Cycling UK Forum

I am thinking of getting a PHD minim sleeping bag for a tour across America and just wondered if anyone has experience of these? I wanted something rated to about 0 or 5 degrees and very compressible. Any other recommendations welcomed!!!

https://www.alpkit.com/sleeping-bags

Good value kit ime.

PHD have earned a reputation for being about as good as it gets, with prices that reflect that.

My wife has an old Minim as a summer bag and it's very good: well made, well designed and excellent quality down. If you can afford it, recommended, but you can get a very significant measure of the performance for quite a bit less money.

Pete.

I have got one - had it for about 4 years.

I find it is not so good at the lower temperatures in the spring and autumn, when it can still be quite cold. I have had some very cold nights with it in early May - in France, and late August on Exmoor - really cold.

So I take two sleeping bags. A summer Mountain Hardware, and the PHD Minim sleeping bag. So use two bags if required. I will be away again in May this coming year so I will get a PHD down sleeping bag liner.

It is an expensive way of doing it, but the pack sizes are tiny. All it has to do is save me a couple of nights stay in a hotel and it has paid for itself.

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/filler-down-sleeping-bag

Certainly use the hood and the elasticated pull cord for the hood, that helps quite a lot when it gets cold. And use marino wool garments to sleep in.

PHD usually do a spring sale in March.
I'm using a Minim 300 that I got at it a few years ago that would be suitable. Good down to about zero (though I generally take a warmer bag if zero is expected), and packs down small enough that I can get a Neoair short, silk liner and Exped inflatable pillow all in the same small size (6L) stuff sack

Thanks all for the advice. I'm struggling a bit to choose which bag to take as it'll be a May to September tour across the USA so some very hot weather (hopefully!) but also high mountain passes where the temperatures could dip dramatically. The down bag I have at the moment is rated to minus 12 and is just too much for me and takes up virtually the whole of a front pannier, so looking for something a lot lighter and easier to pack!

The front stuff sack here has the Minim 300, silk liner, neoair short and pillow in

Really!!! You're kidding me...

Alpkit bags get good reviews. Great value for money. OK if you are roughly average size - up to 6ft and maybe 42-44" chest and 36" waist. PHD bags come in various lengths and sizes. I have a long wide bag which just fits me at 6ft3 & 46" chest.

As for expected temps. Assuming you are going end of May to start of Sept you will get at most a handful of nights with temps below freezing. I've crossed the USA and used a bag that was good to about 0C. So for PHD bags you are looking at a Minim 200 or the Minim 300 (only available in sales or as a custom bag). For the odd night adding extra clothes will boost the bag for the few cold nights you will get. I bought some fleece trousers in a thrift shop for $5 and ditched them a few days later.

Even at height you won't get many really cold nights if you are getting to the Rockies in July. I camped at 10'500 feet on Monarch pass in the Rockies. It wasn't below freezing.

PHD kit is superb and worth every penny I have a minimus that is my first choice for around + 2c. It is warm and light with high quality 900+ fill at around 400g weight If it gets colder I couple it up with another lightweight bag or a Rab survival zone (300g bivi bag). My kit is 14 years old and it is used 50 to 60 nights a year, for cycle touring, kayaking and mountaineering.

Peter

truckturner wrote:PHD kit is superb and worth every penny I have a minimus that is my first choice for around + 2c.

Plus One!

If you walked into a room full of sleeping bags and outdoor gear with no names and no prices and told to pick the gear you want - it would probably be PHD!

i have a PHD duvet which is pretty damn warm plus i can sit up and wrap it round me . No zips or anything , it can be tied or bungeed round a kipmat and packs down really small , it wasn't cheap it cost about the same as my twenty year old Rab Ladakh and i expect it will outlast me .

I have a Minim 300 and used it for a ride across the USA. I wasn't cold in it and for me, it's good to about zero. I always carry a Primaloft pullover so when it's getting a bit nippy, I supplement the bag with that. I've used it to well below zero high in Idaho and was fine with the pullover. If you think Minim's are dear, try a Hispar. I'm minus a kidney now but it's fantastic kit. BTW, the Minim packs into a 4L drybag and weighs 580g.

If you are bigger than average PHD do wide or extra wide and long and extra long bags. When you are using a bag near it;s limit it's important you can get completely inside it and get the hood closed well in.

At 6ft3 and 46" chest I got the long wide version. The standard would have been too snug and too short. Maybe just usable but not ideal In comparison with my old goose down summer bag it's a fraction longer, 3 inches or so wider and has a good bit more loft for a little bit less weight. You do get what you pay for. The long and wider versions have proportionally more down. So my Minim 300 will have more than 300g fill.

At £260 or so in the sale I'd say it's not cheap but is good value. As well as their twice yearly sales PHD have a bargain bin where the odd return or second etc gets sold off.

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/bargain-box