Is the Mountain Designs Travelight 500 any good?

[freehorizon]

I am currently looking at upgrading my sleeping bag from a Kathmandu Camper -3, through my research one bag that came up as being potentially good was the Travelight 500. However i was unable to find any reviews outside of the sellers of the bag. I was wondering if anyone had used it or could give a different suggestion to a sleeping bag that stayed within the comfort limit (t limit) temperature range of -7°C to -5°C and was also releatively compact in its compression sack. (i prefer to have a more compact sleeping bag than a lighter one as my current sleeping bag takes about 50% of the space within my bag.)

[Moondog55]

It doesn't use good quality down and it is a small cut bag even in the Large size, it isn't EN tested and it is relatively heavy for the warmth provided and even at the sale price isn't exactly cheap.
I used to have a Travellite but that was 30 years ago, back then it used a 750FP down and was OK for hitch hiking and car camping but was never a bushwalkers bag.
As per the name it suits people who use hotels, hostels and boarding houses/B&B
Are you adverse to mummy bags?

[ConnorH]

Pretty much what moondog55 said, but it may suit your purposes especially if you're not expecting to spend any time below 0 degrees and have found a good deal. This is reflected in the user reviews on their site. If you need a comfort rating below 0 degrees I'd go elsewhere - the specs (down fill rating and down weight) don't stack up for much colder than that IMO.

[freehorizon]

It doesn't use good quality down and it is a small cut bag even in the Large size, it isn't EN tested and it is relatively heavy for the warmth provided and even at the sale price isn't exactly cheap.
I used to have a Travellite but that was 30 years ago, back then it used a 750FP down and was OK for hitch hiking and car camping but was never a bushwalkers bag.
As per the name it suits people who use hotels, hostels and boarding houses/B&B
Are you adverse to mummy bags?

Yeah i kinda am adverse to them, i sleep on my side and hate having my feet constricted in such a manner. But thanks for the opinion, do you recommed any other sleeping bags?

[freehorizon]

accidently did 2 replies to the same thing

[freehorizon]

Pretty much what moondog55 said, but it may suit your purposes especially if you're not expecting to spend any time below 0 degrees and have found a good deal. This is reflected in the user reviews on their site. If you need a comfort rating below 0 degrees I'd go elsewhere - the specs (down fill rating and down weight) don't stack up for much colder than that IMO.

lucky for me i live in queensland, so negative temperatures are for the most part an unknown thing, unfortunatly everywhere i would like to go get way below 0. So i guess it's back to me looking.
Thanks for the opinion, also do you have any recommendations for sleeping bags?

[Moondog55]

Funny isn't it how we have different opinions and feelings about certain styles and shapes of sleeping bags. I'm a side sleeper too and I can't stand sleeping in a flat envelope with all that weight on my feet.
No recommendations until we know Where When and What budget.
Whether you use clothing as part of your sleeping kit [ apart from winter weight base layer etc because that's how temperature ratings are taken] and if you sleep warm of cold. Age sex weight and height all have a bearing
What I might consider expensive but very good value you may think is over the top and exorbitant.
What I can say tho that my first sleeping bag cost me much more than a months wages when I was 17 and it took me almost a year to save for it, but it was a winter weight bag rated for snow and Alpine. At around -5C and when wearing base layers+sleeping socks and my beanie I find that I'm comfortable in either my Macpac Dragonfly600 Large or my One Planet Cocoon with 150 grams of added down in Large.
This is --- As per the testing standard-- inside my double skin tent or a big bivvy sack and with an appropriate thick mattress. The mat system should always be warmer than the sleeping bag in cold conditions.
It gets pretty cold in Queensland in winter when you're far to the West of the ranges, I've woken to ice in my billy many times, especially when living in The Alice

[andrewa]

Light weight quality down quilt and a nice fat down sleeping mat. Looxury!

