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Post by williamh4 on Dec 29, 2015 11:26:29 GMT -8
What do most of you do regarding sleeping bags? Do you have 2 different bags (winter and other times of the year)? Are there times you might not even carry a sleeping bag? The sleeping bag I currently have is probably 15 years old. I don't believe it was designed with backpacking in mind. It's pretty darn big. I bought a 10 liter compression sack, but could only stuff about 2/3 in. I could get a bigger compression sack I suppose, but even then, my backpack is 65 liters. I would end up using about 25% of my volume for a sleeping bag. That sounds like a lot, but perhaps not.
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Post by drilldaddyo on Dec 29, 2015 12:04:21 GMT -8
Hi,
I use two sleeping bags:
1) A Marmot Atom (40 degree)
2) A Marmot Helium (15 degree)
The trick is knowing which one to take! I've had a few cold nights in the Atom when I underestimated how cold September can be in the mountains. I encountered snow and freezing temps in the Wallowas of Oregon this past Labor Day, fortunately I had packed the Helium for that trip.
Oh, a small side note. Both the Atom and Helium come with the same size stuff sack when I purchased them some years ago. The Helium barely fit into the stuff sack provided so I purchased a slightly larger one at REI.
Hope this helps.
Randy |
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idahobob
Trail Wise!
many are cold, but few are frozen
Posts: 198 
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Post by idahobob on Dec 29, 2015 12:42:24 GMT -8
I love the selection of sleeping bags I have now, all of them down:
a winter one: Western Mountaineering Sequoia, rated at 0 degrees, just over three pounds, stuffs to about 10"x 24"
a summer one: Western Mountaineering Megalite: rated at 30, 1 lb 8 oz, stuffs to the size of a volleyball
an ultrlight one: Sea-to-summit Ember quilt: rated at 40, 1 lb 4 oz, stuffs to the size of a nalgene bottle.
You can get a decent down bag for under $200 now, so I hope you get one like the Kelty Cosmic, or the Big Agnes Boot Jack 24.
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Post by williamh4 on Dec 29, 2015 13:21:14 GMT -8
Thanks for the responses. Looks like I'll be looking at sleeping bags this weekend.  |
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tigger
Trail Wise!
Posts: 2,547
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Post by tigger on Dec 29, 2015 13:37:44 GMT -8
I use a +40F Golite Featherlite bag year round. I supplement with clothing to push my bag down to 0F.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Dec 29, 2015 18:40:41 GMT -8
My routes include being high enough to include what many think of as "winter" in August, plus I like sleeping outside, so I go with a warmer bag (Marmot Couloir with a wind proof outer shell) and just use it inefficiently on the parts of the trip that aren't that high and cold.
Like most gear it depends where you go and so what "summer or winter" really mean. On snow I use the same bag with added closed cell insulation under my pad. And the likelihood I'll actually be closing it up more of the time as well as NOT sleeping under the stars. lol
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Post by williamh4 on Dec 30, 2015 8:04:46 GMT -8
I found a Marmot 3 seasons sleeping bag that should work well. Good reviews and should be sufficient for where I will be backpacking (at least initially). Thanks again for all the responses.
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Post by williamh4 on Dec 30, 2015 11:22:12 GMT -8
I use a +40F Golite Featherlite bag year round. I supplement with clothing to push my bag down to 0F. I'm going to start with your suggestion, Tigger (regarding clothing for supplement). The Marmot Trestles 30 should work fine in most scenarios, but I'll supplement with thermals if needed. This thing compresses down to about the size of a basketball! LOL, I would have been laughed off the trails if I pulled out my old sleeping bag. I don't think a steam roller could compress it to twice the size of this new one. |
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Post by cweston on Dec 30, 2015 12:06:44 GMT -8
Sorry if this insults your intelligence, but in case you don't already know...
Be sure to store your bag uncompressed--it may have come with a large storage bag that is designed for that purpose, or you can hang them over a heavy-duty plastic coat hanger. This is especially important for synthetic bags, because synthetics don't recover from being compressed as well as down. It's why you should always uncompressed your bag right away when you get to camp, too--to give it the maximum time to recover before you hit the sack at night.
