Mountain Equipment Snowline 750

Sitting roughly in the middle of Mountain Equipment's Extreme range, the Snowline is a solid quality bag, which can easily outperform the competition.

I bought this as a slightly lighter alternative to often heavy synthetic fill bags. I'd seen bags that had an impressive temperature range that would suit me for some cold nights under canvas, but the weight of their synthetic filling meant I'd be carrying too much. Thankfully, the Snowline, being only about 1.5kg, wasn't too bad. I'd never had an Mountain Equipment bag before, but with all my technical clothing (save boots) being Mountain Equipment, I knew I would be getting an excellent bit of kit.

The first real test was a cold, frosty night under canvas near Buxton late one year. It was a cold, damp night, and a harsh frost welcomed us the following morning. While my friends were shivering in their single season synthetic bags and had to wear their coats and gloves to stay warm, I was gloriously warm, and delighted in winding them up the following morning when I found that I was the only group member who got a decent night sleep!

Inevitably, with this bag being goose-down fill, you will need a liner for it. My best recommendation is to use a silk liner, because they're small and lightweight, and you get that extra bit of luxury after a day of trekking! Also, down bags need to be specialist cleaned, because the goose down is ruined by water or moisture. But, as most dry cleaners can offer a service for cleaning down-filled coats and sleeping bags, you need not worry.

All-in-all, the Snowline is a good choice if you want a bag that will cover 4 season UK camping. The range quoted by Mountain Equipment has a lower limit of -20 Celcius, but if you invest in a fleece liner, you can go a little below this quite comfortably.

If you're serious about camping in a UK winter, the Snowline is my recommendation!