Hex Valley Down have been producing high quality down duvets and sleeping bags for nearly 30 years and their sleeping bags have been used for everything from winter caravan holidays to summiting snowy peaks in Patagonia. I recently got the opportunity to test their mummy sleeping bag in the snow-covered Du Toitskloof mountains.
Key information
Price (at time of writing): R3599
Weight: 1093g (with stuff-sack)
Temperature rating: Comfort: -3°C
External fabric: Pertex
Filling: 850 fill power goose down
Custom Design
Hex Valley Down has a unique value offering in that they can custom fit/design your sleeping bag. Based on your measurements, and insulation requirements, your sleeping bag can be purpose-built. This, combined with top quality down and Pertex fabric, makes for an extremely comfortable, warm and lightweight sleeping bag.
The Pertex definitely adds to the comfort and quality of the bag, with an almost cotton-like skin feel, but all the technical characteristics of nylon, like moisture wicking and abrasion resistance.
The workmanship is excellent, albeit not as technical as most international brands that specialize in sleeping bag design and manufacturing. For instance, the sleeping bag I tested had a static cord, instead of bungee cord, to cinch down the cowl and chest area. This is easily remedied by requesting specific materials, but just something to be aware of.
What was nice to see was a contoured foot-box, allowing your feet to rest in a natural position, without compressing the down and losing insulation around the feet. Combined with a ¾ zip, the foot box has been geared for maximum heat retention.
Sizing
I’m 1.86m tall with a medium build and I found their standard bag a little too snug and slightly too short. Be sure to check your measurements with them before ordering.
Temperature Rating
It’s tricky to specify a temperature rating for a bag that can be customized, but the bag I tested, weighing a mere 1093g, had a comfort rating of around -3°C. The 850 fill power down allows for impressive compression and excellent insulation at a very low weight.
Bearing in mind, this bag had no zipper baffle or chest baffle. So for a few grams extra, the comfort rating could be increased quite substantially.
In a nutshell, this sleeping bag is ideal for all South African conditions, barring warm summer evenings and maybe full-on winter in the Drakensberg. For all conditions in between, this bag will do the trick.
Local is Lekker
I love good quality gear, but knowing it was made by a family-owned business that creates employment in the Hex River Valley, makes it so much sweeter. I would love to see more local businesses like Hex Valley Down thrive in a country that has so much to offer for the outdoor enthusiast.
Conclusion
Hex Valley Down sleeping bags offer amazing value for money on both their standard offering and their custom designs. The combination of weight, insulation and cost is hard to beat. If you’re looking at buying your first down sleeping bag, this should be high on the list of options.
This sleeping bag was provided by Hex Valley Down for review purposes and can be purchased through their online store.
In my experience the sleeping bag options in South Africa are very limited and the down quality is at the lower end of the spectrum, with the majority of down being used only having a 650 fill. This results in heavy and bulky sleeping bags. To have a local family business producing sleeping bags with goose down that has a 850 fill is great news. Cant believe I haven’t heard of Hex River Down before! The fact that you can customize your sleeping bag to your requirements just adds the cherry on top. Cant see that anybody would look elsewhere to other local brands with inferior down and even overseas options which are difficult to get hold of and a lot more expensive.
This is pretty great news, Half the price of Foreign counterparts at todays exchange rates.a little heavier, but absolutely longer and heavier duty Pertex too..
Last time I looked into them their bags were huge bulky and designed for Luxury camping with Trailer in tow. How things have moved on.
They made me a bag for a trip to the Himalayas in Sep 2015. The year before a number of people died in a freak snowstorm in the Everest region, and I reckoned having a warm sleeping bag was an asset on my trip. They customised it to fit me (1,97m tall), and made it WARM. They used over 1kg of down in the bag, and the quality of the down was very good – I pulled a few feathers out of the bag to check – proper mature down feathers, 5cm tall or more. On a trip to Giants Castle in the winter of 2015, the temp in my tent was -14deg C, but in the bag it was a comfy 28 degrees. It weighed 2,2kg’s but that was ok with me since the bag was very warm. I’ve only used it once since that trip – on a camping trip to the Kgalakgadi, where I didn’t have to carry it 🙂
So, their stuff is warm, the quality is good, but I have to say that the finish isn’t quite up to the normal standards of the latest offerings on the market. My TNF Blue Kazoo in xtra-length weighs 1,35kg for a -10 bag, which is enough for the Drakensberg. It uses bonded baffles so less heat escapes due to stitching gaps etc.
Would I buy their mummy bag? Absolutely! The price is good, they can make it fit my tall frame (which is really a big issue for me with nearly everything I buy!), but realise that the finish will not be as good than those from large international manufacturers. For me, the thing that matter most is that the bag needs to offer good protection against the cold and not be too heavy. As long as you are ok with these, I’m sure you’ll be happy with their sleeping bags.
I am a sleeping bag newbie shopper. Am a bit baffled as to what “chest baffles” and “zipper baffles” are. Any advice will help! Thanks!