Super-size it.. don’t criticize it..!
In the line of technical goose down sleeping bags, the Shocking Blue stands out in its own category. Nick named “Saint hot as hell” in the USA, this bag has always surprised its users, as it offers a performance that a bag in its category normally would not offer. Field test confirm that the bag can resist –25C (limit of comfort) with 781g of down and 1380g total weight.
So just for fun we just “SUPER SIZED”a Shocking Blue with a 30% increase in baffle height, from 7,5cm to 10cm, and hence the down load from 781g to 1041g. The total weight passes from 1380g to 1680g And, that is a BIG Bag!
Enough is not enough, so we rolled another one and “MAXIMIZED” a Shocking Blue with 60%. Baffle height from7,5cm to 12cm, and down load from 781g to 1249g and hence a total weight of 1951g.
The two bags will be presented at the OUTDOOR trade show in Friedrichshafen and later at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, and are due to replace the expedition bags Odin and Thor.
So to be well-prepared for the shows, Valandré will conduct a field test at the Mountain Festival with tent maker SlingFin from USA, putting 3 Odin NEO and 3 Thor NEO into field test on the massif and in altitude. 3 two men tents from SlingFin will be available for the test.
The object of the test is to get confirmation that the bags can resist –30C (Odin NEO) and –40C (Thor NEO). Naturally we do not expect these kind of temperatures in June in Chamonix, but testers will get a pretty good idea about the performance that they are expected to report back to us.
