i have a marmot that was the display at the backpacking shop. it was a 250 dollar bag and i got it for 125. it is rated for 0 and it ain't kidding. I am happy with it and it is a down bag. i think you would be happy with the marmot, but if you don't like the idea of a mummy, it may not be right for you. I love mine and it stays dry if you pack right.
Sleeping Bag recommendation
- Thread starter Poriomania
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The North Face is a good bet. Pricey, but durable. They tend to be a bit heavier and warmer than the indicated temp range. I've got the Tundra (-20) and one (don't remember the model) for +40. If you use a fleece bag liner and a Bibler bivy with the warm weather bag, you get a wider range of temps.
good luck.
good luck.
- Thread starter
- #23
I ended up with a square kelty five degree bag, but I didn't get to try it out yet. I had planned to go out north of vail, but the weather turned and they were expecting 3 inches with 30 mph gusts. Kinda just lost interest :-\
it'll be aight gary,
get back out there in a couple weeks, you'll have fun.
you can't go wrong with kelty as a basic sleepin sack. i had one for a couple of years til i got real serious abt backpacking. (5deg synth mummy bag. called cayenne, looked like a big red pepper, ha ha)
a couple years ago i bit the bullet and bought a real nice down bag. i looked for months and tried everything before i made a decision. it came down to two options for me: feathered friends or western mountaineering. (www.featheredfriends.com & www.westernmountaineering.com)
it was between the rock wren ii (winter) (ff) and the ultralite (wm). i think that's what the wm bag was called, i can't remember exactly.
anyways, i was lookin for a bag in the 10-20 deg range (i sleep hot...). i also use a liner the majority of the time, so that drops it another 5. the rock wren is an awesome design with leg and arm holes so you can walk around in it. they were both crazy light and crazy compactible.
i ended up gettin the ultralite (on sale, yeahyo!). in the stuff sack it weighs in at 1 lb 12 oz (a good 2.75 lbs less than the trusty kelty). it can compress down to about the size of a softball (that is just crazy, really).
both companies offer various fabric options (epic, nexTEC, etc) and they both have very good downproofing processes. the wm site has awesome write-ups on their techniques. i went with the basic ultralight nylon stuff (weighed in a .7 oz a yard
).
anyways, sorry to rant, but i love my bag. so nice, light, downproof, plus it looks really cool, ha ha. (bright blue and black).
also, i won't ever go back to synthetic stuff (even though the newer polarguard is nice). just not as near compressible, weighs too much, and if you're used to camping, you should be able to to prevent you bag from gettin wet, plain and simple. (both ff & wm give you a waterproof urethane stuff sack).
malphrus
get back out there in a couple weeks, you'll have fun.
you can't go wrong with kelty as a basic sleepin sack. i had one for a couple of years til i got real serious abt backpacking. (5deg synth mummy bag. called cayenne, looked like a big red pepper, ha ha)
a couple years ago i bit the bullet and bought a real nice down bag. i looked for months and tried everything before i made a decision. it came down to two options for me: feathered friends or western mountaineering. (www.featheredfriends.com & www.westernmountaineering.com)
it was between the rock wren ii (winter) (ff) and the ultralite (wm). i think that's what the wm bag was called, i can't remember exactly.
anyways, i was lookin for a bag in the 10-20 deg range (i sleep hot...). i also use a liner the majority of the time, so that drops it another 5. the rock wren is an awesome design with leg and arm holes so you can walk around in it. they were both crazy light and crazy compactible.
i ended up gettin the ultralite (on sale, yeahyo!). in the stuff sack it weighs in at 1 lb 12 oz (a good 2.75 lbs less than the trusty kelty). it can compress down to about the size of a softball (that is just crazy, really).
both companies offer various fabric options (epic, nexTEC, etc) and they both have very good downproofing processes. the wm site has awesome write-ups on their techniques. i went with the basic ultralight nylon stuff (weighed in a .7 oz a yard
).anyways, sorry to rant, but i love my bag. so nice, light, downproof, plus it looks really cool, ha ha. (bright blue and black).
