What is the WarmCube Gallatin?The WarmCube Gallatin is a warm, packable and innovative sleeping bag utilising Marmot's brilliant cubed baffle construction (hence the WarmCube bit!). With a comfort rating of -6°C, it's suitable for four-season use here in the UK and is designed to withstand the typical wet and wild conditions we face in the mountains.
What is it made of?Insulation: Providing the warmth inside the WarmCube is two different forms of insulation — you've got high-quality 650 fill-power down throughout the majority of the bag with Marmot's own HL-ElixR Micro insulation layered over the top. One of the benefits to layering ElixR over the down is that it's virtually unaffected by moisture, meaning if the bag gets a little damp, the overall warmth of the bag will remain largely the same. Another benefit is ElixR acts as a second barrier against heat escaping if it manages to pass through the down, resulting in a warmer, more efficient bag.
Fabrics: Surrounding the insulation is the well-established and reliable Pertex Quantum. This fabric is highly water-resistant, wind-resistant, tough and now also environmentally-friendly! It's made entirely of recycled polyester, yet still performs exactly the same as standard Quantum. A ripstop weave prevents the whole bag spilling open if you happen to get the fabric caught or snagged.
How is it constructed?It isn't so much the insulation that's the impressive bit, though, it's the way it's distributed around the bag. You may have guessed by the title of the bag that it features lots of warm cubes! Marmot have placed the down into tonnes of cubes throughout the chest and footbox — these cubes sit snugly next to one another in a sort of 'sleeping bag igloo', trapping more warmth with virtually no negative effects. A traditional baffled construction is placed over the legs, where you require less warmth, and then the synthetic insulation is layered over the whole lot.
An anatomically-shaped footbox lets your feet sit upright in their natural position without compressing the cubes, resulting in a warmer and more comfortable bag.
What are its features?A two-way locking zip allows you to ventilate by opening up just the lower, just the upper, part of the middle... you get the idea. The 'lockable' bit prevents the zip coming undone in the night and allowing all of your precious heat to escape in freezing conditions. A draft tube (an insulated zip baffle) prevents heat escaping through the zip itself, while a snug hood with a drawcord seals around your face for additional warmth. An internal stash pocket provides the perfect place for your phone to prevent its battery draining in cold conditions.
How does it fit?The WarmCube features Marmot's 'mummy' fit with a long length. This fit perfectly balances comfort and performance; too baggy and it'll take ages to warm up, too snug and it'll be uncomfortable when wearing layers. The mummy fit also allows you to wear extra layers inside the bag to boost warmth. The 'long' bit refers to the overall length which has been increased from 6ft to 6ft 6".
- Long length
- 650FP down insulation
- WarmCube construction
- ElixR synthetic insulation layered over the top
- Pertex Quantum main fabric
- Anatomically shaped footbox
- Internal stash pocket
- Hood drawcord
- Two-way zip with draft tube
- Recycled outer fabrics
How warm a sleeping bag do you really need? We’ve tried to help you by grouping our sleeping bags by their recognised comfort ratings. These are the ratings supplied by the brands that indicate the temperature at which you will remain comfortable whilst sleeping on an insulated sleep mat. After all, comfort is what you want when it’s cold and wet outside, and you’re all tucked up in your nice warm sleeping bag.
We always recommend that you choose your bag according to the coldest conditions you will experience; you can always unzip a bag if it is too warm, but trying to sleep when you’re too cold is just miserable. Bear in mind that we are all individuals, so we all feel the cold differently and that our own resistance will fluctuate depending on a whole load of factors, including how much we have eaten, whether we have consumed alcohol, whether we need a wee or what kind of mood we are in!
Sleeping bags do not generate heat; they only trap the heat we produce, so it is vital that you get into your bag when you are giving off warmth, don’t go to bed when you are cold, have a hot meal or a hot drink or do some brisk exercise to get you nicely warmed up.
Traditionally sleeping bag manufacturers provided their own temperature ratings based on their experience, the product's intended end-use and the perceived environment. However, each brand tested their bags in different ways, and it was hard to find a fair comparison between models. So, in 2005 a European standard for sleeping bag temperature ratings, EN 13537, was introduced to give consumers a comparable guide to sleeping bag performance across a range of brands and models. The ratings have four different temperature ratings to give you an indication of the bag's performance.
Comfort Rating: This is the temperature at which an average female should experience a comfortable night’s sleep. On average, women sleep colder than men, so this rating is some degrees above the "comfort lower limit" for a man.
Comfort Limit Rating: This is the lowest temperature at which an average male should experience a comfortable night’s sleep whilst laid down in a curled up position.
Extreme: This is a survival rating where the user is likely to suffer health damage such as Hypothermia. It should be treated with the utmost caution and not be relied on for general use.
However, the EN 13537 European Standard does not apply to down-filled sleeping bags with a fill weight of more than 800g; for those bags, you will have to rely on the manufacturer's experience and technical expertise, which is often more accurate!
Most reputable brands still use their own rating system alongside EN 13537, for instance, Mountain Equipment's “Good Night’s Sleep” and Rab’s “Sleep Limit”. These ratings are often the most accurate guide to the overall performance of a sleeping bag being used by an average outdoor enthusiast because they are based on years of expedition heritage, field trials, technological experience, and constant feedback.
But please bear in mind that all ratings are only a guide and, as mentioned earlier, there are a huge range of factors that can affect your comfort; if you are just not sure, it is always wise to go for a warmer model.
The biggest difference you can make to your overall comfort is to use an efficiently insulated sleeping mat. Once you get inside your sleeping bag, you instantly compress all the filling beneath you, greatly reducing its efficiency. Therefore using a quality sleep mat will ensure you are properly insulated from the cold ground, and you will be a lot more comfortable... Basically, there is no point in buying a top-quality sleeping bag if you are just going to lie down on the floor.