Greystone 20°

Without knowing much, I'd almost always favor the colder rated bag. You can always vent if you get too warm, but once you get too cold, it's hard to recover. That being said the Greystone is down so much lighter and packs smaller, very useful if you're backpacking and space/weight is more limited than car camping. Echo does have a cotton/poly blend internal lining which would also be more comfortable compared to straight poly like the Grey. If you can deal with the weight/packed size of the Echo it gets my vote.

Moving from a \~15 kg beginner setup to a proper UL kit – looking for feedback before buying I got into wild camping around two years ago and, like most beginners, I started with very budget gear just to see if I enjoyed it. Within the first year I picked up the basics from Amazon (stove, cookware, sleeping bag, sleeping mat), a £15 tent, and a 65L pack. Since then I’ve replaced a couple of things, including upgrading my tent to the Robens Boulder 2 Tent, my pack to the Osprey Rook 65 and my sleeping bag to the Big Agnes Greystone 20 but in hindsight I still didn’t make the best choices in terms of weight or packability. My current base weight is roughly \~15 kg, which I realised very quickly was far too heavy during a hiking trip in Madeira last year. Carrying that weight for multiple days really made it clear that I need to rethink my setup. This year I’m planning a trip to Andorra and want to use it as motivation to finally build a lighter, more dialled-in kit. I’m trying to avoid the cycle of constant small upgrades and instead invest in lighter gear that will last. I’ve spent hours reading threads here and elsewhere, but it seems like almost every product I’m considering has strong praise from some people and serious criticism from others (especially sleeping pads), so I’d really appreciate some feedback before committing. Planned upgrades Tent • Durston X-Dome 1+ Sleeping pad • Big Agnes Rapide SL Insulated Sleeping Pad – seen comments saying the R-value may be optimistic • NEMO Tensor All‑Season Ultralight Sleeping Pad – heard about insulation bunching issues on newer models Stove • SOTO WindMaster Stove (but open to alternatives for a lightweight canister stove) Cook pot • TOAKS 770ml Titanium Pot Future upgrade Once I’ve mentally recovered from buying the Osprey pack, I’m hoping to move to something like the Liteway Biggie Pack Ultra 45L. Goals • Reduce my base weight significantly from \~15 kg • Build a lighter setup suitable for multi-day hikes • Use it for upcoming trips, including Andorra this year Questions 1. Any real-world experience with the X-Dome 1+ yet? 2. Rapide SL vs Tensor All-Season — which would you choose for warmth, durability, and reliability? 3. Is the Soto Windmaster still considered the best UL canister stove option, or are there better alternatives now? Any advice or experiences with the gear above would be hugely appreciated before I start spending again.

With used stuff it can be a little harder to see year to year differences. If you can find specs for the EN rating and you are a cold sleeper gonfor the comfort rating. If you are a warm sleeper go for tge lower limit. Those are all probably good mid range brands though can veer more fashion at times. I like Marmot bags bit the Col looks pretty gimmicky. The rating for the Big Agnes brand shows it to be nominally rated between the lower limit(warm sleeper comfort) and extreme(survival) rating. That kinda puts it in Coleman class but for me would probably be plenty warm in your described conditions. The 600 fill down though is going to be a lot bulkier and heavier than the 800 fill power stuff in the other two bags. 

I would go with a quilt, they are great for moving around. Zenbivy is most peoples favorite, I really enjoy my Big Agnes.

If your biggest concern about a sleeping bag is room for your legs to move without feeling constricted, I would try out Nemo or Big Agnes sleeping bags. Both tend to have wider profiles. Definitely go for a bag that is rated at least 10 degrees lower - preferably lower - than the temps you expect to sleep in. Theres multiple problems with layering with clothing like this, one of which is not the warmth specific factor but the breathability. One or two layers is one thing, but with all the listed clothing and then something like the picture on top, you’re going to build up humidity near your body you can’t get rid of, and you’ll become even colder. Next, a sleeping bag basically creates a warm pocket of air around you. The insulation in the bag helps create and maintain this pocket. The more compressed this insulation, the worse it performs. With layering clothing, you compress the insulation, making it less effective. On top of that, insulation is minimal if not nonexistent at the seams. Some puffy jackets and “extreme temp” clothing gets around this by minimizing seams but there’s almost always a few somewhere, which means no air pockets and no warmth. If I could recommend the best case scenario for you, it would be this: find a sleeping bag you can tolerate rated to a temp appropriate for your conditions, 15F at a minimum, best scenario a 0F. Dress in only your smartwool layers, and make sure you have a good pad/sleep set up underneath you. Sources: avid outdoorsmen, backpacker in sub 20 degree temps, and former REI employee who specialized in camping gear.

A Big Agnes sleeping bag with down that fit me correctly. I was iffy on the price at first, but it turns out I had basically used ill fitting, non insulated sleeping bags for years of wilderness camping. Getting a good nights sleep anywhere, especially away from home, makes a huge difference.

Just wanna say I respect the lack of overpriced fancy gear and I respect making it work for as long as you did! As much as I am “anti gear, pro getting out there”, a lightweight Big Agnes sleeping bag will roll up to about 1/8th the size of a rolled up Coleman. Mine has lasted me for 7 seasons so far no problems