The Mont Helium 300 sleeping bag is awarded Best in Test by gear expert Steph Wetherell. Find out why.
Mont are relatively new to the UK market, but this is a high quality sleeping bag that packs down small. Firstly, the Mont Helium 300 is an incredibly comfortable bag to sleep in and the 10D shell and liner is silky and soft to the touch.
Steph Wetherell’s Best in Test
This is a high quality, spacious bag that performs well on the hills – and the compression sack is a triumph.- comfortable and spacious,
- great stuff sack
- none
| Quick specs |
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| Price: $469.95 / £389 – £419 (available from Mont) Weight: Standard (760g), XL (857g) including stuff sack weight (85g) Fill: 300g 800+fp RDS down Shell: 520 thread count, 10 by 10 denier ultralight Nylon Construction: Box wall construction with radial arc baffle system Zip: 2-way full length YKK side zip and foot zip. Right zip available. Length: 170cm (women’s/small), 185cm (standard), 200cm (extra large) Rating: -1 C (warm sleeper), 4 C (cold sleeper) Sizes: Womens (small), standard, extra large Women/Men’s version: Yes mont.equipment |
I opted for the XL as it offered an extra four inches at the shoulder and hip (very welcome as a plus size person), and the bag itself felt spacious and well-proportioned. It’s made with 800+fp RDS down, offering a great warmth-to-weight ratio, and DWR loft treatment keeps the loft even in damp situations. Further moisture resistance is provided through hydrophobic silicon impregnated thread in the seams.
The bag utilises a ‘Radial Arc’ baffle system that enhances how the baffle forms around torso and reduces distortion of the baffle, and I definitely found the down stayed lofted and in the right place even when tossing and turning a lot. The bag comes with a full length two-way side zip and a second zip that allows you to completely around the bottom of the bag, giving me a lot of versatility with foot venting on warmer nights.
There’s laminated anti-snag tape running along the inside of the zip which helps stop you catching the bag, and the zipper is easy to operate even if wearing gloves. The contoured hood is a really good shape and I found it easy to adjust and felt it cinched in nicely around me. Instead of opting for the normal temperature ratings, they’ve instead given a Cold Sleeper and Warm Sleeper rating, and as a (very) cold sleeper I found this clear and easy to understand. I used it down to close to the Cold Sleeper limit and stayed warm and comfortable.
The compression sack is a real triumph, using a Z-force pully system to tighten the straps, and combined with a well-designed bag, allowed me to compress the bag to an impressively small size with ease. This is a high quality bag that performs well on the hills.
How we tested
Steph tested these sleeping bags in South Wales during the autumn and spring months. She is a size 20 and 5’10 tall so favours a spacious bag, and is also a cold sleeper. She’s put together a guide to the best plus-size gear – and you can compare this model with other bag in our guide to the best sleeping bags.
