, the one I ordered by mistake was 7.8.. So this is about half the volume so smallish.
The Fjällräven pack size being larger then the Cumulus makes me believe that the pack volume is larger as well.. So moving towards the Marmot Micron 40 long unisex. About double my original budget..

I think that I will continue looking for a while and see what I end up buying. Luckily I have some months to decide. I'll keep you posted.

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