2008 Golite Sleeping Bags

Last night I tested out the Ultra 20 in the back yard. I had a recorded temp of 27* low with sleet and rain mix.

I used a ASI tarp MLD Bivy GG nightlite, thinlite and Ultra 20.

I wore a Patagonia Capalene shirt, columbia midweight fleece shirt

Patagonia Midweight capalene pants with my GSI rain pants over them.

A turtle fur Beanie and my JRB down hood.

This is very similar if not identical to my setup on most trips for this temp range.

I woke up 1 time due to discomfort, but the quilt kept me warm all night. I do stand correct from my posts above. it doesn't loft what I expected, but it gets the job done. I do think 20* is a good rating for it. but it was not a big difference from the feel and warmth of my JRB No Sniveller.

Tommy

I have to totally agree on Jon at Backcountry Gear.

In fact … all of them are outstanding.

I had a few questions on the girth of a bag I was considering and they went out in the wearhouse, opened a box, took out the bag, and measured it for me!

You don't see that happening at Campmor!

I only spent until 1:40 AM in it (I know – bad way to test out a piece of sleeping gear) and the temp only dropped down to 32F. I hoping for lower temps this week.

I used a 3/8" Thinlight on my tosro and an 1/8" Thinlight the rest of the way down to my feet. On top of that I put a POE Ether Thermo 6 (regular lenght). (I was sleeping on cement – I needed this padding!) I was inside of an MLD bivy, wearing Thorlo socks, Cloudveil Inertia Peak pants, and a thin synthetic top from Costco (feels a lot like the Under Armor stuff). I also wore a Polartec Fleece balaclava.

It was nice to just get in the bag and be warm (lately I've been trying to push summer sleep systems to the limit). My feet were a tad bit chilly when I got up at 1:40. My hands were kept warm as well as the rest of me. While I was fine at 32F, I wasn't roasting, which makes me wonder if I could take this bag to 20F without insulating clothing. (I'm a warm sleeper too).

The straps seem to slide a bit to easily (although that might be nicer than being too hard to loosen), and the way the drawcord around the neck works is a little weird. I would assume you would get used to it though. The snap on the back of the neck could use a pull tab. It's very wide, wide enough that when I pull the straps all the way in I am completely enclosed in a "sleeping bag". (I'm skinny though).

So far I like it. I'm waiting for temps to drop so I can see if this can really be taken below freezing. (Again, I sleep warm – so it better take me lower!)

Do you have a weight on the long version?

I e-mailed GoLite customer service, the weight for the Long is 2oz heavier at 21oz total. Here's what they said about the girth:

Hi Ken,

I hope that helps. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email back or give us a call at 888-546-5483.

For those who count tenths of an ounce, my size long WITHOUT the stuff sack (I won't be using it anyways) is 21.2 oz. Not too shabby.

Thanks – much obliged. I might have to see if one of those will follow me home.

I received a regular size Ultra 20 this week (ordered from ProLite)and the weight is exactly 19 onces – down fill is consistent and loft appears to be as advertised. Overall quality looks very good. I'll provide some additional feedback once I've had a chance to use it a few times.

The nunatak arc alpinist is rated to 20 degrees F like the golite ultra, yet the arc weighs more.

Is the golite bag rating overstated or is nunatak conservative on its rating?

Nighttime temp got down to 42 degrees, and I cowboy camped in the ultra 20 and my MYOG bivy.

My impressions are that this is a great quilt. The shaping of the quilt helped to prevent cold drafts during the night.

I was surprised that with a 1.5 inch pad in the Bivy (the Bivy is 72 inches in shoulder girth, I had some compression in the leg area of the 800 fill down. That wasn't a problem I had with my Synthetic quilt and will take a bit of adjustment, however, I purchased the quilt because of my girth, which is 60 inches around my chest and upper arms.

I'm a side sleeper an move around a lot at night. Being as warm as it was out, I didn't need the straps at all. There's plenty of room in the size long.

The only real problem was that the quilt was too warm and I ended up feeling clammy in the upper body area from sweat. I woke up around 3:30 chilled, but just pulled on my Micropuff pullover, folded the quilt down, and went back to sleep.

I am having trouble finding a good hat, however. My polar fleece bomber hat was at it's limit at 42.

This one's a keeper in my book.

I can't seem to find the length for the golite Ultra. I am 5'7 1/4 or so so I wondering if it makes sense to get the short and save a little on the weight.

Does anyone know these numbers?

A good solution for a hat is the down hood from JRB.

I found lengths are on backcountry.com:
Short: 5' 6"
Regular: 6' 0"
Long: 6' 6"

I'm 6 feet tall. For the Ultra 20, I'm torn between Regular and Long, any thoughts?

I'm a side sleeper so I am thinking the regular would work, but I like the idea of being able to get it over my head.

"I am having trouble finding a good hat, however. My polar fleece bomber hat was at it's limit at 42."

I have used my Nunatak quilt down to zero using a polyester beanie or Patagonia R1 balaclava combined with the Cocoon UL60 balaclava. You may want to look at that.

I would lean toward the long. I am 5'9"+ and the regular fits me nicely, but I wouldn't want the toe box any more snug.

My impressions after seeing my girlfriend use her 2008 golite bags all summer.

They're ok, not stellar.

First she ordered the golite ultra quilt. I was about to get one too after reading all they hype on this page. We both concluded that it sucked. It wasn't nearly thick enough to keep either of us warm below 40 degrees. It definitely seemed understuffed with down. And, on the first night, one of the cinch straps ripped out due to poor construction. blah…

Then she got an Adrenaline 20 bag. She likes it. To me is seems like it has a nice hood and the more waterproof fabric on the footbox is nice. But again, it's not very puffy. Not nearly as puffy as my Marmot Helium (15 degree bag). I'd never buy one.

I'd like to see though the Ultra quilt with 2-3 more ounce of down in it and better quality control. Make it thicker and I'll buy it.