[freehorizon]

Funny isn't it how we have different opinions and feelings about certain styles and shapes of sleeping bags. I'm a side sleeper too and I can't stand sleeping in a flat envelope with all that weight on my feet.
No recommendations until we know Where When and What budget.
Whether you use clothing as part of your sleeping kit [ apart from winter weight base layer etc because that's how temperature ratings are taken] and if you sleep warm of cold. Age sex weight and height all have a bearing
What I might consider expensive but very good value you may think is over the top and exorbitant.
What I can say tho that my first sleeping bag cost me much more than a months wages when I was 17 and it took me almost a year to save for it, but it was a winter weight bag rated for snow and Alpine. At around -5C and when wearing base layers+sleeping socks and my beanie I find that I'm comfortable in either my Macpac Dragonfly600 Large or my One Planet Cocoon with 150 grams of added down in Large.
This is --- As per the testing standard-- inside my double skin tent or a big bivvy sack and with an appropriate thick mattress. The mat system should always be warmer than the sleeping bag in cold conditions.
It gets pretty cold in Queensland in winter when you're far to the West of the ranges, I've woken to ice in my billy many times, especially when living in The Alice

If you want some info for recommendations and more or less my budget given the criteria you have aksed:

where: primarily australian mountains/anywhere really in australia (or the world) that i can get to, however not looking for some high extreme alpine like the Australian alps in the middle of winter.

When: primarily in winter occasionally into autumn and spring depending on the conditions, i have other solutions for summer that don't envolve cooking to death in an oven. i am primarily looking at going to places where the coldest it could get would be around to -10 to -5 (based on the temperature comfort limit).

What: around 600 max, even if you have recommendations that are more expensive i wouldn't mine hearing about them as it would aid in creating a better sense of judgement. and may end up being worth it (the more perspectives you have the more informed of a choice you can make).

For how i sleep, my default is shorts and t-shirt. no socks. no beanie nothing extra, that is my current standard. i sleep very warm, most likely because i move around a lot, i am a male and still pretty young. My current sleeping pad is a Sea to summit comfort light which appears to have a high enough r value to keep me warm for the most situations i plan on facing (i am basing most of these temperatures off those that can be found within the national parks of sundown NP, giraween NP and tenterfield at their coldest, which have all been known to hit round the -10 degree mark on several occasions.).

[freehorizon]

Light weight quality down quilt and a nice fat down sleeping mat. Looxury!

ah yes, the pinical of camping equipment, the quilt. I don't particularly like quilts as i move a lot and i like the feeling of being wrapped in a sleeping bag (i even sleep inside a sheet at home). but defiently find the idea of a down sleeping mat as not such a bad idea.

[Moondog55]

The ComfortLite is a good mat, I have one for the warmer times although I use mine over a light foam pad just to protect it from puncture.
Given your preferences for envelope style bags then the travel bags from Anaconda might be your only options to look at. There are many simple rectangular bags from China available via AliExpress but I have no experience with any of them
If that's your normal sleeping attire deduct about 5 C from a bags rating and the 500 would be OK at around +5C
At those temperatures I am using something like my S2S Traveller1 but adding as much clothing as I need if I get cold

[freehorizon]

The ComfortLite is a good mat, I have one for the warmer times although I use mine over a light foam pad just to protect it from puncture.
Given your preferences for envelope style bags then the travel bags from Anaconda might be your only options to look at. There are many simple rectangular bags from China available via AliExpress but I have no experience with any of them
If that's your normal sleeping attire deduct about 5 C from a bags rating and the 500 would be OK at around +5C
At those temperatures I am using something like my S2S Traveller1 but adding as much clothing as I need if I get cold

I actually quite dislike envelope style bags, the only one that i have had was my first sleeping bag when i was 8 (my next 2 were a mummy bag from aldi that cost like 30 bucks and my current sleeping bag is a semi rectangular Kathmandu camper -3). i don't particularly mind mummy bags, just as long that they aren't the equivalence of tying up your legs. i just also retested my current sleeping and realized that i am fine sleeping in that bag with a lot less space than what it has to offer.

