Help me configure my Nunatak bag!

[Courtney Waal]

It’s finally time for me to get my fancy schmancy Arc, just in time for the fall/winter/spring Texas backpacking and bikepacking season! I think the correct bag for me would be the 32deg F Ghost. I’m a somewhat cold sleeper, so I anticipate that I should either expect it to not perform comfortably (clothed) down to 32 or I should ask for some modifications. I sleep under a poncho tarp with a somewhat breathable bivy and haven’t had soaking issues yet with my current non-DWR bag.

Should I get Pertex Quantum (0.9 oz/yd, light, soft) or should I get the Microlight(1.3 oz/yd, soft, durable)? I’m not familiar with Microlight so I could use some input and comparisons. Also, which custom choices should I consider? I see that Ryan J’s choice was for tighter baffles and extra foot fill (I think). What do you think?

[Richard Nelridge]

Kit,

You may want to read about the Nunatak Arc Ghost in the Rock and Ice article:

http://tinyurl.com/bwsh4

Rich

[Mark Verber]

I believe that all the Nunatak bags use smaller baffles than the used to (5″ rather than the old 10″). I found my bag (with a warm hat and a light base layer) to be mostly comfortable to 35F. I would characterize myself as a normal sleeper. The “mostly comfortable” is that during the night the down shifted resulting in some cold spots. If I was going to custom order a new Ghost I would most likely ask a couple of ounces of overfill around my hips and chest. I found the foot pocket plenty warm.

As to material. I have .9 material. It’s worked ok, but it would be nice if it was a bit more warm repellent. I might go with microlight if I did it over again… or I might still which the .9 … I am not really sure.

–mark

[John Chan]

I’ve got the Arc Ghost in microlight outer shell with the 0.85 inner. I had Tom trim the length of the bag to fit my 67″ stature and it weighs in at 15.25 oz.
Had the bag been offered in Quantum last year I probably would’ve spec’d it for the outer shell but microlight (while a tad heavier than Quantum) is more durable.
I found the fill weight to be perfect to -2 C for me. I think the trick with keeping warm without overfill is to custom size the bag for yourself so that dead spaces are minimized when you cinch the straps down. If its really cold I sleep with a psolar balaclava and that really boosts the core heat retention.

[Kevin Sawchuk]

One way to save weight and make the bag perform better (especially low temps) is to narrow the foot box and bring the fully enclosed part higher up your legs (mine goes nearly to the knees). I got the .85 with DWR coating and have had water (dew–my 4 year old son loves to sleep outside without a tent) pool on the surface with little penetration inside. Is shook off pretty well. You’ve got the weights mixed on the Pertex and Quantum.

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