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The Questar strikes the perfect balance between comfort and performance. It's light and packable enough to be used for multi-day backpacking trips without weighing you down, yet spacious enough that it doesn't feel like a coffin with a few extra layers on. The key to its performance mainly comes down to its high-quality insulation, but more about that below.
What is it made of?Insulation: The Questar is insulated with 650 fill-power Nikwax Hydrophobic Down. Nikwax's down absorbs 90% less water and dries 3 times faster than traditional down without using any harmful chemicals.
Fabrics: The Questar uses a durable yet comfortable 20D polyester in both the inner and outer of the bag. The outer fabric is given a DWR (durable water repellent) coating to withstand light moisture and the inner fabric has been adapted to feel softer next to skin.
How is it constructed?It isn't just the down itself which is the clever bit, though, it's also how Therm-A-Rest distribute the insulation around the bag. The Questar uses a box-wall construction, meaning the down is placed in cubes. This method virtually eliminates cold spots (areas where heat can escape), yet thanks to the quality of the down and lightweight fabrics, barely impacts the overall weight of the bag.
As well as this, around 30% of the insulation is placed on the bottom and sides of the bag and 70% over the top. This gives you extra insulation where you need it around your vital organs and less in areas where we're naturally warmer.
What are its features?Perhaps the most unique feature of the bag is Therm-A-Rest's SynergyLink Connectors. These are pieces of elastic that live on the bottom of the bag — simply wrap these connectors around your chosen sleeping mat and the two will be connected! It's not something you think you need until you've tried it; trust us. Other features include extra pockets of baffles at the bottom of the bag to quickly warm your feet up, loops specifically designed for Therm-A-Rest's Quilt's to allow you to add additional warmth, a heat-trapping draft collar, a full-length zip (also with a draft excluder baffle), an elasticated cord around the hood to remove excess volume and an external zipped pocket for your phone, headtorch, etc. Finally, both a compression and storage sack are included.
How does it fit?The Questar features a snug yet ultra-comfortable fit designed to allow you to freely move about in the night without heavily impacting performance. Essentially, whatever position you sleep in, the bag will accommodate it.
- Nikwax Hydrophobic Down
- Snug yet comfortable fit
- SynergyLink Connectors
- Zoned insulation
- Box-wall baffle construction
- Foot-warmer pocket
- Quilt/blanket loops
- RDS certified down
- Heat-trapping draft collar
- Full-length zip
- Cinchable hood
- External zip pocket
- Compression sack & storage 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.