I've been camping since my teens. My outdoor activities include backpacking, canoeing, sea kayaking, snowshoeing, mountaineering and cross country skiing. I have expanded my backpacking to include winter mountaineering, back country skiing and ski backpacking. I have received winter mountaineering training with Chauvin International Climbing Guides. I actively study ways to backpack lighter and more efficiently. During the summer months, my style tends toward very light, but not quite ultralight. I use a hammock or tarp for warm weather, and a small four-season tent for winter trips. Most of my other gear is very changeable, as I am constantly experimenting with gear and techniques.

Product Information:

Manufacturer:	Valandre
Year of Manufacture:	2005
URL:	www.valandre.com

Manufactures Specifications:

Fabric (outer/inner):	Pertex P669RS / Pertex P6666*
Down quality:	Goose 95/5; 850 cuin +
Down load:	768 g.
Total weight:	1400 g. (49 oz)
Length (inside):	200 cm. (size large)
Circumference (inside at shoulder/hip/foot):	166/144/106 cm.
Extreme rating:	- 25°C

* The above information reflects the specifications as posted on the Valandre site as this report is being written. Valandre has changed the shell fabric supplier. Please refer to comments in the Initial Impressions section for more information.

MSRP:

Not listed on the Manufacturer's web site

Specifications as Measured:

Fabric:	See comments in text
Total weight:	49.8 oz (1394 g)
Length (outside):	89 in (226 cm)
Width (outside at shoulder/hip/foot):	34/29/17 in (86/74/43 cm)

A note regarding measurements: My measurements were made with the sleeping bag draped loosely on the floor. The bag was allowed to lay undisturbed overnight, assuring maximum natural loft. Measurements were made to the outside extremity at each measured point. Valandre's measurements are made to the interior surfaces, but this is extremely difficult to do with any real accuracy after manufacture. Accordingly, my measurements are made to the unstressed, outside extremity at each measured point. The bag was allowed to lie naturally on the floor and all measurements were taken in this unstressed condition. When allowances are made for lofting, I found the measured dimensions to be extremely close to those found on Valandre's web site for a size Large bag. The measured loft is addressed in the body of the report.

Initial Impressions:

The Valandre Shocking Blue was delivered with a black nylon stuff sack and a mesh storage bag. Much to my surprise, the color of the sleeping bag was not 'Shocking Blue', but a much softer grey. A quick visit to the Valandre web site provided information regarding a change in the materials used in the bag shell. Instead of Pertex Endurance, Valandre has switched to a 'similar' fabric made by Asahi Kasei, a Japanese textile manufacturer. I emailed Valandre to inquire about specifics on the newer fabric. I received a prompt reply, which explained that the replacement fabric was superior to Pertex Endurance, having the "Same tear strength and durability but with lower weight. Also, Asahi Kasei is able to deliver more “contemporary” colors, taking Valandré away from the 'Lego look'". The emailed response goes on to say that, unlike Pertex, which only performed the weaving of the fabric, Asahi Kasei manufactures their fabric completely from start to finish. This implies a more consistent finished product. Lower weight is always good, especially if there is no sacrifice in fabric performance on other fronts.

There are a number of new, at least to me, and thoughtful features. The one that stands out the most, and gets a great deal of attention at the Valandre web site is the Marie Antoinette collar. This is a fancy name for a rather clever draft tube designed to fit snugly around the user's neck. There is an upper and lower half to the collar. The right side halves are mated with a zipper. The left side halves are mated with two hook & loop panels. The right side zipper is a 'set and forget' arrangement. The left side hook & loop is closed easily by pressing the upper and lower halves together once in position. The bag delivered to me is a left hand zip, so the hook & loop closure faces the main zipper for ease of access. The final adjustment is a cord lock and string, located on the upper half and right side of the collar and is marked by a red plastic loop.

