Read the latest reviews on Valandres products

LOOPING JACKET (PROTOTYPE): BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM

As we are only allowed to quote 50 words from the review, we have chosen a few statements that should give you an idea as to the product. As we speak, the Looping jacket has left its status as proto type and is moving into live product. In all our new colors too. So keep you eyes peeled...

"It's art sculpted in down."

"An incredibly warm jacket that weighs only a few ounces more than a summer down jacket. The precise baffling makes for a warm and non-binding fit and excellent down control."

"For 3 oz. more, the plump baffles of the Looping makes the Western Mountaineering Flight jacket look a bit deflated."

- BackpackingLight.com

Read the entire review of the Looping at Backpacking Light

LA FAYETTE REVIEW: CLIMBING MAY 2005

Valandré is a Danish-owned maker of technical down gear in Belcaire, a little village in the French Pyrenees. When I as first offered their La Fayette sleeping bag (539$, two pounds, three ounces) to test, I was blasé. I've already used the best bags made in the United States, so what could the La Fayette possibly offer?

For starters, the 850-fill La Fayette is the lightest five-degree sleeping bag on the market. Valandré shaves the weight by using ultra-light Pertex Microlight for the shell, and a one third-length, front positioned zipper, which does limit the bag's ability to ventilate.

Four testers used the La Fayette throughout the Sierra in temps as low as eight degrees, and in Alaska at minus 15. The group's consensus was that the bag was good between five and 10 degrees while wearing only medium-weight long underwear. Unlike many lightweight sleeping bags, the La Fayette is cut wide enough for you to comfortably wear layers in it. I used it climbing in Alaska's Brooks Range and dog sledding on the frozen Yukon River, staying comfortable down to minus 15 by wearing soft shell pants, down booties, a silk balaclava, and a fleece vest in addition to my mid-weight base layer.

The La Fayette's collar traps heat better than any other I've used. Unlike most down collars, which form a small, triangular, imperfect seal over your neck, the La Fayette collar wraps around your neck like a Pilgrim's stock, creating an effective seal. Three testers considered it a big help in conserving warmth, be the fourth considered it over-engineering and a hassle to use. First-time users should definitely practice with it before using it in the field.

Differentially cut with extra reinforcement at the knee section, the La Fayette guarantees full insulation in the bag's mid-section no matter how much you twist and turn. An inner draw-cord waist helps conserve heat in your lower extremities and is great for allowing you to sit up and operate your stove with the bag draped around your shoulders and locked in place over your lower half.

If you want a summer-weight sleeping bag to cover everything but your most frigid adventures, the Valandré La Fayette is an excellent and versatile choice.

- Larry Amkraut

MIRAGE REVIEW: ROCK & ICE MARCH 2005
(Light hot - Valandre Mirage)

Years ago, Volkswagen had a commercial that claimed, "Big things come in small packages." That statement exemplifies the Valandre Mirage ($355), possibly the lightest, warmest sleeping bag ever made.

How light and how warm is the Mirage? My model weighs 20 ounces and has kept six different climbers warm up to 16,000 feet and in temperatures as low as 11 degrees F (wearing their layers). I've slept comfortably on the summit of Mount Whitney when the thermometer dropped to 18 degrees F, and I was wearing nothing more than mid-weight Capilene underwear. The Mirage is warm enough for most climbers to use year-round in the Sierras, and three-seasons in the northern Rockies, northern New England and on icy Fourteeners such as Mount. Rainier.

You would think a bag this ilk must be cut straightjacket tight. No! The Mirage is snug, but wide enough to ward off claustrophobia. Instead, the bag sheds weight by using ultra-light Pertex Quantum shell fabric; a short, 12-inch zipper; and super-lofting goose down.

Drawbacks? The short zipper is only for entering and exiting, and provides scant ventilation. Above temperatures of 50 degrees F, warm sleepers can overheat. A short zipper by the foot would greatly extend the bag's versatility-and add precious ounces. But, as is, in temps from 50 to 20 degrees F (and below if you wear layers), this bag is the Snow Leopard's meow. Valandre: valandre.com

- Larry Amkraut

MIRAGE REVIEW: GRIPPED MAGAZINE, MARCH 2005
Valandre bags are about the best that you'll find anywhere. Their Shocking Blue winter bag established them as masters of innovative bag design. The Mirage applies some of the same principles; differential cut Pertex weather resistant shell fabric, innovative bag contouring, to a -5C three season bag. Ideal for lightweight alpinism, speed traverses and big wall climbers.

MIRAGE REVIEW: BACKPACKER GEAR GUIDE, MARCH 2005
If you can't resist the lightest of the light, no matter the price, this 20°F bag beats all contenders by a precious few onces. On an early winter night that bottomed out at exactly 20°F, our field tester says his bare legs were cool, not cold - long johns would have done the trick. The cut is comfortably roomy, but the short zipper is just big enough to slip through, the hood draw closure is a bit clumsy, and there's no draft collar.

