What is the Get Down 35?
The Get Down is all the sleeping bag most of us will ever need. It's packable, lightweight, reliable and warm enough for three-season use here in the UK.
What is it made of?
Providing the warmth inside the Get Down is 340g of 550 fill-power DriDown. DriDown is hydrophobically treated, meaning it'll provide more warmth and will loft better than untreated down if it happens to get a little soggy. This does not make the down waterproof and we'd still aim to keep it dry, but this is a useful backup if you spill a drink over yourself. All down is R.D.S certified (responsible down standard), meaning the birds have been treated ethically and humanely before the down is collected.
Surrounding this hydrophobic down is a durable 20D ripstop shell on the outside and a softer 20D taffeta polyester on the inside. This combination of durable and soft fabrics makes the bag feel a lot like a duvet you'd have at home on the inside but has a reassuringly tough feel on the outside.
What are its features?
An anti-snag zip makes the bag easy to get in and out of, especially in the dark, while a handy hood cinch traps heat when temperatures drop. An internal hand pocket lets you use the bag like a blanket on warmer nights. Lastly, an included stuffsack keeps the bag compressed when out and about and a loft sack is provided to store the bag at home.
- 550 fill-power DriDown
- PFC-free and R.D.S certified
- Anti-snag zip
- Hood cinch to trap heat
- Hand pocket to use bag like a blanket
- Stuffsack and loft sack included
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.