Cycling UK Forum

I want to buy a new sleeping bag this winter for first use next April and I have narrowed the choice down to the Alpkit Pipedream 400 or the Rab Neutrino 400. I need a lightweight down bag for cycle camping, for use in mid April (night temps 3C?) or late October (night temps 6C?) and the months in between. I would expect to use a silk liner to keep it clean but I am a cold sleeper. Also I don't like to wear anything to sleep apart from a light t-shirt, though I recognize I may have to in the April trip. I notice that the Alpkit is a bit lighter of the two, and it has a full length zip for cooler sleeping in the summer, where the Rab has a three quarter. I know the price difference between these two bags is £100 and more but I wonder if anyone has an opinion on what would be the better bag, leaving that price consideration completely out of the equation. Many thanks.

I have the Rab - and have been very happy on cold nights with it
Don't know the other one -sorry
Matt

Perhaps the big difference is that you can actually buy the Rab bag whereas the Alpkit bags are almost always out of stock.

check out boards.is adverts section for sale in camping and outdoors there a rab sleeping bag for sale 90 euro i reckon thats a nice bargain. check it out.

I suppose it's unlikely that any one person will have used both. I got an Pipedream 400 last year and am very pleased with it (I'm even more pleased now I've seen the price of the Rab). The only problem with it is the tenant has to be removed so I can use it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47529042@N08/6313035781/

I bought a Pipedream 400 too and I think it is fantastic.

I dont feel the cold as much as some others, so I am happy enough with this bag for 10 months of the year down in temperate South Wales.

I have a pipedream and my daughter has a Rab of about the same spec/warmth.

The Pipedream is lighter and the down is supposed to be a bit higher spec - but this is hard top tell. I guess it may be one of the reasons it is lighter, the other is that the nylon (Pertex type stuff) is lighter weight.

The Rab seems to use heavier weight nylon (real Pertex) and seems better finished in terms of shape and cut.

Both are excellent bags and both will do the same job. I would buy an Alpkit again as the prices are so good.

I'd get the Alpkit unless I wanted the bag now. They are currently showing as out of stock, expected December.

Alpkit keep the prices low not because of shoddy gear, but because of the way they do business, without holding large stocks of kit.
If you want a Pipedream 400, put yourself on the waiting list

I have a rab quantum 400 endurance. It may have been superseded , I don't know.
It is the fluffiest warmest lightest bag I have ever had, by a mile.Very pleased.
It has that slightly heavier(not heavy) pertex which gives a whiff of water resistance and some robustness.
The very soft down needs a mat in proportion to the temperature and conditions, because it collapses below you more than heavy man-made fluffs. I usually use bubble-wrap .
I know the factory. They do make a point of using the very best polish top-grade goose down.
If you are near Alfreton you might want to look in the factory shop weds/thurs 12.30 till 3.30.They usually have +/_ 6 bags in and loads of jackets.

I can also recommend the Rab Quantum Endurance 400. A superb bit of kit.
It's the first decent sleeping bag I've owned but I was a little apprehensive of trying it out during the Winter months, having no idea how accurate the minus 5 degrees temperature rating was.
First trial was camping on 4 inches of snow with a night temperature of minus 3 degrees. I needn't have worried, the bag performed superbly and if anything I was a fraction too warm with just a thin polyester tee shirt on.

I've since used it for many, many nights camping over the last two years and I still remain 100% happy with it. I would buy the same in a heart beat.

I've also had to sleep in it without a tent on a few nights. Despite waking up with the sleeping bag completely covered in dew, the pertex did it's job superbly and I remained bone dry and totally warm.

Highly recommended.

Justin, that sounds good in extreme temperatures, but when you say you've used it on many many nights were some of them in July/ August and did you find you were turning into a bath of sweat? What worries me about the Rab bags is that the zips are three quarter lengths, so even if you want to use the bag in the summer as a duvet your feet are going to sweat. Or have you not found that a problem with the Quantum 400?

Hi Martin,

Yes I have used it during July and August, in Portugal and Gran Canaria as well as the UK. I don't recall getting particularly sweaty in it because if it was too warm I just unzipped it and loosely threw it over me just in case the temperatures dipped during the night. I just slept in the silk sleeping bag liner as well if it got too warm and threw the sleeping bag to one side. The zip goes almost to the bottom so it's easy enough to use it as a duvet without actually putting your feet inside.
I primarily bought it as a three season bag, with a view to using it in the UK during the Winter and for that purpose it's far exceeded my expectations.

If you primarily intend to use it for Summer and generally warm weather camping, then I would say the Rab 400 is overkill for that and you would be better off with a lighter and possibly cheaper alternative.

If I had the budget (which I don't at the moment) I would buy another sleeping bag for summer use or for when travelling to warm destinations. I would most likely go for this one http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/product_info.php?cat=60&products_id=198. The smaller size and reduced weight would be an additional bonus.

Before purchasing the Rab I was going to go for an Alpkit one. Everyone seemed to speak highly of them but the only snag I found was they never seemed to have any in stock, so I gave up with them and got the Rab instead at a reduced sale price.

After price, bulk, weight, if you're struggling to choose, I say pay close attention to the colour of the two contenders. Now, it's true you'll be sleeping mostly when in the bag but think of the evening and morning - I do know, just for example, that the Rab Neutrino 200 is a nice cheery yellow colour.

within reason I don't recall being upset by a bag being too warm, because you can open it up. It is very unpleasant to be cold all night, as I have been quite often until I got this one. Clear weather in the hills can drop the temp right down.

One question you may not have considered is..... how wide are your shoulders? I'm fairly broad shouldered and both the Cumulus 350 and the Rab Q400 bags were too narrow for me (this was 2/3 years ago). In the end, I went for the (wider fitting) Pipedream 400 and find it very comfortable.