BACKPACKER GEAR GUIDE
(Lightest Winter Bag - Valandré La Fayette)

Expensive, yes. Waste of money, no. Our tester is amazed by this light, compact bag, which kept him warm in subzero temps on Mt. Rainier. What's the trick? Lots of high-quality 850-fill-power down, a weather-resistant Pertex ripstop shell, and the warmest draft collar we've seen. Dubbed the Marie Antoinette, the guillotine-shaped collar completely encircles your neck from top, bottom and sides, trapping heat below and cocooning your head in a gap-free hood.

SHOKING BLUE REVIEW: ROCK & ICE, NOVEMBER 2003
(Review by Barry Blanchard)

A side benefit to the French gastronomical obsession with pate' de fois gras: there is a lot of high quality goose and duck down available in the country and the good folks at Valandre have taken advantage of that with the introduction of their amazing and aptly named sleeping bag, the "Shocking Blue".

Hand plucked high lofting down, detailed and eccentric morphological design worthy of Tut-Ank-Amon's sarcophagus (48 pieces of fabric with 46 pieces of baffle), and ultralight Pertex water repellent/breathable fabric make this 3 lb bag by far the lightest -25 degree Celsius one that I've climbed with.

It works because the design and construction are nowhere compromised. The inner sleeping profile is never allowed to come into contact, or even close to, the outer surface. 750 grams of 800+ cuin down is free to loft up like a hot air balloon and as the determining component - the human body - changes line and volume so does the Shocking Blue.

The foot box is even trapezoidal, like a pair of soles, and inclined at the human foot's angle of rest. Even the face portal is baffled - when you close it down your mug is haloed in 2 inches of insulation, and the nifty barrlelocks on the drawcord interlock to pull in an uninterrupted circle - no 'pull apart' triangle of cold.

The "Marie Antoinette" draft collar looks like a medieval throat shackle and is a little finickety to work but once closed creates a 2 inch thick neck gasket that holds the heat down in the body compartment.

The bag is big enough to wear clothes in, given that I'd take it into -30°C no problem (my native blood insures that my body temp increases when I sleep, an advantage my fair bride of Irish descent definitely doesn't enjoy, although she profits from proximity to me).

With a compression sack I am able to get the Shocking Blue the same size as a rugby ball. This bag is a god sent for the alpinist ... do I have to give it back?

- Barry Blanchard

A God sent for the Alpinist? Well Barry, when the pope has finished his sermon...

LA FAYETTE REVIEW: TGO Magazine
(Review by Cameron McNish)

NO MATTER how much we think we get Artic conditions in the UK the truth is that we suffer mild, wet winters, with only the occasional sub-zero drop. So most of us plod around in winter months carrying bulky, heavy sleeping bags that over-perform. While I'd rather carry a bag that'll keep me warm if temperatures go though the floor, ideally it should be lightweight and take up less pack space than the usual for-season models.

A company based in the French Pyrenees, run by a Dane, claims that its La Fayette bag will out-match any all-round bags on the market, be it down or synthetic. Valandré has achieved an amazing weight/warmth ratio with a combination of high quality goose down, a differential cut that involves 85 individual parts, pre-cut and circular baffles throughout the bag and a tree-dimensional collar that "follows your neckline as close as the headpiece of a guillotine" – hence the Marie Antoinette-styled collar.

The company claims the La Fayette will keep you warm to –15°C – all at an weight of only 1kg.

I'd planned to use the bag on the John Muir Trail in the autumn – Sierra Nevada night temperatures often fall below zero – but found the bag just too warm. I've used it several times in the early part of the winter when temperatures hovered round the zero mark and still found it on the warm side. But one night in mid-November the skies cleared and the temperature dropped to –5°C. I stayed as warm as toast.

The La Fayette doesn't have a long side zip to regulate warmth though judicious use of the long chest zipper does help control the amount of cool air you allow in. There's also an adjustable waist cord that allows warmth to be trapped from the waist down, allowing you to sit up with the rest of the bag simply draped over your shoulders.

The Marie Antoinette hood is extremely effective, with a collar sealing off the head above the shoulders, although the closure method is a little pernickety. Once or twice I found myself waking up feeling too hot, grasping at the neck closure almost in blind panic.

All-in-all the La Fayette is a highly effective winter sleeping bag made from a Pertex inner and outer and 95/05 goose down insulation. The weight/warmth ratio is truly amazing, making this sleeping bag well-worth considering for those to whom weight is important.

- Cameron McNeish

Visit Cameron McNeish' website

SHOKING BLUE REVIEW: GRIPPED MAGAZINE
This French company produces top of the line sleeping bags. This four-season bag is extremely light and has a water-proof breatheable pertex shell. It also has an ingenious zip collar witch actually works to keep the warm air in the main body of the bag. The foot box is huge which is great if you want to keep your boot liners inside it at night. Best of all, the 800 fill down compresses to a very reasonable size and balloons to a loft that testers found will easily keep you warm at -30 cesius. Weight 1.4kg.