PipeDream Reviews

Hi Mick,
as long as the sky doesn’t fall on our heads they should be coming in towards the end of March. We are doing everything we can to get them in for the Outdoors Show.

I am looking to buy a lightweight bag and the Pipedream 400 looks like just the ticket. What price will they be and will there be a longer length version?

I brought a 400 on Friday at the Outdoors Show, I saw the pipedream bags on the net (Outdoors magic, etc) awhile a go but it’s a hard decision to make when you cant touch and get in it, but OS gave me the opportunity to do just that.
I ‘Garden Camped’ on Saturday night, and I’m extremely pleased with the bag, the hood is great (apparently it has been redesigned on this run) the only flaw is it’s a bit trickier to draw closed compared to what I’m used to but I think some practice will sort that. My bag has a full length zip, a fopar on this run I believe, I don’t have a preference as it will be used inside a bivi bag, but for some this maybe an advantage. I’m not sure if the previous version had a neck baffle but this has and I think it’s a great addition.

All this is drawn from one, cool, windy night in a bivi with tarp in my back garden, but I think it will perform well in slightly harsher environments in the future!

Thanks for a great product, keep up the good work,

Joe.

Given that the PD 400 & PD 600 were on sale at the Outdoors Show, when will they be available to buy online?

Thanks

After months of eagerly awaiting the new stock of Pipedreams, my PD 600 has just arrived.  Hastily ripping off the packaging, unfurling and crawling into this wonderful tube of warmth I can honestly say it exceeds my expectations.  It just oozes quality, comfort and attention to detail where it counts - a stripped-down design aesthetic clearly borne of much field testing in the outdoors.  It’s early days and first impressions, but despite being a cold sleeper, I feel confident that I won’t have to double this up with my ultralite TNF Propel bag on cool nights.  My only other down bag has been a Rolling Clouds 1000, which failed to keep me warm at just -1 on a Himalayan trek, partly because it was so voluminous that it was cold-spot hell.. This is lovely and snug, without being claustrophobic or restrictive - it just feels really soft, warm and cosy.  And the red trim of v.2 actually looks really snazzy in real life - don’ t think your pics do it justice.  Can’t wait to try it Crete’s snow-capped Lefka Ori in May..

My only quibble, and its a really minor quible, is that the pertex stuffsack could incorporate one of those circular inner lid things, to stop the over-fluffed beast trying to escape!

But the bag itself - so light, lofty, ompressible and warm - scores an 11/10 for me on first impressions

Cheers,

Jon

This is a copy of the thread I posted on the Marathon des Sables 2008 Forum about bag choice.

Alpkit 400. Why? - 753g 24cmx16cm £100 good for zero degrees.

I’ve just finished field trials (in the back garden!) I slept under an open tarp with a thin blanket on the ground, a Prolite 3 Small Thermorest and a silk liner. I don’t like mummy sleeping bags as they are too restrictive so I used it as a quilt. In the morning there was lots of ground frost and some on the end of the bag where it stuck out from under the tarp. I slept SBN but was still toastie warm all night. The hood, now on top as it’s a quilt, was used as a head covering. I had a thin old Helly, Ronhill tracksters and smartwool liner socks on standby in case I needed them. I didn’t! Great bag, great price!

I also used Boots foamy squeezy earplug things to counteract the king rooks getting up earlier than me! Seemed to work well and were quite comfy.

I’ll test the whole system, including cooking, clothes and shoes in the Alps in the summer in the 2 weeks leading up to the 1/2 tour du Mont Blanc race at the end of August. Anyone else going?

Hi, I’m looking for an all-round 3 season bag and the Pipedreams look the business but as this is a big investment for me I want to make sure I make the right choice. The only thing I’m not sure about is which version, the PD400 or PD600. I’m a skinny devil so sleep a little cold so I’m thinking maybe the PD600 would be better but I’m concerned this may be too warm in summer.
Any views? or any information on upper temperature comfort figures.

Week in font sleeping in the 400, very comfortable (I am 6 foot 1), though not exactly extreme conditions kept me toasty warm and was lighter and packed smaller than I believed possible.  Neck baffle was as previously mentioned amazing, allows you to seal in and heat up your sleeping bag almost instantly.

Only comment is that I would possibly like a larger hood?

After spending a long time researching which sleeping bags to spend our hard earned cash on, we finally made the decision - your guide on how to choose a sleeping bag certainly helped! I went for the pipedream 600 and the other half the 400.  Having made the choice we waited excitedly & a bit nervously - thankful for the next day delivery.
Have only opened the box tonight so no chance to field test yet, but havin cosied up in them in the living room we can’t wait to get back in them!! The photo really doesn’t do them justice.
So far Alpkit has exceeded our expectations, the attention to detail is superb - we’re so impressed by the value for money we can hardly believe it and wouldn’t hestitate to recommend the company. 
We can only say thank you

Got my new PD600 last week and tried it out for the first time this weekend in Glen Coe. 

It was a roasting hot weekend (by Scottish standards) so I can’t yet comment on the warmth, but the quality of the manufacture seems tip-top on the whole.

Given the warm conditions this weekend, I was glad of the full-length zip which allowed me to use the bag as a duvet.  Having owned a minimalist down bag with no zip before I think the ventability of a full zip is well worth the extra weight.

I can tell by the way that it lofts up that it will be a lovely warm bag - I’m off to the Alps with it in a few weeks time so I should get a chance to try it in some colder conditions.

My only niggle is that the Quantum stuff-sack is too small.  I stuffed as hard as I could but I couldn’t get it all in.  (I could probably phrase that a bit better...) It’s not a big issue because the supplied compression sack is much better and only weighs a few grammes more.  I think I’ll use the Quantum stuff sack for my filo down jacket instead, so it won’t go to waste.

Other minor niggles: the Alpkit logo sticker on the hood fell off as soon as I took it out of the postage bag (That shaved a valuable milligram or so off my pack weight.) and the velro on the zip-flap thing doesn;t stick very well.  These really are minor issues - I’m only mentioning them so that you can hopefully make the next batch near-perfect.

Other than that, a cracking bag at the right price.  I’ve got mates with bags that cost twice the price, and I can’t see much difference.