also, i won't ever go back to synthetic stuff (even though the newer polarguard is nice). just not as near compressible, weighs too much, and if you're used to camping, you should be able to to prevent you bag from gettin wet, plain and simple. (both ff & wm give you a waterproof urethane stuff sack).
malphrus
Gary,
I was in the same boat, wanting the best of both worlds, and a tough do all bag, but didn't want to spend a fortune. The more I researched, my realization of the value for the dollar made me want more and not mind spending a little more. I just bought a US Army and Marine Corps Modular Sleep System. It is the best that our military uses and is current issue. It's comprised of four parts. A green patrol bag used for 30-50 F., and intermediate cold bag, a super tough gore tex bivy outer bag, and a heavy duty stuff sack. These bags are built military tough, very flexible in letting you pick the bag for your temp, or combine them all for -30 F when combined with the ECWS polypropoylene shirt, drawers and issue wool socks.
You can find these on E-Bay from $100 used and up, to close to $200 for brand new set. I decided that quality, warmth, weatherproof, etc. would make it worth the money. It's not a square, make into a blanket type bag, but it's built like the Land Cruiser, ready to take on the wild world.
'
Bryan
I was in the same boat, wanting the best of both worlds, and a tough do all bag, but didn't want to spend a fortune. The more I researched, my realization of the value for the dollar made me want more and not mind spending a little more. I just bought a US Army and Marine Corps Modular Sleep System. It is the best that our military uses and is current issue. It's comprised of four parts. A green patrol bag used for 30-50 F., and intermediate cold bag, a super tough gore tex bivy outer bag, and a heavy duty stuff sack. These bags are built military tough, very flexible in letting you pick the bag for your temp, or combine them all for -30 F when combined with the ECWS polypropoylene shirt, drawers and issue wool socks.
You can find these on E-Bay from $100 used and up, to close to $200 for brand new set. I decided that quality, warmth, weatherproof, etc. would make it worth the money. It's not a square, make into a blanket type bag, but it's built like the Land Cruiser, ready to take on the wild world.
'
Bryan
[quote author=Scamper link=board=14;threadid=13732;start=msg129822#msg129822 date=1080690376]
I have to agree with this. Nothing sucks worse than being cold in the middle of the night, with our without your "bed-warmer" (you can both be cold). I've noticed that reputable manufacturers (North Face being one--I have a Cat's Meow which is quite a nice 3-season bag here in the Northeast) ratings are much more reliable than the rating you'll see on a Coleman or Acme bag.
[/quote]
My North Face Cats Meow is 12 years old and still warm and comfortable. You would go through several lesser quality brands in that same amount of time. Marmot makes top notch gear too.
I highly recomend synthetics, although down is warmer and lighter, synthetics maintain (some) insulative value even when wet. You dont have to immerse a bag to get it wet, just sleep in it for a few nights and the moisture evaporating from your body and condensing in the insulation will make it damp. I would also recomend a mummy bag. It wont unzip into as nice of a blanket as a square bag, but being able to cover your head and neck can save your azz if you get caught in unexpectedly cold or wet weather.
As important as the bag however, is your sleeping pad. No bag will keep you warm unless you are insulated from the ground. Any good backpacking or climbing store will have a selection of lightweight sleeping pads. Lots of people like the Thermarests, which are a self inflating open cell foam. These are excellent for most applications, although I prefer a closed cell foam as I find them warmer for winter mountaineering and sleeping on ice and they are lighter.
A good mummy bag from a climbing or backpacking company should run between $100 and $150, and will be worth every penny. Figure out the lowest temperature you think you will ever be sleeping outside in and get one rated for 10-20 degrees colder. You can always unzip a sleeping bag, but at night its too late to get a warmer one. Sleeping pads range from $10 to $100, you can get an excellent one for about $30 usually.
