New sleeping bag and sleeping mat

[Takver]

OK, so I have come to the conclusion that maybe it is time to retire my warm-but-heavy sleeping bag and cheapy karrimat since both are now well over 20 years old and were bought on an 18 yr old's budget then :)

I'd be grateful for any suggestions/recommendations. Basically, I don't do serious camping at all, very much weekends at events and the like - hence why I've not bothered replacing them.

But, I"m always walking/train/bike to where-ever I'm going, so I would really like to keep the weight and pack size down. Absolutely the best thing would be a bag & mat that would fit in a daysack or pannier with a change of underwear. I also tend to do my not-proper camping at random times of the year, not reliably in summer, so I think I need a 3 season mat/bag. Ah, and I have a bad hip, so a soft mat would be a fantastic addition, as atm I tend not to sleep at all well on my karrimat. The only positive thing is that I don't feel the cold and am happy to sleep in all my clothes for a week if needed

Lots of people recommend the Fat Airic/Dozer mat, but they look pretty heavy compared to other options?

And would you go for a down or synthetic sleeping bag?

I don't mind spending a reasonable amount (planning for them to last the next 20 yrs), but not a fortune, IYKWIM. Any suggestions from the proper camping experts :)

bumping optimistically . . .

Not a back packing camper type so can't advise on the specifics. Have you looked at the thermarest range for lightweight self inflating mats.

I would always go for down but then I've had my bag for years and years now so there may be some snazzy new product on the Market that is even warmer and pack down able.

Sorry not very helpful Takver.

Have seen the Thermarest on websites - annoyingly we don't have an outdoor shop near here (not quite sure why as we have a lot of outdoors ) so its a bit awkward trying things out. Maybe I just need to wait until I go somewhere with a good shop.

Was trying to decide between down & synthetic - DH has a synthetic bag which is pretty good, but as you say, down is very warm/light. Trouble is there are too many options!

There are WAY too many options .

I don't think you can beat going to a shop and lying down or feeling these things.

I'm not a particularly regular poster on here, but feeling like I've almost cracked a good night's sleep in a tent I would VERY HIGHLY recommend an exped mat - if you think you'll ever go anywhere cold, or like me, always feel cold, get a downmat, but if not a synmat. Definitely the DLX (longer and wider version) for luxury, and as deep as you can afford. I've got the downmat9 and my other half has the downmat9DLX because he's taller than me. I'm also hoping to replace my old synthetic bag soon(similarly bought when I was 18 - 20 years ago) with a down bag, but haven't decided which one yet. I've bought from 'the ourdoor shop' before now and they offer a good discount to BMC members.

Great fun buying new gear!

I just wanted to say, I totally disagree with badger21, I ordered an exped mat and absolutely hated it and it went straight back and i ordered thermarests for the family instead. OMG, it was terrible, but then I hate airbeds so it's not surprising i felt this way about the mat, b/c it reminded me of an airbed (but filled with down of course)

I think this chart could help you out, it has both exped's and thermarests and compares comfort and weight and price. We have the trail lite thermarests, only rated at 5 out of 10....I had amazing sleep though so i would have rated it higher then 5 out of 10
www.facewest.co.uk/Rollmats-Comparison-Chart.html

That's really interesting, badger & poppy - I am beginning to think that I really need to go somewhere where I can lie on the different options

The comparisons chart is really useful, but I suspect that 'comfort' is very subjective.

Mind you, I could also work on the principle that anything is likely to be an improvement on my current kit

Thats what I thought about the comfort thing. You really need to lay on them somewhere. Saying that though, and sorry if this will confuse you more, when I initially tried a thermarest in a shop while I thought it was quite comfy, a bit of me thought it was a little hard (I didn't know you can squish a little air out to make it a bit softer) but as we were going camping really soon we needed mats for my two girls and my DH so we bought them anyway. I took my roll up futon matress, slept terribly, nicked the thermarest from my DH and never looked back on that camping trip LOL. So, what I'm saying is, I couldn't form a proper opinion unitl I had actually spent the night on one....that doesn't help you though!
With the exped, as soon as it was inflated I knew it wasn't for me because I felt like I was rolling about a bit on it and it reminded me too much of airbeds (which I have a bit of hatred for, too many have deflated on me and i have been left on the ground) so I knew instantly with that. With both the exped and the thermarest, they were crazy warm when you had been lying on them for a few moments! Also, I was wary of the exped b/c apparently they can puncture easily, no good for me with two DC jumping around....

Agree something robust would be good - I'm not that gentle on things - also I imagine dd is likely to swipe whatever I buy when she gets a bit older & wants to camp out with brownies/guides/friends so I think I want indestructable . . .