CAMPING | Outwell Cardinal 2017 Double Sleeping Bag Review

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Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping BagOutwell Cardinal double sleeping bag

What is it?

Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping Bag
RRP £139.99

  • This sleeping bag is no longer available, but you can find other double sleeping bags at Outwell.com
  • You can find more double sleeping bags at Go Outdoors

The Outwell Cardinal sleeping bag is a double mummy style sleeping bag featuring Isofill Premium for warmth. The sleeping bag features a zipperless entry design, and incorporates an integrated Isofill duvet which can be folded back to provide maximum freedom of movement.

Technical details

  • Mummy style double sleeping bag
  • Dimensions 220 x 160 x 140 cm (LxWxW)
  • Body length 195 cm
  • 230T microfibre shell 100% polyester
  • Polycotton lining (20% cotton / 80% polyester)
  • Zip across bottom section for ventilation in warmer weather
  • Isofill premium filling in single layer construction

Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping BagThe Cardinal sleeping bag with the duvet section pulled all the way up

Outwell Cardinal sleeping bagLeft: Press studs that hold the upper duvet section in place Right: Integrated pillows

What did we think?

I never use mummy bags as I can’t stand the feeling of being restricted in bed and don’t like the slightly sticky synthetic feel of most mummy bags. I prefer to sacrifice their warmth for something roomier but with an extra blanket on top. As a side sleeper too, I like plenty of room to move around and find mummy bags claustrophobic, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel using a double sleeping bag for the first time.

Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping Bag

The zipperless design of the bag is unusual; you get in towards the top end of the sleeping bag through the large V shaped opening instead of getting in through a side zip. Initially it looked like it might be quite tricky to get in and out of, but in use it was a cinch. The fold-over built in duvet easily un-clips from each side, providing a larger opening to get in and out of, and we were both pleasantly surprised to find the Cardinal just as easy as any other sleeping bag to get in and out of.

Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping BagThe duvet style layer that can be rolled back, or un-clipped to allow easier access

The label on the sleeping bag states that it’s suitable right down to -12, so on a recent Easter camping trip with the night time temperature down at around 5 degrees, and as someone who is perpetually cold, it was chilly enough overnight to find out just how warm the Outwell Cardinal could keep me.

Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping BagOur Cardinal sleeping bag all set up

A combination of shared body heat and the high performance Isofill Premium stuffing of the sleeping bag ensured that we stayed cosy on both nights of our camping trip. The description of the sleeping bag has it down as mummy style, and whilst the foot end does taper, I was relieved to find that actually, it’s only very slight.

The sleeping bag is pretty generous size wise, and that does make for quite a large size when packed down. Just like any other sleeping bag though, it’s easy to put away, and comes with a big stuff sack with extra compression straps on the outside.

Outwell Cardinal Stuff Sack
Final thoughts

Whilst the built-in pillows are a nice extra touch, in practice they didn’t really provide pillow-like support, so we still used our regular pillows with the Cardinal. I was honestly expecting to struggle with this sleeping bag on grounds of it being both a double and mummy style, but I really liked it, and Mr CWS thinks it’s brilliant, so it’s a definite big thumbs up from us in terms of both looks and performance.

Inside the Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping BagThe Outwell Cardinal get’ the thumbs up from us!

More information & stockists

Thank you to Outwell for supplying the featured Outwell Cardinal Double Sleeping Bag for us to review.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan
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