Review: The Vango Wilderness 250 Sleeping Bag

You may remember we had a closer look at Vango's Latitude range of sleeping bags a few weeks back after getting some first hand use out of them on a Vango training course. We've now just had a sizable delivery of Vango's Wilderness range, more of an entry level sleeping bag, the Wilderness range still features everything you'd expect for a comfortable nights kip. Let's have a closer look...

             Surf Blue

We've currently got all 6 pieces of the Wilderness range in stock, but for today we're going to concentrate on the 250. The Vango Wilderness 250 Sleeping Bag has a comfort rating of around 6°C for women and 1°C for men. Really this is the rating you should be looking out for, a lower comfort rating simply indicates you'll be ok, but you might find yourself feeling rather chilly and not racking up as many hours sleep as you'd like. Extreme ratings, certainly for this type of bag anyway, can pretty much be ignored, this rating gives the temperature at which your body will just about survive and that's not even guaranteed. So the 'Comfort Rating' is the one you should keep your eyes peeled for.


The 250 weighs in at 1350g and has a max body height of 190cm. The packing size is nice and compact at 35 x 20cm and storage is made plain and simple with the included 4-strap compression stuffsac.

       Hot Pink

The Wilderness range uses synthetic insulation across the board with a single hole siliconised hollow fibre insulation. The Wilderness 250 uses a Polair super soft shell outer for a smooth yet durable surface. While the inside of the bag has a Polair brushed soft cosy lining for a comfortable night's sleep and next to skin comfort. Back on the subject of keeping warm, the Wilderness 250 features an insulated adjustable shoulder baffle and a shaped hood with drawcord closure, their job being to stop as much heat leaving the bag as possible. There's also some additional synthetic fill around the top opening for the exact same reason.

       Excalibur

Moving on to the bags other specifications, it features an easy to use 2-way X Lock zip for easy in and out access, plus a handy zip guard, the last thing you want is to miss your morning coffee because you've got stuck in the bag where the zips jammed! There's also an internal pocket to store a few smaller essentials in, although a lot of tents these days have their own built in storage pockets in a reachable place. But if you do want somewhere closer to store your wallet, mobile phone etc, it's there if needed!


At the bottom end of the bag it's been given a shaped foot, so you can assume a comfy position in the bag without feeling too claustrophobic and hemmed in. The shaped foot maybe isn't quite as pronounced as something like the Latitude's Arrow Foot, but it still gives you that little extra room to maneuver, which is always a bonus.

The Vango Wilderness 250 Sleeping Bag costs £21.00 and comes in three colours; Excalibur, Surf Blue and Hot Pink.