Just remember, when car camping a crappy sleeping bag is an inconvenience, you can always get in the car. Backpacking a crappy bag can be dangerous or fatal if you succumb to hypothermia.
I have to agree with this. Nothing sucks worse than being cold in the middle of the night, with our without your "bed-warmer" (you can both be cold). I've noticed that reputable manufacturers (North Face being one--I have a Cat's Meow which is quite a nice 3-season bag here in the Northeast) ratings are much more reliable than the rating you'll see on a Coleman or Acme bag.
[/quote]
My North Face Cats Meow is 12 years old and still warm and comfortable. You would go through several lesser quality brands in that same amount of time. Marmot makes top notch gear too.
I highly recomend synthetics, although down is warmer and lighter, synthetics maintain (some) insulative value even when wet. You dont have to immerse a bag to get it wet, just sleep in it for a few nights and the moisture evaporating from your body and condensing in the insulation will make it damp. I would also recomend a mummy bag. It wont unzip into as nice of a blanket as a square bag, but being able to cover your head and neck can save your azz if you get caught in unexpectedly cold or wet weather.
As important as the bag however, is your sleeping pad. No bag will keep you warm unless you are insulated from the ground. Any good backpacking or climbing store will have a selection of lightweight sleeping pads. Lots of people like the Thermarests, which are a self inflating open cell foam. These are excellent for most applications, although I prefer a closed cell foam as I find them warmer for winter mountaineering and sleeping on ice and they are lighter.
A good mummy bag from a climbing or backpacking company should run between $100 and $150, and will be worth every penny. Figure out the lowest temperature you think you will ever be sleeping outside in and get one rated for 10-20 degrees colder. You can always unzip a sleeping bag, but at night its too late to get a warmer one. Sleeping pads range from $10 to $100, you can get an excellent one for about $30 usually.
Just remember, when car camping a crappy sleeping bag is an inconvenience, you can always get in the car. Backpacking a crappy bag can be dangerous or fatal if you succumb to hypothermia.
I highly recomend the SlumberJack Brand.
I really like the one I got it is mummy style but it 2 layers and the inside layer comes out and makes 2 mummy of equal thickness that 2 people can use in warm weather. One really cool thin I discovered is that if I zip them together like you do for cold weather then reach in the bottom and pull the inside one out you sudenly have 2 bags that are together inside from about the calf/knee up. This is perfect for you and your bed warmer to each have there own mummy that you can zip up so both of you are coverd but are touching from about the knee up.
E
I really like the one I got it is mummy style but it 2 layers and the inside layer comes out and makes 2 mummy of equal thickness that 2 people can use in warm weather. One really cool thin I discovered is that if I zip them together like you do for cold weather then reach in the bottom and pull the inside one out you sudenly have 2 bags that are together inside from about the calf/knee up. This is perfect for you and your bed warmer to each have there own mummy that you can zip up so both of you are coverd but are touching from about the knee up.
E
I have 3 synthetic bags and 2 down bags for backpacking. If you can afford it, I recommend the down bags. All my synthetic bags have lost significant loft over the years and I store them unstuffed.
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
I was in REI today (I know, I know) and they had all their camp stuff on sale. I bought a 20 degree Sierra Designs Polargard 3D bag for $75 and then got $15 off that because of my dividend in their computer. It seems like a nicely made bag and will be perfect for this summer's camping trips. There were some good deals on North Face down bags as well. Since this bag will also see use in Alaska later this summer, I wanted to move away from down and into a synthetic.
I have the cat's meow as well. Nice shell and liner material but a little bit on the heavy side, it's one of the ones that has lost significant loft. My favorite down bag is the Moonstone 800 Lucid. http://www.moonstone.com/d_sb.asp?id=T12577%20Regular%20/%20T12477%20Long 20 degree bag at only 1lb 12oz.
yeah, the cat's meow is a solid bag. my best friend has one and loves it.