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Post by williamh4 on Dec 30, 2015 12:16:49 GMT -8
Sorry if this insults your intelligence, but in case you don't already know...
Be sure to store your bag uncompressed--it may have come with a large storage bag that is designed for that purpose, or you can hang them over a heavy-duty plastic coat hanger. This is especially important for synthetic bags, because synthetics don't recover from being compressed as well as down. It's why you should always uncompressed your bag right away when you get to camp, too--to give it the maximum time to report before you hit the sack at night. Not at all. I'm new to backpacking, so I can use all the advice I can get. I appreciate any and all suggestions.
I'm going to remove the sleeping bag from the compression pack now.
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tomas
Trail Wise!
Posts: 1,906
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Post by tomas on Dec 30, 2015 13:17:29 GMT -8
I'm going to start with your suggestion, Tigger (regarding clothing for supplement). Just remember that Tigger is an accomplished winter hiker who has his system/gear dialed in to suit his needs and abilities. Most of the rest of us tend to carry warmer bags in the winter (and we still wear clothes in the bag!). |
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Post by williamh4 on Dec 30, 2015 14:25:18 GMT -8
I'm going to start with your suggestion, Tigger (regarding clothing for supplement). Just remember that Tigger is an accomplished winter hiker who has his system/gear dialed in to suit his needs and abilities. Most of the rest of us tend to carry warmer bags in the winter (and we still wear clothes in the bag!). Yeah, if I do any winter backpacking, I plan on buying a heavier sleeping bag. I think this should do for when I plan on backpacking. I don't think I'll see anything below 20 for a little while. |
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Post by geophagous on Dec 30, 2015 23:28:06 GMT -8
Knowing how hot or cold you actually sleep makes a big difference in what you will need. Add in taking care to not get dehydrated during the day, eating well to stoke the inner fire, and staying dry and you may find like Tigger that you can use a lighter bag. I sleep pretty hot and have been toasty warm in a 32 degree bag with snow falling on the tent. Wearing lightweight thermals. I always bring lightweight thermals to change into at night along with dry sleeping socks. This means I keep most of my sweaty funk off the bag, and am always dry when I get in the bag. Living in the PNW and backpacking here staying dry and keeping my down bag dry are critical to a warm nights rest.
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Post by dirthurts on Dec 31, 2015 5:22:28 GMT -8
I'm not exactly a cold sleeper, but I do prefer to be nice and warm when I sleep. I always choose a bag that's going to be 10-15 degrees warmer than the lows I expect to come across, and it's done me very well. That way, when nature gets all cranky I'll still be warm when the weather makes unpredicted turns. I've not had a cold night in years because of this.
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tigger
Trail Wise!
Posts: 2,547
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Post by tigger on Dec 31, 2015 9:12:54 GMT -8
I've articulated this a few times but it won't hurt to do it again. I've been winter camping for over five years with my +40 bag as my only sleeping bag. I supplement using clean wool socks, Sierra Designs down booties, mid-weight thermals, fleece pants, smartwool thermal base shirt, down jacket with hood, and balaclava as needed. I can always climb inside my bivy to help regulate temps and zip it up to add much more warmth, wear my other base layer, put on my mid-layer fleece top, put on a secondary balaclava, shove excess clothing/rain shell inside my bivy to add insulation. I've never had to go beyond that but I could always use pine bows for insulation and could easily just build a snow cave to sleep in and be significantly warmer. I have a candle lantern I use when it dips into the single digits to keep the frost at bay. I have always been more than plenty warm and I don't like to be cold. I use a Z-Rest closed cell foam mattress under me along with a Thermarest NeoAir women's mattress (because the R-Value is slightly warmer).
I used a very similar setup this last spring spending a month on the ice sheets of Greenland where temps dipped significantly lower.
In order to come up with my setup, I took several sleeping bags/clothing layers for an entire winter season and ran tests to determine what was working and what didn't. It has helped me to cut weight from my setup down to 26 lbs for winter while maintaining the same comfort.
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