Looking for a New Bag

[Eric De Paoli]

Hey guys,

I'm in the market for a new sleeping bag for ski-touring, mountaineering, backpacking, kayaking, and everything in between. I understand that its tough to fit every requirement here fully, but I'm trying my best.

Anyways, my primary focus will be on a ski-touring and backpacking bag since I plan to do that the most and these generally need to be warmer than the other counterparts. Alot of my excursions will be on the West coast of BC and some of the western states, so the bag needs to be able to handle moisture well, yet the temperatures never reach extremes.

I've been looking at some WM bags such as the antelope GWS among others aswell as TNF Nova and Nebula. I'm leaning towards the north face bags currently because I can get a good deal from the company I work with… I've chosen these bags because they are warm (15F-0F), fairly light, and I think the water repellency of their shells could be extremely valuable.

Thoughts? I really like the looks of the Nebula, but not sure if I can get away with a 15F bag in the winter, especially if TNF ratings aren't extremely accurate.

Cheers.

[Robert Cowman]

don't do the north face bags… Not made very well, down clumps the waterproof fabric traps your moisture inside the insulation making you loose loft. and the temperature rating isn't very accurate.

Marmot is the best of the mainstream brands. like the Lithium (0F/-18C). Western mountaineering is high quality too.

If your looking for a bag for summer and winter, you won't really find one for both sets of temperatures. MEC bags suck too. Kelty bags are the best for the budget minded. ($150CDN for the 20F and $190CDN for the 0F)

[Matt Allen]

As far as mainstream bags go, as previously mentioned, the lithium is hard to beat.

If you have time it might be worth it to keep an eye out for a used feathered friends bag. Their quality is really tough to beat.

I currently use a valandre bloody Mary. Due to the swappable collar system, I have used it comfortably from below zero temps to the fifties.

Pricey bag though.

[Daniel Yaris]

well I have a few of the north face bags and say the opposite (some over 10 years old and some new ones)

the summit series bags are nice and the hyvent dt is very breathable as far as WB shells. The insides are dark colored so you can dry them out durring the daytime. They may end up clumping over a long period of time but so far have worked well for me in multi day cascade stuff. I have the solar flair -20 down bag too and never had problems.

if you can find a north face hightail that would be another good one 850 fill 15deg and 2lbs! I have the 30 degree version (beeline 1lb 6oz) and love it. I feel it is not very well rated at 30deg as I have used it in colder temps!

TNF is using the euro temp rating now FYI

[Jeremy Osburn]

I have the MF fabric version of the Antelope. I really like the bag alot, just under three pounds as speced on the website. I have taken it very comforable to about -10F and slightly cold to about -15F (I am a warm sleeper). I did all of my trips with it this winter in the Catskill Mtns. and Adirondack Mtns. in New York. I was torn between the Gore Windstopper fabric and Micro Fiber Fabric, but based on recommendations from this site went with the lighter fabric. I think it was the right decision, it is relativly dry in the ADK mtns, but not Rockies dry. The logic of ppl on this site was that the Gore Windstopper fabric wasn't worth the cost upgrade or weight gain unless you intended to expose the bag to weather. My sleep system in the winter includes a bivy, so no concern about direct exposure to weather. Something to chew on, anyway. I can't however compair it to other down bags, this one is my first non-synthetic sleeping bag.

[Scott Ireland]

Take a look at the UL Super Spiral bags too…several weights/temps, very roomy with their special fabric bias design…Moontrail.com seems to be a good place to find them, but they pop up here often (they just don't last long)

[Kai Larson]

I will echo the priase of the Lithium from Marmot.

A very high quality bag.

The Lithium is also not cut as narrow as some of the other similar bags, so there is more room inside to wear warm clothing and push the temp rating even lower.

[Charles Henry]

If you're doing alot of all these activities, I recommend if you get an expensive specialized bag like the lithium, you should get another bag for the summer activities. Heavy use dirties the bag, which needs cleaning and reduces its value/life. Keep the expensive warm stuff for when it's needed.

Also it's much lighter to use summer bags for summer.

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