Halite is a Norwegian SOF veteran-owned small business, and our focus is to create and develop high quality task driven gear. Each product we create is an answer to an experienced problem, either met through military missions or on arduous adventures in the most remote desolate corners of our world. We are veterans, explorers, designers and outdoor enthusiasts – and we’ve created a sleeping bag system of our own that we believe will help others stay warm, dry and safe – wherever they are fighting all elements.
Halite is all about innovation though poking long enough at a sort of problem: We’ve found ourselves asking countless times “Why doesn’t this or that piece of equipment exist?!”. Well, when it comes to sleeping bags, we’re not asking anymore.
Our Sleeping Bag Philosophy
Our approach to the production and development of sleeping bags is built on historical principles of layering and the synergy this provides due to an increased heat to weight ratio. With modern technology, knowledge and experience, old principles and ideas can be made into extremely efficient systems. Halite’s mission is to refine this knowledge to provide our customers the best possible bang for the buck. We test our products over time to ensure that we use the best and most durable materials, and we continuously iterate our products and construction methods to withstand frequent and extreme usage.
Halite Two-Bag System
In close collaboration with our factories and end users we at Halite have created a two-bag system that we know solves many of the current day issues with sleeping bags:
• Our approach is built on historical principles of layering and the synergy this provides due to an increased heat to weight ratio.
• Our Overbag Pro goes over the inner bag of your choice, which moves the dew point away from your sleeping bag and into the highly hydrophobic Climashield® APEX insulation which results in a drier sleeping bag over time.
• Our sleeping bags can be used separately or together, depending on your mission and needs.
Our Overbag Pro goes over the inner bag of your choice (our choice obviously falls on one our Recce bags in either down or syntethic), and is made of the synthetic material Climashield® APEX with Aquaban® technology. This is one the world’s warmest hydrophobic insulation materials. The outer fabric is made of Quantum Pertex – and is hyper breathable. Read more about the tech behind our Overbag Pro here.
The two-bag system system designed to make life a little easier – we’ve added a dual-zip function on the Overbag: two long zippers, one on each side, allow you to ventilate the top part of the bag and at the same time increase the insulation in the foot piece with the open flap. This huge opening and size of the bag makes it possible to wear all your gear on entry. Another perk to our Overbag Pro is its width: you’ll even be able to fit a sleeping mat inside the bag.
For the thick extra wide insulating inner-bag we have two materiality alternatives; either down or synthetics. To protect the down from outside moisture, the down bag is made of a Gore Infinium outer fabric. The synthetic fabric is created with Climashield® APEX with Aquaban® technology. Our system has a close to zero dew point. Due to the extremely breathable and hydrophobic material, moisture will be transported and squeezed out from the inner bag to the Overbag. A great win for anyone who’ve dealt with a sticky wet inner-bag due to a too high dew point in the past.
Halite Overbag – How to use
Halite Overbag – Walkthrough
Material Mash-up
What happens with seams and textiles in varying climates; humid, cold and dry weather etc.? A recurring problem for users is moisture transport, drying clothes and/or sleeping bags. There are plenty of good solutions to this problem, however the most important factors are good training and right materiality. The arrangement of materials and design is decisive for how good and durable the bag is.
The insulation materials that are available on the market today have varying degrees of insulation, weight distribution systems and hydroponic properties. The best-known insulation materials today are synthetic, down and wool. We’ve concentrated our efforts on the two former materials when choosing the right materials and developing our sleeping bags.
Down
Down gets a 10/10 score on warmth to weight ratio, is the best insulation material, and it provides the best volume when packing as opposed to synthetics and wool. Down insulates by trapping air and is prized for being light, easy to compress, long-lasting and breathable. As opposed to what many people believe, down is the plumage that’s found underneath the exterior feathers on a goose and consists of soft, fluffy, wispy filaments. A downside to down as a fill material is that if it’s exposed to excessive moisture or water over a longer period of time, it doesn’t deal with moisture well. When down gets wet it clumps and collapses as the filaments will stick to each other. This makes the drying process very time consuming and difficult compared to synthetic fill.
It’s worth mentioning that from natures side down clusters are naturally water repellant – if the down is treated properly during processing, washing etc. it will withstand moisture in the long run.
Synthetics
The synthetics provide good insulation up to a certain thickness before the materials themselves become a limitation; The weight compresses the air and makes the bags colder, and volume gets disproportionately high when packing. Synthetic fill is quick-drying and insulates even if wet, better than down, and provides an acceptable warmth to weight ratio. Another upside to using synthetics as insulation is that it’s less expensive than down insulation, and is durable and hypoallergenic. While out on missions and while being exposed to the elements, synthetics are far easier to care for an maintain than down.
