Which Sleeping Bag

[mrmolar119]

Hello all,

I am looking for your experience and opinions with backpacking sleeping bags. I am looking to get a new bag for next year and have been researching an ok amount, but want to hear what you all have to say about which bag you use and why. Do you use down or synthetic? What temp rating? Brand preferences?

Thanks in advance for your input!
John

 

[mrmolar119]

Hello all,

I am looking for your experience and opinions with backpacking sleeping bags. I am looking to get a new bag for next year and have been researching an ok amount, but want to hear what you all have to say about which bag you use and why. Do you use down or synthetic? What temp rating? Brand preferences?

Thanks in advance for your input!
John

How about asking Len for a recommend. Sometimes blogs give so many opinions that it gets confusing.

 

[Rogue]

Have any of you ever carried a down bag and then a synthetic quilt to add if needed? I think a system like that could work well. Then I could also use the quilt for scouting trips as well as early archery season.

That would be a lot to carry. If anything, buy a bag rated warmer than you need and later you can unzip it and use it as a quilt.

If you buy a quilt, test it out in safe temperatures over night before taking on an extended hunt. Should do the same with any sleep system you buy.

I've carried a military poncho liner and used it as extra insulation inside the bag.

Last resort - spoon with your hunting buddy. No ****, it can save your life!

 

[COBrad]

Lots of really good advice here. Most of my cold weather experience has been from guiding elk hunters in western CO for a good number of years, and decades of back county skiing and ski mountaineering here as well. I went ultra light in my 30's and am currently refining more. I'll agree Western Mountaineering products are the best I have used for this environment. An insulated pad of some sort is essential. I'm using an insulated Big Agnes air pad. Light, small and it works. My bag is an old MountainSmith 20 degree down bag. No quilt I can unzip or sleep in my other layers. My clothing and sleeping gear are all part of a system that can all be used together if necessary... even my rain suit. My tent is a floor-less tarp tent that weighs 2#, and this year I'll start packing a roughly 6.25# rifle scoped and ready to go. As I age weight is more important than ever, I get cold easier, and a warm comfortable nights sleep can make or break a week long hunt.

 

[middleofnowhere]

For a synthetic bag I would look at Wiggys and Kifaru.
For down I would look at Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends.
They are all made in USA or Canada and the best of the best.
I have several bags that over several decades old and have hundreds of nights in them. My grandkids are now using them, I don't regret the cost.

I have trouble sleeping in a bag, so I started using a quilt. I have a synthetic custom made from www.viamoutdoors.com, I couldn't be happier with it. I am going to order a custom down quilt this spring for a little more warmth, probably from Enlightened Equipment.

 

[Rifleman513]

I used a new Mountain Hardwear Lamina Z bag this year. I wanted a synthetic bag that was light and packed small. I cant remember the weight but it is around 2.5 lbs for a 20 degree bag and weighs about the same as my 20 down bag. Sythetic insulation has improved a lot over the years and having synthetics that can rival down in size and warmth makes me consider synthetics more often than not. I also carry a SOL escape bivvy and have only used it once, but putting a breathable emergency bivvy inside a synthetic bag works pretty good if the temps drop more than expected.

 

[CanardNoir]

If you must pack-in, there are a number of synthetic fills that are <5lbs and will keep you warm within their stated temperature range.

But if you're being packed in on horseback or the like - Woods Bag & Canvas ( www.woods.ca ) is were I'd look first.

I have used one of their 5-star down bags for more than 35-years and it has been well worth the price. Prior to that I used a Sears/Sir Edmund Hillary goose down (or maybe chicken feathers) bag with no complaints...but I was much younger then.

 

[CanardNoir]

But understand this:

Even though the Relative Humidity is only around 10-20% - your sleeping bag needs to be turned inside-out and dried each and every day you're in camp.

 

[Shoot 708]

Check out Big Agnes. Their sleep system bags use a thermarest style pad that slides into a sleeve that is the bottom of the bag. The sleep pad is your insulation underneath. The pad is "built in" to the bag. You never end up sliding off your pad.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Hyke and Byke was the best deal I found. Got their 0* down bag. Farely light and compact.

 

[Bullets4Bucks]

I really like my L.L. Bean sleeping bag

 

[JohnWess]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of the input! I have a lot to look into, but a great starting point!

 

[iainfarthing]

Hello all,

I am looking for your experience and opinions with backpacking sleeping bags. I am looking to get a new bag for next year and have been researching an ok amount, but want to hear what you all have to say about which bag you use and why. Do you use down or synthetic? What temp rating? Brand preferences?

Thanks in advance for your input!
John

I've still got my down filled UK MOD 4 part sleeping bag with a goretex bivvy bag. Every variation needed but not that light when you deploy the lot in full arctic (**** it's cold) mode...!

 

[Naymola]

http://www.westernmountaineering.com/sleeping-bags/gore-windstopper-series/puma-gws/
Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends are the two best made sleeping bags made-period. But, do you want to pay the price? I'm on my fourth WM bag and currently have the "Puma GWS" that I use for high altitude mountaineering and winter hunting trips. For mild temps down to the mid 20's, I use the WM "Antelope GWS". Both bags have overfill. You will need a "Thermarest" foam pad to insulate yourself if sleeping on snow, ice or what have you. If weight is not a problem, i'll use an air mattress underneath the Thermarest (Most air mattress's will transfer cold).
Mummy style bags will keep you warmer, less internal volume to heat.
Resist the temptation to duck your head down in your bag. Your moist breath will dampen the insulation.
Allowing your bag to air out in the sun for a short while after sleeping in it, it will keep it happy.
Gore Tex shells are a good idea, helps keep your down insulation dry in a leaky tent, snow caves, or exposed to heat robbing wind.

Pee bottles typically are used when sleeping in a tent during the winter so you don't have to get your clothing/boots on to go outside to take a leak to prevent frostbite etc. Many times i've used that pee bottle after filling it to warm my feet in my sleeping bag. Of course you need a **** good leak proof bottle like a "Nalgene bottle".
Cheers! Gary