Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor sleeping bag liner

[LollyKat]

Would a Thermatex blanket be any good? I have never tried one but considered getting one to boost my sleeping bag when I thought I might return to camping.

[pjclinch]

I know that some of the posters insist on down and spending £150 - 300 but I don't think you get your moneys worth for a name tag and weight saving, quality of cheap bags is very good today.

My Lightline cost me £150 (down from 230) back a bit over 20 years ago. It's still pretty much as good as new. And every camping trip over those couple of decades where it's been along, the weight and bulk saving have been there to help the trip (I would say the bulk saving is more useful to me than the weight).

While the sewing and material of a modern cheap bag may be very good the fact is that synthetic linings wear out (I'd guess primarily the hollow fibre getting crushed over time so it holds less air) much more readily than down, particularly when compressed for travel, so the bag is noticeably less effective after a few years while a well looked after down one will still be pretty much up to original spec.

It's common to think of things in terms of "value for money" (or "bang per buck") and that makes excellent sense, but there are times when if you have the money it also makes sense to just get more bangs. In CUK company this latter principle is very often applied to bikes, some of us like to apply it a bit to camping gear too...

Pete.