Mountain Equipment Womens Helium 800 Down Sleeping Bag

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Mountain Equipment’s Women’s Helium 800 sleeping bag is from their ‘Women’s Helium’ series of bags which hit a sweetspot for trekking and backpacking, very technical with high warmth to weight ratios they are many hikers ‘goto’ bag.

Mountain Equipment says:

Perfect for backpacking and trekking in cold but dry conditions. Whether staying in unheated tea-houses in the Himalaya or winter rooms in the Alps this warm but lightweight bag is the ideal choice.

Our Verdict

Mountain Equipment’s Womens Helium 800 Down Sleeping Bag Down Sleeping Bag is part of their Women’s Helium range which are highly technical, accomplished sleeping bags for backpacking and trekking. They use 700 Fill Power down and a new baffle construction technique to achieve some excellent warmth to weight ratio figures. 1215grams for a -15C bag is a great ratio.

Design wise Mountain Equipment’s sleeping bags are superb, the hood and footboxes are particularly well designed with multiple baffle sections to give them shape and structure. The Helium bags have a built in neck collar rather than an out and out shoulder baffle – this saves weight and is pretty good in use.

The women’s bags differ from the men’s in that they are fitted for a shorter person and have smaller footboxes reflecting the physical differences generally speaking between men and women. The smaller womens footbox will feel warmer than the mens because it has the same amount of down in smaller chambers.

There’s a DWR coating on the outer shell which is PFC free, this will give the bag some resilience to a damp environment. As an ultralight backpacker I think these bags are a superb choice – like buying IBM, back in the day.

– Reviewed by Ultralight Outdoor Gear

Features

• Women’s Alpine fit with zoned EXL® system maximises thermal efficiency
• Slanted box-wall baffles throughout
• Mid-level side seams 
• 5 baffle anatomically shaped hood 
• 4 baffle anatomically shaped and offset foot-box 
• Full length Gemini zip baffle with 140cm zip and integrated neck collar with Lode Lock closure 
• Supplied with waterproof roll-top stuff-sack and storage cube

Specifications

• Regular weighs: 1132g (excludes storage bags)
• Packed size: 30 x 24 x 23cm

Temperature Ratings

• Comfort: -8°C / 18°F
• Comfort Limit: -15°C / 5°F
• Extreme: -36°C / -33°F
• Good Nights Sleep Guaranteed*: -13°C / 9°F

*Mountain Equipment use their own ‘Good Nights Sleep Guaranteed’ rating which they believe is a more accurate number for some sleeping bags and is based not just on the EN test results but on lab testing, their own use, thermal imaging and cold chamber work, along with a lot of data analysis.

Material & Construction

• 100% recycled HELIUM 20D outer shell is very light and highly breathable with PFC free DWR
• 734g of 90-10 Pure European Duck Down with a minimum fill power of 700
• 100% recycled Supersoft 20D lining fabric with PFC free DWR
• 100% Polyamide outer/inner, Down fill

Help & advice:

• Women’s Sleeping Bags – How do they differ?
• The Ultimate Guide to Lightweight Sleeping Bags
• Time-Saver Guide to Choosing a Sleeping Bag
• The EN13537 Standard
• Mountain Equipment Sleeping Bag Guide
• Down Quality
• All About Down
• Hydrophobic Down
• Why is ‘PFC Free’ Important?
• Recycled Content in Outdoor Gear