The engine's answer
Best synthetic sleeping bag in frosty nights near −5 °C, under €700
Carinthia
Defence 4
A military-derived synthetic bag built to be abused for years.
- Cold-weather synthetic warmth
- Extremely durable construction
- Keeps working soaked, which is the whole point
- Very heavy and enormous packed
- Not a backpacking bag by any sensible measure
Find it at Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
Why it wins, in numbers
Carinthia Defence 4 is the sleeping bag the engine picked for this trip: €280 and 1.90 kg, Comfort rating -7 °C, a 78% match on the questions asked. The kit around it comes to €700 of the €700 ceiling, leaving €0.
What the engine asked for: a sleeping bag rated to −7 °C or lower, a mat with an R-value of at least 4.5, a pack of at least 46 L, and €700 for all four; anything that falls short of these is flagged beside the item.
The kit it belongs to
Four items chosen together, not four separate winners. Swapping one moves the others.
- 3F UL GearLanshan 2The budget design that made trekking-pole shelters mainstream.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
- CarinthiaDefence 4A military-derived synthetic bag built to be abused for years.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
- Therm-a-RestNeoAir XLite NXTThe default answer for three-season backpacking, and deservedly.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
- ForclazMT100 Easyfit 50The cheapest full-size pack that is not a mistake.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
4.85 kg on your back · €700 of a budget of €700
- Tent
- 3F UL Gear Lanshan 2: €130, 1.10 kg, Season rating 3, 50% match.
- Sleeping bag
- Carinthia Defence 4: €280, 1.90 kg, Comfort rating -7 °C, 78% match. Strongest on: Fill.
- Sleeping mat
- Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT: €230, 354 g, R-value 4.5, 50% match.
- Backpack
- Forclaz MT100 Easyfit 50: €60, 1.50 kg, Capacity 50 L, 50% match.
What the runners-up gave up
Each of these still leaves a kit that closes — the budget holds and the pack shuts. This is where each one lost.
- Robens Gully 600Cold-weather down at a price that keeps its head down.Robens Gully 600 — €260, 1.40 kg — is worse on no single spec, but scores 20% to the winner's 78% on the questions asked.
- Forclaz MT100 15 °CThe cheapest thing here, and honest about what it is.Forclaz MT100 15 °C — €35, 800 g — gives up Comfort rating: 15 °C against the winner's -7 °C. It scores 55% to the winner's 78%.
- Forclaz MT500 10 °CA cheap, cheerful summer bag that does not mind getting damp.Forclaz MT500 10 °C — €60, 900 g — gives up Comfort rating: 10 °C against the winner's -7 °C. It scores 54% to the winner's 78%.
Questions this trip raises
- How much does the whole kit cost?
- €700 for all four items, €0 under the €700 ceiling. Prices are indicative euro list prices; the shops set their own.
- How much does it weigh?
- 4.85 kg base weight — tent, sleeping bag, mat and pack together, before food, water and clothes. The pack is rated to carry 16 kg comfortably.
- Is Carinthia Defence 4 warm enough for −5 °C nights?
- Its comfort rating is -7 °C. For nights near −5 °C the engine requires a rating of −7 °C or lower, which it meets.
Change an assumption
This page answers one trip. Yours is not that trip — adjust the nights, the budget or the company and watch all four re-rank.
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