Therm-a-Rest
£230
1015g
cost, foot pocket, 3 lengths
less insulation in base
Fill: 540g 650fp Nikwax Hydrophobic Down RDS Shell: 20D polyester
Construction: box wall
Zip: 2-way ¾-length
Length: small 185cm, regular 203cm, long 210cm Rating: comfort 0C, comfort limit -6C thermarest.com
The Questar is a roomy mummy bag that allows reasonable freedom of movement. As usual with Therm-a-Rest sleeping bags it has stretchy bands on the base for holding a sleeping pad in place. Except at the hood and foot there’s less insulation on the base so you do need the pad in place to stop the bag turning with you. Of course, if you’re too hot you could turn the bag over without the pad in place, so it was much cooler. I’m not that keen on this design as I often do end up with the bottom of the bag on top. However, the Questar is roomy enough that so far I’ve managed to turn over in it rather than with it.
The Questar is a bag for those who suffer from cold feet as it has an insulated foot pocket inside the box foot. This is very warm. There’s no option for ventilation at the foot however as the zip doesn’t reach that far.
The hood fits well and adjusts easily as does the neck baffle. The zip has a baffle behind and one of the widest anti-snag strips I’ve seen.
The cost of the Questar is quite low for a down bag. If you like the idea of attaching your sleeping pad it’s a good choice.
A COMPASS with a base plate is, of course, the traditional navigational tool to use with a map if visibility is poor or the terrain unclear. Digital navigation is a hugely useful tool; but a compass is a tiny fraction of the cost and weight of a GPS unit – and it doesn’t need batteries. All it requires is the knowledge of how to use it. I always carry one.
All compasses suitable for hill navigation have a transparent base plate and a liquidfilled circular capsule that can be rotated. The advantage of this design over a simple circular compass is that it can be used to get a bearing from one point to another either on the ground or on the map. Map scales on the baseplate are useful too, especially Romer ones, as you can quickly use these to take grid references.
The grid lines on the map don’t actually point to magnetic north but the compass does. The variation between grid and magnetic north is known as the magnetic declination. To make matters even more complicated magnetic north isn’t static but moves around from year to year. Thus, for precise navigation you need to know the current declination and adjust your compass for it. Maps usually show this for the year they are published with the rate of change per year. You can also check it online at magnetic-declination.com
Compasses can be affected by anything with a strong magnet in it and suffer reverse polarity, which means the needle points south not north, rendering them useless. For this reason compasses should be kept away from items like phones, GPS units, digital cameras and satellite communication devices.