[at-l] sleeping bag?

[Ken Bennett]

A 3-pound 15-F down bag isn't really that bad. You can get it down to 2
pounds or so, but it will require a large application of cash. In general, a
really good lightweight sleeping bag is the most expensive part of a light
hiking kit. So you might get more bang for the buck replacing say, your tent
first.

That said, of course I have an opinion on bags. For an AT thru-hike starting
in Georgia in early March, my choice would be:

Down, 15-20 F rated, no liner (more below), and Cadillac is much better than
Chevy in this case.

I am going to specifically recommend the Montbell UL Super Stretch Down
Hugger #1, a 15-F rated bag. If you are over 5-6, I would recommend the Long
bag instead of the Regular. (Ignore the size rating, in other words.)

My lovely wife, who is always cold, tried several great bags, including the
Mountain Hardwear Phantom and the Western Mountaineering Ultralite. In every
case she was cold well above the rated temperature. Not good. She likes to
sleep on her side, and her hip would poke through the bag and leave a large
flat spot with no down -- hence the cold. She also likes to thrash around,
and a tight mummy bag wasn't making her happy.

So we traded the Ultralite for a Montbell UL SS Down Hugger #3, which is a
30-F bag, and she loves it. The down is not in continuous tubes -- it is
fully baffled in square pockets, one of which sits directly over her hip.
Down = Warm = Good. Also, the Super Stretch feature means she can thrash
around and pull her knees up, etc. -- there is a tremendous amount of room
in this bag, but the stretchy part brings it gently against your body.

We bought a #0 Montbell bag for her last spring (on sale), but she hasn't
had a chance to use it yet. That's a big 0-F rated bag. Nice bag.

Note that she is barely 5-4, and uses the long bag. The Regular ("fits to
six feet") was not long enough for her.

Sleeping Bag Liner: I hate liners. They get all tangled up, and they do not
live up to their optimistic claims for additional warmth. They are single
use items, too, which bugs me. To add warmth to a bag, I wear clothing. I
bring camp clothing specifically chosen to augment my bag, so I can take it
well below its rated temperature if needed. A down jacket, warm hat and
gloves, fleece tights, and down booties let me use my 30-F rated bag (a
Western Mountaineering Megalite) down into the high teens in perfect
comfort. All of those items are dual use, since I wear them around camp
morning and night.

Overall pack weight: 45 pounds is a lot these days. Anything you can do to
get your base weight (= everything except food and water) down below 20
pounds will be good. Okay, not *anything* -- you still need to bring enough
gear. But there are many good choices out there for lightweight tents,
packs, etc., so this is not an unrealistic figure for a March start. That
means that with 2 liters of water and 4 days of food, you walk away with <35
pounds. That makes a big difference for me.

Happy trails.

--Ken







On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 6:40 PM, Cody Girl <codycodygirl at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all!
>
> A friend suggested I do a gear inventory with all the pertinent info like
> weight, sq footage, features, etc, of all the gear I have to figure out what
> I need to upgrade and what I have that will work for my AT thru hike.  Then
> we compared it to her gear inventory.  This is a really great idea to get
> the complete picture of what's in my pack, but my results are rather
> sobering.  All my backpack experience is for trips 5 days or less (can't
> remember if I told y'all that or not, sorry if repetitive).   Turns
> out almost everything I own has a lighter weight solution.  My avg 40-45#
> fully loaded pack has been fine for short trips (frankly because I didn't
> know any better), but long haul will wear me down.  I want to improve my
> odds of getting to Maine.
>
> I have a nice warm snuggly 15 degree down bag that weighs 3lb 1oz, but I
> now know I can save some weight here.  I'm pretty sure I want to stick with
> down, but am wondering what bag you would recommend for the early chilly
> days of an AT thru hike.
>
> Down or synthetic?
> 15 degree or higher?
> Use a liner?  if so, what material?
> Any brand or design you especially like?
> Cadillac worth more than a Chevy?
> Ladies, I'd also love to hear your thoughts on whether women's bags make a
> difference.
>
>
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