The collar has over two inches of loft in each of its individual components and makes a startling difference when closed. When set up, the collar securely locks ALL the warm air inside the sleeping bag. I tend to move about while sleeping a fair amount and can immediately recognize the advantage of not having to re-heat the air inside the bag every time I roll over. The soft material used to line the bag makes the collar quite comfortable, at least in the short time I used it, the name of the collar design notwithstanding! I should mention that I started overheating in the bag in short order after closing everything up while in my living room.

The hood is cut with a differential cut, just like the body of the sleeping bag. The hood has a natural wrap-around fit but is comfortably roomy when not cinched down. The hood closure is adjustable in the usual fashion, by pull cords, but Valandre saw fit to make some interesting improvements even here. There are two cords, one for the hood proper and one for the 'chin' panel (actually the top of the body of the sleeping bag). The cords are anchored near each other on the right side of the face opening. Each exits at the opposite side in its own cord lock. Here is another detail that I really liked. Instead of leaving the cord locks independent of each other, Valandre has supplied a design which allows the cord locks to lock together when the bag is closed. This allows the pull strings to act in concert with each other, making for a more linear and controllable fit when the face opening is closed down for cold weather.

The body of the sleeping bag has a roomy cut, much more so than I am accustomed to seeing in a mummy bag. I consider this a good thing for several reasons. First is comfort. I just like to move around a bit and most mummy bags are too restrictive for this. Next, it is common practice to store certain items inside one's sleeping bag during those long, cold winter nights, such as extra clothing, water, etc. Lastly, extra room leaves more space for adding insulation in the form of liners or extra clothing layers when the temperature drops near the limits of the bag's range.

The zipper (this is a left hand opening model, ordered to match my bivy) is nearly the full length of the bag, at 66 in (168 cm). It had double pulls, allowing venting options, but there is no mention of the possibility of joining two bags at the Valandre web site. The upper half of the zipper is sewn in the middle of a heavy, stiff nylon panel. This is intended to reduce zipper snagging. The stiffened panel is cut 2.8 in (7 cm) wide and the lower half acts as a flap to cover the outside of the zipper when the zipper is closed. As expected, there is a down filled draft collar that covers the inside of the zipper when closed. The draft collar runs nearly the full length of the zipper, running about 2 in (5 cm) past the Marie Antoinette collar, but a bit short of the zipper end near the hood. The bottom zipper half is sewn directly to the lower bag body. The loft of the body averaged approximately 6.5 in (17 cm). The loft is noticeably higher than this figure at the shoulders and footbox.

Another area where it seems clear to me that alpinists had some input in the design of the Shocking Blue is the footbox. Two things are immediately obvious here. First is the huge amount of down committed to this area of the bag. The footbox has the highest loft of the bag, at 9 in (23 cm). I checked to ensure that this was not a result of an air space created by the cut of the footbox and it was not, it is all lofted down. The footbox also has an anatomical cut to it, shaped to match the natural angle of the foot when lying down. This, combined with the extra down loading in the foot area should make for warm feet.

Field Experience:

This has been a rough winter in the Northeast for testing snow and ice gear. Cold conditions, snow and ice have been very difficult to come by. Nontheless, the Shocking Blue received a good workout on three icy backpacks. The first was a long hike over Panther Mountain and Giant Ledge in the Catskills. The terrain was generally covered in ice under a minimum of 12 in (30 cm) of snow, and usually more. The snow, in turn, had been soaked by a heavy rain which turned to ice and froze solid. The conditions were such that we did not make the mileage we had hoped for. We did manage to make the summit, but ran out of daylight on the descent into the col between Panther Mountain and Giant Ledge. We were fortunate enough to find a large, flat ledge and made camp there. For this trip I had brought along my light, single-walled tent for shelter. In an effort to keep my pack weight down, The only sleeping pad I had packed was my Bozeman TorsoLite. I used my backpack as insulation for my legs.

