Sleeping Bag: The North Face Blue Kazoo
29th Sep 2008
The Blue Kazoo - available in blue, of course.
The North Face are apparently ‘very excited’ to be able to offer such a well tailored and thermally efficient sleeping partner for the fairer sex! The company’s blurb constantly mentions the bag having extra insulation in ‘certain areas’ later mentioning feet, head and torso. It doesn’t mention the often-complained about cold bum that women supposedly have, but I have to say I’ve had many toasty nights sleep in this bag, so they must have got something right!
The Blue Kazoo has got lots of jargon-named bits of technical design including a ‘seven chamber sculpted hood’, ‘face comfort tube’, ‘Climashield prism pads’ in ‘compression zones’, which apparently increases the thermal efficiency by 13%. I’m no expert on sleeping bag technology, but I found the bag a dream to get into at night, often choosing to sit inside it during the evening just because it was so cosy. This social ‘sleeping bag sitting’ drew many appreciative comments from girl friends who loved the ‘powder blue’ tone, and were envious of the watch pocket.
The Blue Kazoo is a 3-season 600 fill (Eastern European goose) down. The material is very soft and comfy, yet hasn’t snagged. The foot area is roomy, so no tangled feet, and it has more room in the hips than the men’s equivalent bag. The weight is 1253 grams, so it doesn’t quite compete with the various superlight 3-season bags currently available, but is doubtless a much warmer and more comfortable for it. It also comes with a stuff sac as well as a bigger bag for longer term storage.
The Blue Kazoo retails at £139.99, which seems like a fair price for a gorgeous night’s sleep wherever you are.
Reviewed by Hayley Lever on behalf of planetFear