What is the Mountain Equipment Earthrise 400XL sleeping bag?
The first of its kind for Mountain Equipment, Earthrise is a revolutionary range of sleeping bags made from 100% recycled Down and 100% recycled inner and outer fabrics. As well as having exceptional environmental credentials the Earthrise sleeping bags perform superbly, are lightweight and have an excellent pack size; who says you can’t have it all?
This 400XL version is perfect for taller users looking for a light and highly packable bag with sufficient warmth for cooler Spring nights or varied trips with periods at higher elevation, it's a perfect choice for backpacking and cycle touring.
What is the Earthrise 400XL made of?
Insulation: The Earthrise 400XL contains 385g of 100% recycled down with a minimum content of 85/15 650 fill power. Taken from post-consumer waste destined for landfill in Europe, the recycled down originates mostly from used bedding. The down and feathers are removed from source and then washed, sterilised and then sorted. The majority of this recycled down goes into new bedding products, whilst only the highest quality down clusters, with a fill-power of 650 or higher, are used in Mountain Equipment’s Earthrise products.
All that recycled down has exceptional environmental credentials while maintaining superb performance. It is all sourced from a European facility powered by solar power, is washed in a plant with extremely efficient water recycling before being graded for quality. Mountain Equipment’s use of only the finest grade of recycled down, guarantees not only an ethical purchase but a high performance one. This process saves a valuable material from landfill and by eliminating the farming process that produces virgin down, it vastly reduces the carbon footprint of down production.
Fabrics: All Earthrise sleeping bags are constructed using 100% recycled outer and inner fabrics. These are environmentally-sound fabrics with excellent performance characteristics.
Earthrise 20D is used on the outer and is incredibly soft to the touch, wind resistant, comfortable and totally down-proof. It also only weighs 45g/m².
The inner fabric is also 100% recycled and is soft, breathable, down-proof, durable and weighs in at only 59 g/m².
Combined, these fabrics offer exceptional environmental benefits without sacrificing performance or the look and feel of these high-performance sleeping bags.
What is the construction used in the Earthrise series?
Mountain Equipment's bags are very unique in a number of ways. One is the way they optimise their heat efficiency by using slanted box-wall baffles throughout the entire main body of the bag meaningful weight is removed from the bag’s structure.
Mid-level side-seams lift potential cold spots away from the floor, irrespective of sleeping position, and allows versatile distribution and optimisation of the filling throughout the bag. Mountain Equipment their vast experience and knowledge to place a higher density of down in the underside, hood and foot, areas prone to compression. Whilst the upper of the bag has larger roomier baffles creating more “loft” space to reduce radiant heat loss.
The specially designed foot section is anatomically shaped for a more natural sleeping position and uses four baffles to make sure your feet are cocooned in as much down as possible.
A high percentage of your body heat is lost through your head, so Mountain Equipment has developed a hood section which uses 5 baffles to create a truly anatomical shape to surround your head with luxurious warmth.
What are the features?
To further optimise insulation M.E have developed the Gemini System that has two overlapping anti-snag draft tubes, a full-length zip and a fully integrated neck collar with Lode Lock closure. This clever, low profile, closure combines all the advantages of a magnetic fastener with those of a mechanical lock, so no more traditional press-studs. The one-handed quick release closure uses two captivated magnets to pull the locking mechanism together to ensure that the insulated neck baffle cannot be accidentally opened, keeping all that lovely warmth where it should be; inside the sleeping bag.
Earthrise bags are also supplied with a waterproof roll-top stuff sack and a lofting storage cube to store your bag when it's not out on adventures. Storing a down bag fully lofted (and not in its compression sack) helps to stop the sleeping bag from losing its loft (ability to insulate) over time.
How does the Earthrise fit?
The Earthrise fits into Mountain Equipment’s 'Alpine Fit' block which is tapered in the upper body and the legs to maximise thermal performance and minimise weight.
Summary
The Earthrise is the ideal bag for those who truly care about sustainability and ethical sourcing, and don’t want to sacrifice top performance and reliability (and you shouldn't have to!). We were really impressed with the construction and the care that M.E. have taken to bring you a bag that will not only perform well for years but that you can truly feel great about owning. We are confident that you will love it just as much as we do!
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100% recycled Earthrise shell and lining fabrics are lightweight and down-proof
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385g of recycled down with a minimum content of 85/15 650 fill power
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Alpine fit maximises thermal efficiency
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Slanted Box-Wall baffles throughout
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Mid-level side seams
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5 baffle anatomically shaped hood
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4 baffle anatomically shaped and offset foot-box
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Full length Gemini zip baffle and integrated collar with Lode Lock closure
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Supplied with waterproof roll-top stuff-sack and storage cube