This combination worked well. The nighttime temperature dropped to about 16 F (-9 C). I slept well, wearing only my base layers and nylon pants. The Shocking Blue kept me very toasty. I did not use the Marie Antoinette collar, but it tends to self-close anyway. I did not cinch the hood at all, having the adjusting cords fully slack. I even had the upper section of the side zipper open for part of the night, but did not vent other than that. The only issue experienced was due to the sleeping pad, which is very narrow and tapered with little or no padding extending beyond my sides when lying flat on my back. When lying on my back and letting my arms lie flat, I am too wide for the pad and my arms do not receive the benefits of the pads insulation. This fact would make itself known when, slowly but surely, the cold from the underlying snow would gradually creep through the sleeping bag where the weight of my arms compressed the down insulation. This is a side effect of the relative roominess of the Shocking Blue, which is otherwise extremely comfortable.

There was considerable condensation in the tent the next morning, frozen on the inside tent walls. Somehow, a fair amount of snow had gotten into the tent as well. This resulted in the Shocking Blue receiving an occasional dusting of the white stuff. It all brushed of easily and the sleeping bag shell never even became damp. I sat up in the bag while cooking breakfast in the tent, The roominess of the sleeping bag made this a real pleasure.

The next backpack was during an extremely windy weekend in Harriman State Park. A powdery, wind driven snow once again covered an icy base. This time I brought a bivy rather than a tent, but we were headed for a lean-to on top of Silvermine Mountain in Harriman State Park. As it would turn out, this would be the coldest trip of the winter. A moderate, but wind driven snow had fallen the day before and the wind had continued unabated into the weekend, frequently gusting into the 50 mph (81 kph) range. The lean-to is in an extremely exposed location, right out in the open on the summit ridge. We spent a pleasant night just out of reach of the blasting wind, with the Shocking Blue inside my bivy. This time I still brought a single sleeping pad, but a larger 70 in X 20 in (178 cm X 51 cm) one (a Therm-a-Rest Guide-Lite Long). No problems with the cold getting to my arms was experienced this time, even though the night temperature fell to 5 F (-15 C). I again slept in my base layers, but made sure the Marie Antoinette collar was fully closed and even cinched the hood to snug it down a bit. The side zipper was fully closed. I slept warm and comfortably.

On this trip, because I was not in a tent, I put quite a few items in the sleeping bag with me too keep them warm. The items I slept with included: a water bottle and cozy, a thermos, my gloves and spare socks, my headlamp, a pee bottle, a Snowpeak fuel cartridge and a book. This sounds like a lot of stuff, but the Shocking Blue swallowed it all without crowding me. This amount of stuff in my old down sleeping bag would have had me clunking and banging into stuff all night long. In the Valandre Shocking Blue, I just pushed everything out to the sides of the bag and could pretty much forget it was there.

The most recent backpack was spent after another moderate snowstorm was followed by a very windy day. We had a pleasant hike across Harriman State Park and spent the night on the top of a rock promontory known as The Timp. The actual summit was steadily blasted by very high winds, again gusting to 50 + mph (81+ kph). It was my intent to get the Shocking Blue into some alpine type conditions and this location suited that goal nicely. To that end, I once again left the tent home and brought along my bivy. We found a rocky gully just off the summit of The Timp that protected us from the full brunt of the gusts, but still let the occasional roller come through. After a hot dinner of buttered noodles, I set up the bivy, large sleeping pad (single again) and the Shocking Blue up right out in the open on the snow and climbed in for the night. Everything was pretty much as the prior trip. I slept in my base layers only, and kept a fair list of items in the sleeping bag with me. The wind continued through much of the night, not abating until near morning. Night temperatures were near 20 F (-7 C). This was the one night that I experienced any cold at all in the Shocking Blue, if for only a brief period. I woke at one point to feel that the front of my thighs were cool. This was a first for me. Usually it is my feet that get cold first, but my feet were fine. I shifted my position and my thighs warmed up. I suspect that I had shifted in such a way that the down of the sleeping bag in the area of my thighs must have compressed against the shell of the bivy. This is a problem inherent with bivies, as there is little room to move about in them. This is also the most lightly insulated part of the Shocking Blue.

Shocking Blue in Bivy

Fig. 2 - Home sweet home on the summit of The Timp.