Choosing the bag that’s right for your mission
When you’re searching for your next new sleeping bag, taking your mission into account, one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make is between down and synthetic insulation. Our Recce Down 3 Sierra and 4 Sierra are our best options if you consider 850 FP Goose down as the right insulation for your needs. We are currently developing and testing a synthetic version of the Recce 3 Sierra, it will be ready-for-market some time during autumn 2021. If you are looking to add an overbag to supplement your existing bag, for those colder missions or expeditions, our Overbag Pro is insulated with the synthetic Climashield® APEX with Aquaban® technology.
Halite Recce 3 Sierra
Our Recce Down 3 Sierra is developed in collaboration with Western Mountaineering and their 45 years of manufacturing. The 3-season down bag is protected with Gore Windstopper™ 830 Fabrics, with 850 plus fill power goose down and both with the most complex construction in the world to reduce weight and reduce down migration when abused over a long period of time. Alone or with our Overbag these bags will cover almost every challenge. Made in the USA!
Read more about the Recce Down 3 Sierra here.
$829
Halite Recce 4 Sierra
The Recce Down 4 Sierra is also a Western Mountaineering collab, the generously sized 4-season down bag is protected with Gore Windstopper™ 830 Fabrics, with a total of 830 grams of 850 plus fill power goose down this bag is seriously lofty at 18 cm spacing. This thing is a beast for serious winter use. It’s also Made in the USA!
Read more about the Recce Down 4 Sierra here.
$999
Halite Overbag Pro
Our Overbag Pro is the core of the Halite Two-Bag system, and goes over the inner bag of your choice, and is made of the synthetic material Climashield® APEX with Aquaban® technology. This is one the world’s warmest hydrophobic insulation materials. The outer fabric is made of Quantum Pertex – and is hyper breathable. It adds up to 14C/57F to the comfort temperature rating of any good 3-season sleeping bag.
Read more behind our Overbag Pro here.
$299
*Halite Recce Synth 3 Sierra is currently under development and testing. Est. completion time is during autumn 2021.
Moisture transport
Dew point – a key word when talking and thinking about sleeping bags. The dew point determines whether the moisture from a person is taken up by the material, or if it is transported away to become vapor, water or ice. This is a known phenomenon and can be observed in the form of condensation on the outer fabric of a bag, or worst case – inside the bag itself. Added challenges with condensation may also come from one’s own surroundings; tents etc.
What our Overbag Pro primarily does, when temperatures are really low, is ensure that the zero-point isn’t inside the primary bag. If the zero-point is inside the primary bag, vapor and heat from our bodies will condensate – and in freezing temperatures, this condensation will in turn transform into ice particles. By moving the zero-point, either to a place between two bags or to an overbag, it’s possible to ensure that one’s primary bag stays warm and dry. If the zero-point is between two bags you’ll be able to freeze dry the outer fabric. Which is why we use Gore Windstopper on our down bags, as it’s water repellent. Also worth mentioning – it’s a lot easier to dry an overbag than one’s primary bag as the fill in our Overbag Pro is extremely hydrophobic.
Exposure
Your choice of system and bag is dependent on expected exposure; Factors such as climate, duration, temperature, comfort needs, bivouac solution and mobility all factor in when we chose the right bag for a specific mission. We believe that by only having high quality products as a foundation for your set-up you can combine different gear that fits well together, to create one holistic system. Our sleeping bags are just one piece of this puzzle; created to increase field endurance, reduce overall weight and provide optimal rest for the user.
Halite Sleeping Bags exposure – Winter Recon 2021
Best manufacturers in the world
No compromises have been made in terms of the sleeping bag’s isolation, construction or materiality. All components and materials are sourced from the best available manufacturer within their own categories. Furthermore, production is handled in what we believe to be the world’s best factories for manufacturing of sleeping bags. Our Recce Down bags are created in collaboration with Western Mountaineering in U.S.A.
Added value through responsibility
Halite has created a system that allows for our bags to be supplements to existing solutions. We believe this gives added flexibility and creates new areas of use. Cost-effectiveness is a key factor to our system, but also the added value we believe it provides to our customers both financially, but also environmentally. We don’t want you to have to buy a different sleeping bag for every season – we want you to keep the one you already have, and supplement with one of ours for those even colder missions.
