Gear Review: Mountain Equipment Dreamcatcher 750 Sleeping Bag

Whilst there appears to be a deficit in travel at the moment I’m going to turn my spare time toward gear reviews.

So first review is the Dreamcatcher 750 sleeping bag from Mountain Equipment.

• 3-4 Season
• 600+ Down filling (Goose)
• Pack size- 31 x 20 cm
• Length 219cm
  
• Weight- 1350g
• EN comfort rating: Comfort: +10 to -12C (women to -5C apparently)
• EN extreme rating: -29C
• Outer- lightweight ripstop nylon
• Inner –

Other features:

• TDS – Thermo Dynamic System
• Bulls eye foot plug
• Sharks toe
• Compatible joining zips (left and right sided)

Let me explain the “other features” first of all.
The TDS (Thermo Dynamic System) is perhaps one of the best things about this (and most of the Mountain Equipment Dreamcatcher range) as it takes away one of the main reasons that some people dislike sleeping bags. TDS quite simply provides you with space without compromising on warmth. The elasticated baffles maintain a snug fit to the body without constriction, this helps to maximise thermal efficiency without a body bag feel. If like me you tend to sleep in a position akin to to the recovery position this is the bag for you.

The Bulls eye foot plug is quite simply a complicated way of saying that situated in the foot area of the sleeping bag are many baffles. This acts to cut down the amount of dead space within the bag leaving you less air to heat up. Do not however think that this will mean claustrophobic feet, the baffles are very squishy and not really noticeable.

Also creating happier feet is the sharks toe design. This is the shape of the foot of the bag. The fabric on the upper surface of the bag is longer than the bottom, this allows your feet to rest at a natural angle when sleeping on your back. This differs from other bags in which your feet are held in position with toes pointing to the sky.

The compatible zips mean you can join two bags together to make a double sleeping bag. This is best done with one left and one right hand zip bag although it is possible with two sleeping bags of the same side. When using two similar bags one bag will be flipped so the bag faces downwards.

What do I think of the bag?
So far I’ve only used the bag down to around -6c and I was toasty warm not even a hint of chill coming through the bag – a big culture shock when getting out of the bag that’s for sure. Bear in mind however, that they really are not joking about the upper comfort limit. I am a cold sleeper and using the bag at approx 14c I was sweating buckets! Although I’d imagine that with a little pre-planning and not doing the zip up fully it would be bearable to a higher temperature.

The baffle around the shoulders and along the full length zip is substantial enough to seal in the heat without feeling bulky.

Obviously one downside to this and all down-filled sleeping bags is that when wet they offer you as much warmth as a paper towel, some cheaper down bags have this problem even when it is damp – but the ME Dreamcatcher 750 loses only a little loft when damp. A wet sleeping bag isn’t too much of an issue unless you are sleeping out in the open with neither groundsheet, bivvy or tent – which, lets face it, not many people do. Another limitation of down bags is that they can be awkward to wash as it can be tricky to regain the loft within the down.

I struggle to find a fault with this sleeping bag and other than one night of being too warm (my own fault not the bag) I have never had a bad night in it. Even on the coldest of nights I have readily gone to bed safe in the knowledge that a cosy nights sleep awaits me.