I also don't think my sleep attire has much effect on how the bag performs as both time where my sleeping bags either reached the comfort limit (in my $30 Aldi sleeping bag where i got cold pretty much when the temperature got lower than the comfort limit) or came close (2 years ago in my Kathmandu -3 i got within 2 degrees of the comfort limit temperature and i felt fine), both times i was in t-shirt and shorts. Now it is always possible that i haven't been in enough cold weather situations where my sleep system was pushed to it's limit and actually tested.

[Moondog55]

The travellite is an envelope type bag [ that is it doesn't have a shaped footbox] and you mentioned having constricted feet so I was not sure what you meant. What you sleep in has a very real bearing on the bags lower limit; which is why the EN testing is standardised with the copper mannequin wearing that full winter base layer ensemble. A bag tested to 0C will be a 5C or even 8C bag when sleeping naked or with minimal clothing on.

[freehorizon]

The travellite is an envelope type bag [ that is it doesn't have a shaped footbox] and you mentioned having constricted feet so I was not sure what you meant. What you sleep in has a very real bearing on the bags lower limit; which is why the EN testing is standardised with the copper mannequin wearing that full winter base layer ensemble. A bag tested to 0C will be a 5C or even 8C bag when sleeping naked or with minimal clothing on.

Oh, i have always thought of sleeping bags such as the travelight 500 as a semi rectangular shaped sleeping bag, while envelope bags more as what is a fully rectangular sleeping bag (essentially a car camping sleeping bag), such as this:
https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/au/basecamp-200-xl-sleeping-bag-p41023.aspx/Purple/?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax:+SMART+SHOPPING+-+WINTER+-+HIGH+MARGIN+-+SHOPPING+AU&utm_term=&utm_content=|pcrid||pkw||pmt||pdv|c|slid||product|026833042001|&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAzc2tBhA6EiwArv-i6TTds1Ep77fZWT-_6smu4J325vHYMYYAmeNbjWbVNa5DkeLQomj5-hoC6ncQAvD_BwE

by the feet being constricted what i mean is i don't mind most mummy sleeping bags except those that attempt to be as close to the human shape and don't let any space for movement no matter what.

I also am aware of how the EN testing works and they wear a generally quite extensive base layer. However i am also the kind of person who doesn't wear jumpers or long pants in winter as i don't feel cold and went to France this winter i had to be forced by my parents to wear a jumper and pants, even then i was constantly too warm.

oh, when you refer to an envelope style bag is it because it is flat or is it because of it's shape. if it is because it is flat i have only used envelope style sleeping bags.

[Moondog55]

Flat, whether tapered or rectangular.
You sound like a teenager, much higher metabolism then as the EN standard is a 25YO" standard" male, this is important because as you age past 35YO your metabolism drops and you need to 5C for every decade after 35YO, although there naturally exceptions this is a good general guide. I now need twice the sleeping bag I did at 35
My idea of Extreme Cold is an Arctic or Antarctic winter, -30 to -50C; although my coldest nites were a balmy -25C to -30C, it being very mild the winters I've spent in New York

[freehorizon]

Flat, whether tapered or rectangular.
You sound like a teenager, much higher metabolism then as the EN standard is a 25YO" standard" male, this is important because as you age past 35YO your metabolism drops and you need to 5C for every decade after 35YO, although there naturally exceptions this is a good general guide. I now need twice the sleeping bag I did at 35
My idea of Extreme Cold is an Arctic or Antarctic winter, -30 to -50C; although my coldest nites were a balmy -25C to -30C, it being very mild the winters I've spent in New York

i am. i just about have to double my age to reach 35. eventually, i will have to care about the things i wear while camping. although for now i am fine. Also do you have an opinion on the Cumulus Lite Line 400? i was going to create a new topic about it on the wider forums but reckoned it wouldn't do much harm asking it here.