Our new Excusitic 1500 sleeping bag tested in Karakoram

FIRST IMPRESSION

After unpacking the sleeping bag I was really impressed by its weight in spite of its large size and the speed of down expansion. It’s safe to say that it’s a real down monster ;)

Practical use

Design and cut -> the sleeping bag has a classic mummy shape, i.e. it is narrower towards the bottom. This solution reduces the weight and increases the thermal performance. Sleeping bags in the shape of a mummy usually limit the possibility of movement, in the case of Excuistic 1500 this problem does not exist. While using it, I often put on trousers, socks or a fleece inside the sleeping bag to prepare myself for going outside.

Zipper -> I think that using a half zipper is a great solution, I didn’t feel the need to zip it all the way. As for the zipper jamming / cutting, after a few days I learned how to fasten it efficiently, so I don’t consider it a minus. I only added a fluorescent element to the inner zipper to make it easier to locate in the dark.
Our comment: in the final version, the fluorescent element was added to the outer zipper.

Zipper isolation -> a big advantage is the zipper strip which overlaps, it prevents the zipper from jamming, effectively insulates against the loss of heat and makes the moisture from the cold zone accumulate on the strip. I slept in different sleeping bags, some of them had double zips for maximum insulation and here a small strip was enough.

Hood -> fits very well, especially after adjusting the drawstrings and provides good insulation. However, when using it for such a long period of time, I kind of wish the hood was bigger. I know that there is no golden mean in this matter, but in a base sleeping bag in which you spend a lot of time, bigger hoods have their advantages. You can put a pillow into it or pull it over your head while reading a book or, for example, cooking.

Down collar – -> the down collar is fine, but the velcro is the biggest minus. The quality of the Velcro is good, but it was ‘tearing’ when the down collar was minimally pulled down and I turned to the side. Sometimes it also adhered to clothes. In my opinion a better solution is to place 3 buttons. The advantage of this solution is that the collar does not tear and the whole zipper can be opened for ventilation.
Our comment: in the final version we used stronger Velcro and added an additional snap button.

Drawstrings -> both at the hood and collar – they’re fine, they tighten and loosen well. I placed strings in them to make them easier to loosen.
Our comment: in the final version, a loop with a fluorescent element was placed next to the drawstring.

Eyelets for hanging -> definitely too small, too little clearance. Not useful for drying the sleeping bag.
Our comment: in case of need we suggest to attach additional longer loops.

Pockets -> probably the biggest plus! They are ideally placed. You can intuitively find them because they are located at hip level. The capacity is sufficient, I mainly used them for my phone, headlamp, headphones and cream (so it wouldn’t freeze). At night I never once had a problem to find them.

Length and capacity in ‘legs’ -> at the height of 170 cm the sleeping bag was perfect. The capacity in ‘legs’ is an important element of sleeping bags for such expeditions because some things have to be kept inside the sleeping bag to dry or defrost them. Such things include wet / humid items of clothing or shoe / boot liners, creams and medicines to prevent them from freezing. In this respect, the Excuistic 1500 was large enough to accommodate all of these items while not affecting sleeping comfort, despite the noticeable narrowing of the sleeping bag in the leg area.

Weight / Volume -> after weighing it with my weight it turned out to be 2.15 kg, which I think is a satisfactory result. In my opinion, a sleeping bag of such weight is suitable for expeditions to arctic regions or for winter trips to the highest mountains as a base sleeping bag or for trekking to the base. During a caravan you usually carry up to 10 kg of the most important things on your back, the rest is carried by the porters. The experience gained on this expedition taught me that it’s worth carrying a sleeping bag and a sleeping pad because there were situations when the porter carrying my personal barrel got lost and I waited for him for more than 2 hours when all the others had already hidden in their warm sleeping bags. Another advantage of carrying a sleeping bag is that you can dry it on your back on sunny days.
However, I didn’t take it to higher camps because we counted every gram in order to have less weight. In the mountains, we carried 1000 gr sleeping bags, which PHZ was equipped with. In such situations you sleep in clothes to keep you warm. Weight at the expense of comfort, something has to be chosen.
As for the volume, I must admit that it takes up a lot of space when packed into a compression bag, a quid pro quo. During the trekking, I had a large 45-litre rucksack and relatively few things, so I carried it packed inside. Generally, carrying a sleeping bag clipped to a rucksack doesn’t bother me, so I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

Quantum PRO durability -> after so many days of use, soaking and drying, the material did not show any signs of wear.

Resistance to moisture -> the external material of the sleeping bag was slightly soaked every day by the water vapour from breathing and the falling frost from the walls of the tent. I was surprised that the sleeping bag practically didn’t absorb any moisture and dried very quickly, even on cloudy and frosty days when there was no possibility of drying it outside the tent.