[at-l] maildrops...gear

[TrailR at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/21/2006 11:31:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
dennis at katom.com writes:
Eddy,

What kind of 15 degree bag do you have?  1.5 pounds is pretty light.  Are you 
happy with it?  Have you slept comfortably in it with the temperature in the 
teens and the wind howling?  The reason I ask:  A few years ago I was asked to 
help train a half dozen teenagers in multi week winter backpacking.  My son 
was one of them.  They were going on a two week trip during winter break up the 
AT.  One of the guys had found a really light weight 15 degree bag, but when 
I looked at it there wasn't much loft.  Sure enough, right on the outside of 
the bag it said 15 degrees.  I went home after the weekend training trip and 
looked it up, it was a LaFuma (or something close to that) 15 degree Celsius 
bag.  He would have been very uncomfortable and probably in danger on the two 
week trip where the temps got below zero Fahrenheit on them.

Most of us have a decent difference of weight in our winter and warmer 
weather sleeping bags.  I would save a little more than a pound by swapping bags.
**

My 40 degree summer bag was a Lafuma bag (down). It seemed sort of close to 
what
it was rated at. Killington at 40 degrees was an adventure in it, with 
howling winds,
rain (in the shelter and out), and fog (wearing long johns). It only weighed 
a pound, so I made it work.

hotdog