Published : 30-January-2017
The Helium 600 by Mountain Equipment uses a super lightweight face fabric, their resposibly sourced, high quality down and their latest technology to provide you with a super warm, compressible bag ideally suited towards cold weather persuits at altitude during spring/autumn. This particular model features 6 inches of extra length to accomodate the taller chap. The ideal height for this bag is inbetween 6ft 1 and 6ft 6.
Using a super high quality 700 fill power duck down, the Helium 600 will pack up smaller than a similar bag with an inferior quality down and will be warmer for the weight too. What makes Mountain Equipments down different to others however is that they became one of the first outdoor brands to introduce independant autiding of their down supply. This provides the ability for M.E to trace 100% of their down, allowing them to only use responsibly sourced down. This is not only better for the birds and the environment, but also means the down inside the product is a higher quality. This premium duck down is from the very cold North East of China and is collected from ducks that live a truly free-range existence. The birds are sold when they no longer produce eggs or when the market price for eggs drops below the break-even point. The birds are normally around 700 days old when slaughtered, they are then plucked and the down is shipped to the processing plant for cleaning and grading. Because these ducks are older and have lived in a free-range environment and a cold climate the down they produce is of an exceptionally high quality. All Mountain Equipment bags adhere to the Down Codex, a scheme that was developed to ensure that both animal welfare and down quality were put firmly at the heart of each and every one of M.E's down products. The Down Codex is a completely transparent and auditable system to ensure that:
The down used does not come from birds which have been live plucked or live harvested
The down used does not come from birds which have been force-fed
The down used should be from birds which have raised in good conditions and to high standards of animal welfare
The down used should be a by-product of the meat industry and come from birds which have been humanely slaughtered.
Each down product is marked with a 12 digit code that can be entered at the Down Codex website to gain access to the specific information relating to the down source of that product, go to http://www.thedownproject.me.uk/index.php to find out more about how M.E have become the only brand to go beyond accepting written guarantees from down suppliers and to make their audit results and independent quality reports publicly available.
All this ethically produced and high quality down is encapsulated in M.E's own Helium outer fabric. This super lightweight fabric was orignally developed for climbers and mountaineers, those needing the smallest pack size and the best compressibility. It's the perfect choice for any product where weight and bulk are a prime concern. Thanks to the densely woven structure of Helium, Mountain Equipment guarantee this bag to be 'downproof', meaning down cannot escape from the bag over time. As a consequence of this, the Helium 600 is highly tear resistant and exceptionally breathable. A DWR (durable water repellant) coating is also added to the outer fabric to add a light amount of water resistancy.
Mountain Equipment's bag's are very unique in a number of ways. One is the way they optimise their heat efficiency by changing the layout of the baffles. By slanting the baffles throughout the entire main body of the bag, it allows all unused space is eliminated which lowers the weight. Further weight is then saved by using their stitch through construction. This method also spreads the down out more evenly across the top, side and bottom of the bag, providing a warmer experience and a longer lifespan. The overall down distribution also allows M.E to favour certain parts of the bag to offer the highest warmth for the weight. Slightly favouring the underside of the bag, the underside of the hood and the foot piece, M.E can provide a warmer bag due to their experience of where most heat is lost. Offering more/less down in certain areas also improves the comfort, mainly in the collar area and around the head.
Each one of their sleeping bags features a unique foot piece section depending on the use of the bag. In this case the bag is designed to be as light and as compressible as possible. The Helium range of bags feature the Trapezium 4 foot piece, a four part baffle system that is engineered to be their lightest and most tecnnical system to maintain the lowest weight possible.
A high percentage of your body heat is lost through your head so Mountain Equipment have developed their hood which uses 5 baffles to create a truly anatomical shape to surround your head with luxurious warmth. To further optimise insulation M.E have developed the Gemini System that has two overlapping anti-snag draft tubes and a fully integrated neck collar.
The Helium 600 is a light, versatile, packable and most importantly extremely warm sleeping bag well suited to cold weather persuits in early spring/ late autumn use at altitude, or winter use during lower altitudes.
Longer length, maximum user height 6ft 6
Helium 20 outer shell
High quality 700 fill power down
Alpine fit with zoned EXL system
Slanted box wall baffles and stitch through baffles
Mid level side seams
5 baffle anatomically shaped hood
4 baffle anatomically shaped and offset foot-box
Full length Gemini zip baffle and integrated collar with Lode Lock closure
Supplied with waterproof roll-top stuff sack and storage cube