Sleeping bags

[Wander]

I need a new bag (and I'm a Papa....but anyway) I went to the local gear store and checked out the Marmot tresles 30 and the Mountain Hardware flip 45/20-which is pretty cool. I like the price of the Marmot better. I also noticed a 30/0 Eddie Bauer mummy bag that is about $30 less than the Marmot so I'm wondering if that would be OK? My use would be pretty limited to tent camping/fly fishing trips, maybe a yearly state park weekend and some backyard camping with my family-so pretty tame and nothing that cold. I prefer to buy quality and buy once rather than saving a few dollars but buying three times as often.

Anyone had any experiance with any of these bags?

 

[mauricio_28]

You should not mention Marmot and Eddie Bauer in the same sentence. The former is good, long-term quality. The latter is image and brand-name marketing.

In my opinion, in North America the best bags are made by Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends. Period.

 

[Desert Dan]

It is better to have a warmer rated sleeping bag than an under rated bag.

For regular weather I have a polyester mummy bag that works great.

In the summer a rectangular flannel line bag is the way to go.

For extreame weather I have an old real Eddie Bauer down Karakoram rated for -30 degrees and have never been cold.

 

[spressomon]

...In my opinion, in North America the best bags are made by Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends. Period.

:clapsmile

My WM bags (1-summer, 1-winter) have seen many, many nights of pure bliss comfort and they're 10+ years old now. Cry once and be done with it.

 

[mauricio_28]

There's nothing like the puff and the instant warm of high quality goose down. My WM bag is also going strong after a decade of use. A WM may be the last sleeping bag you'll ever buy. Truly beautiful bags.

 

[6Pins]

I've got a couple of Big Agnes bags that I like a lot, but am coveting a Butler Bag.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

The Butler Bag is awesome - as long as you have the room for it. There's nothing like burrowing into 12 pounds worth of Hollofil and flannel.


For down bags I agree with the two top names already mentioned. And it's demonstrably true that a good down bag is significantly the least expensive sleeping bag you can buy in the long run. I have a Marmot Grouse that is now 26 years old, and still in regular use. It's probably lost five degrees of its original rating, but I would have completely gone through four or five synthetic bags in that time.

 

[SunTzuNephew]

Wiggys www.wiggys.com

 

[Moody]

I use Marmot and Western Mountaineering bags, I have a total of 3. The Marmot Col, which is a -20 is down filled with a gore dryloft shell. I haven't ever slept cold in it. It was a pricey 700 dollars new, but this year I have had it 10 years, and I expect to have it 10 more no problem.

The WM bags I use are my summer and 'shoulder' season bags. The Badger is a 15 degree rating (conservative, in my opinion) it's amazingly light and compressible.
I also have a WM summer bag rated at 30, conservative once again.

WM only makes down bags.

www.westernmountaineering.com

Buy it once, and be done.

Marmot makes some rectangular bags also, that I have considered for summer desert trips. More wiggle room.


Marmot makes a 20 degree down bag that I sold a bunch of when I worked at an outdoor store here locally. I believe it is the "Never Summer". Great quality, built to last. I recall them being right around 200 dollars.

 

[roberto]

I have used my military 4 piece sleep system and love it, comes with 2 bags a stuff sack and a waterproof goretex liner. You can use the haevier bag alone or the lighter bag alone or use the lighter inside the heavier for extreme. All for around $200 now on ebay. They are mummy shaped nages though which I am not keen on so much, I can post pics of the system laid out if u want to see?

R

 

[cruzinwyo]

I spend close to 100 nights a year in a sleeping bag. I use all 3 of these bags. I will buy similar ones to each if they ever need replaced.
I have a couple of quick reviews that you might chew on and save some money.

Coleman Taos 30 degree bag works great and it's the one I use the most in the summer time. I use it because I have no fear of just tossing it on the ground and crashing. It has close to 80 nights in it with no failure points. pros: cheap enough to toss in the dirt, warm enough for summer nights in montana. cons:could be warmer. $50

Kelty Coromell 25 degree down is my favorite. It shrinks down very small and is very warm. Weighing in at 2 lbs you can almost leave it in the truck all the time. It's a great back packing bag, pros: light, compact, very warm. cons: fabric seems fragile. $150.

Cabela's 3D -30 (yes negative) is the luxury bag. The storage bag is close to 22"x30" and it's heavy. However I can survive any thing 2012 will send at me. It has tons of room with a rectangular end. I have never zipped this bag up! pros: extremely warm, soft and thick. cons: very bulky and heavy. $140

 

[Stan the Man]

I like the idea of synthetic sleeping bags over the down because they retain their warmth more when wet. Tents always to spring a leak in the worst possible situation and waking up cold and/or wet is no fun. Also they are less expensive.

Stay away from any cotton sleeping bag. They are too heavy and absorb moisture.

I received a North Face Bighorn BX synthetic bag for my birthday in September. Its rated at 20*, and I think its safe to say thats right when the hood is synched up tight. I've had it on 4 trips already and been plenty warm every night. One night in the Sierras dropped to 40*ish and I was warm in just my boxers. Throw on socks, a long sleeve shirt and pants and it'd be plenty. The Bighorn is cut boxier that most mummy bags which is nice, because I roll around a lot.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

I have to disagree with a couple of things here.

The "warm when wet" idea is more than a bit misleading. During a sleeping bag review years ago, I decided to test the concept, and soaked a North Face Polarguard bag, then wrung it out thoroughly and tried it. Was it warmer than a down bag would have been in the same situation? Undoubtedly. Was it anything approaching fun (or "warm") to be in? Nope. Don't count on being toasty if you get your synthetic sleeping bag wet. If your tent leaks, it means you need a better tent. And modern waterproof shell fabrics shrug off minor drips and puddles anyway. I always seal the seams on my bags, rendering them even further resistant to spills or leaks.

My point is, any sleeping bag needs to be kept dry to function properly. One theoretical exception is in conditions of persistent high humidity, such as for sailing or sea kayaking, where the performance of down can degrade somewhat on a long trip. Nevertheless, I used my down bags while guiding sea kayaking trips and never had a problem. They ride in waterproof stuff sacks anyway.

Synthetic bags are not cheaper - period. A good down bag will far outlast any synthetic sleeping bag. The only partial exception to that is a synthetic bag that never is compressed for travel. A Butler Bag, for example, hardly compresses at all when you roll it up, so I expect mine to last a good long while. Any of the big base-camp style bags are similar. But any synthetic bag that you have to stuff to carry will last a fraction as long as a down bag before its performance has degraded significantly. The investment really pays off.

 

[freeze]

For extreame weather I have an old real Eddie Bauer down Karakoram rated for -30 degrees and have never been cold.

I've never found a bag as good as this one! It's super durable and works in all conditions. I had two and lost the other mummy which is really to bad. I still use this bag today as it is one of the best bags I've owned.

I've had Kelty, North Face, and MEC which were all down but never breathed as well, kept the warmth, was as durable as the Eddie Bauer Karakoram. They even used rip-stop material back then and it's not overly heavy.... love this bag!

 

[Superu]

I need a new bag (and I'm a Papa....but anyway)

Funny.

Backpacker magazine's gear review 2009 has an excellent rundown on bags. I have a Mountain Hardwear that I really like and it's held up well over several years of use.