With the exposed position in the gully, I made sure that all the zips were fully closed, except the bivy face opening, which I left wide open. I had positioned myself so that my head was pointed at the head of the gully, which was the direction that the wind came from. I had the hood cinched down to a snug fit, but not tight. This was the one night that my breath caused a considerable amount of condensation to form on the sleeping bag. This is a common problem in these conditions and I was wondering how the light shell would hold up. It was the first thing I checked in the morning. An area about 7 in (18 cm) in diameter had wetted out right where I was breathing on the shell fabric. The material had soaked through, but there did not appear to be much, if any, moisture in the down itself, just in the shell fabric. The fabric is clearly not completely waterproof (nor was it expected to be) and can be penetrated if subject to a heavy enough moisture load. This is the only time the fabric wetted out, but it was subject to my breath and resulting heavy condensation for several hours while I was soundly sleeping. The fabric held up well to more typical spills, such as a bit of tea. In these instances, the spill remained beaded up and just rolled off.

General Observations:

Fit: The Shocking Blue is a really comfortable sleeping bag. The fit is roomy, but not overly spacious. One of the areas this really shows is when it comes time to use a pee bottle. My old sleeping bag had to be partially opened to make enough room to do this. With the Shocking Blue, all I have to do is slide over to one side and lie on my side. This is no problem at all and there is room to spare. I can also fit a lot of items inside without feeling crowded. The materials have a very pleasant feel and make sleeping in the Shocking Blue a pleasure. The hood can be easily adjusted to whatever position happens to be comfortable with the adjustment cords. The angled footbox is an excellent fit and really feels completely natural. There is plenty of room for a hot water bottle in the footbox, if desired.

Construction: There are no issues to speak of here. The Shocking Blue has performed flawlessly on all fronts. I will admit to being fully aware of the delicate nature of the shell and act accordingly. I leave my crampons outside of the tent, for instance, (no sense in looking for trouble). The bag has held up well to exposure to all the usual knocks and bumps of winter backpacking so far. The reinforced panel securing the main zipper does an excellent job of keeping the zipper snag free. There is no such thing as a truly 'snag free' sleeping bag zipper, but the Valandre design is possibly the single best one I've seen to date. In the rare instance a snag has occurred, it is easily cleared with a gentle tug on the panel. There has been a very minimal loss of down fill, with only the rare feather showing up in the morning.

Function: The hood adjustments work very well. There is nothing to indicate the upper cord from the lower, say by color coding (which is useless in the dark anyway), but the clip-together cord lock arrangement seems to self align, so that the upper cord stays on top and the lower cord stays on the bottom. The Marie Antoinette collar works very well at sealing in the interior warm air. I have never had cause to use either the collar's zipper or the adjusting cord. The hook-and-loop side tends to close and seal on its own. I might mention that the hook and loop side of the collar opens very easily, which helps eliminate any potential claustrophobic tendencies.

Packing: Valandre supplies a stuff sack with the Shocking Blue, but I have always preferred to use a good waterproof stuff sack as added insurance to protect the down. I use an Outdoor Research Hydroseal #1 compression sack for this purpose. The Shocking Blue is a tight fit but the combination works well. Once packed this way, the Shocking Blue fits into my relatively small mountaineering packs and has been used exclusively in my Osprey Ceres 38 pack to date.

Summary:

Likes:

1 – Really light weight for a fully featured sleeping bag.

2 – Size Large is a good fit, with enough room to allow some movement.

3 – Small pack size.

Dislikes:

1 - Nothing at all at this time.

I have been very impressed with this sleeping bag on pretty much every point. My only disappointment lies not with the sleeping bag, but that this winter has been so mild that I have not been able to push the lower limits of the comfort range of the Shocking Blue. The bag clearly was not stressed at 5 F (-15 C) and it seems like I could take it well below 0 F (-18 C) before falling back on my usual 'keep warm' tricks: Extra layers, hot water bottles, etc.

Tomorrow is the first full day of Spring and it is unlikely that I will have a chance to field the bag in really cold temperatures. The remainder of the test period will be spent feeling out the upper limits of comfort for the Shocking Blue.

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