The super awesome kids sleeping bag, the bat version

A scream, delighted giggling coming from direction of their bed … and I realised my mistake: I had put Hugo’s new Batboy kids sleeping bag out, as a surprise for him, for the first night we slept in Campy.

There was no way he was going to sleep anytime soon!  He was busy discovering all the quirks of his new sleeping bag.

That was over 2 weeks ago. Hugo has used the sleeping bag for much of the time since the Easter holidays. We’ve had some very chilly nights to test it when the temperature, even inside the caravan, hovered around 5C/ 41F. (Yes, I have a min-max thermometer. Weird as I am.)

So far, we can only rave about this kids’ sleeping bag: It is fantastic for kids and a perfect sleeping bag when you want to extend your family camping adventures at either end of the season*.

The sleeping bag is a mummy bag with a hood.  The colours and bats are a huge hit with both of my older kids Angelina and Hugo, and I’m guessing Max too as he wants to steal the sleeping bag from Hugo each evening.

The filling- Isofill 700 gram– seems to do the trick for those chilly nights. While my deteriorated sleeping bag meant I needed fleece lining and a blanket over me and still had a disrupted night, Hugo made no sound during the colder nights.   On the warmer nights he has used the sleeping bag zipped slightly open from the bottom up.

As a parent I appreciate the reassurance of added “thermocollar” around the shoulder area.  Although the literature doesn’t mention anything about it, I think the feet area has something similar, judging from the feel of the thickness.

Part of the squeals of excitement on the first night were for small touches like the torch attached to the zipper.  A little LED torch.  I’m afraid that soon got confiscated, as my silly 5 year old was shining it in his siblings’ eyes.  A great idea though  for waking in the night. Hugo will get it back eventually.

My boy also loved having the pocket.  One night he tucked Monkey, his favourite soft toy, in there.  It is a big kangaroo pouch, so there was ample space.

It was only couple of days later Angelina discovered the rainbow zip. A small point to show the attention Outwell put into the design.

However, the more important feature about the zip, to me, is that the zip is genuinely snag-free!  In my woes with sleeping bags of the past, this feature of being snag-free is one of my favourites: the zip itself has nice big toggles to pull it up; inside there is a zip guard baffle.

The zip works; in the dark, with fumbling little hands, Hugo can easily unzip himself even in a half sleepy state.  This is so important!

I think all campers know that mild panic when you wake, disorientated, not certain where you are and feel trapped in a sleeping bag because you can’t get out of it because the zip is stuck?  There is none of that with his Outwell BatBoy sleeping bag!

With kids and babies around spills and accidents are inevitable.  This is when washing and drying performance of a bag becomes important.  I’ve already had to wash the sleeping bag after one such incident.

On a cold, breezy day under a canopy the sleeping bag dried in time for use in the evening.  (It even has little loops at the foot end to hang the bag up by to help.) Thumbs up Outwell!

The sleeping bag also packs away easily into it’s own pack-away bag, with a little room to spare for PJs or a favourite small cuddly toy.  I like how easy this bag makes it for Hugo to pack his own sleeping bag.  I have reservations to the longevity of the bag though: the internal edges aren’t seemed and are fraying.  (Outwell, please address this small oversight. Your gear is such good quality, it would be a pity if these seems do let the bag down.)

So far, though, the new Batboy sleeping bag has performed very well.  It is a practical and well-thought through design.

Time will tell how the sleeping bag stands up to the use and abuse from a lively 5 year old and his ever competing little brother, but I have full faith in this great piece of camping gear from what I’ve seen of it till now.

This sleeping bag is part of a new range of coordinated products just developed by Outwell- Batboy  and Butterfly girl .  The range includes a sleeping bag, sleeping mat, pillow, table, chair and a water bottle.  Check it out on the Outwell site.

Batboy self-inflating mat

We also have the self-inflating mat.  It does exactly what it’s supposed to and does it very well!

It inflates quickly when unrolled and the air inlet opened. When we are finished using it, it is easy to roll up and deflate; making it a much smaller package.  The thickness is perfect for kids, Dadonthebrink would survive on it, I wouldn’t.

I am generally against gender stereotyping, but I have be honest with you:  If Outwell did these designs in adult sizes I’d be the first in the queue for the Butterfly girl. I love the colours and the design!  And I know Dadonthebrink would find a -Batboyman one under the Christmas tree, because it is fun. 😀

Have you come across any great kids camping gear recently?

Info:

*Children’s sleeping bags don’t have a formal rating system, as yet, like adult sleeping bags do. Children, especially small children, do not have the same natural heat controls as adults. Their metabolism speeds and slows as they grow. For this reason, it is exceptionally difficult to define temperature ratings for children.

Adult sleeping bags are a different cut to a child’s – and that will also affect a rating. The EN testing is carried out using mannequins that represent the average adult male and female so do not relate well to children.

The Outwell kids’ range sleeping bags retail for £29.99

UPDATE:

After sending a link of my review to Outwell, they picked up on the fraying seems on the bag of the sleeping bag.  Within a day they have taken it up with the factory and emailed me to say that they are looking address this. Wow!

Disclosure: I was sent the sleeping bag for review purposes.  All opinions and images are my own.