Zpacks sleeping bags

Ditto on customer service. Anyone who can put up with my questions/BS deserves an
At-A-Boy

Jim

Javan,

I bet you just made a few converts with your really kind words about Joe. Cool.

BTW – I don't own any thing by Javan nor do I even know about a website or other pursuits he has. I learned some time back he makes quilts or something. But I just admire the character and honesty modeled here. It is refreshingly BPL.

Has anyone had a chance to try one of these yet?

Ive pretty much decided to get one but i want to get some feedback about this zipper option.

Thanks,
Tyler

Glad to see Joe and his products getting so much love around here. He's made probably more than half the stuff in my current kit!

I just received the regular girth medium length 20 deg bag with 2 extra ounces of down, total actual weight 18.8 oz. Zipped up, the fit is perfect for me–snug all the way down, with nowhere over-tight. As near as I can tell, the quality of down is very high–great springback when compressed, and no feathers I could feel. Bag is very lofty, 3+" at midpoint between the 2.25" baffles.

Length seems perfect– a 5' 11" friend tried it, and said he thought it needed to be an inch longer. (Joe rates the regular to 5'10").

Contact warmth is amazing, I guess because of the great fit and good down. Haven't had a chance to try this in the cold yet, but would bet it will go easily to 15 with a hood and a jacket, or maybe even with just a hood and merino top.

Zipper slides very freely, easy to keep it from snagging.

The only mod I asked for was a Velcro closure at the top of the zipper.

Bag comes with a generously sized .8 oz roll-top, Cuben dry-bag style stuff sack with Velcro top closure and, used after you've Velcroed the top and rolled it down a few times, a buckle.

I suspect this will become my go-to bag/quilt between 15 and 40 degrees.

Am guessing that the smooth Cuben fiber baffles, as opposed to more usual mesh baffles, allow the down to move freely within the tubes, so any down squashed under you can "puff" sideways in the tubes out from under you. No side block baffles mean down free to move 360 degrees horizontally.

James, thanks for the feedback! Any chance you could post some pictures? Also how does the bag feel zipped up compared to a traditional mummy bag?

The down Joe is using is from my supplier, it's the absolute best 900fp available on the market.

I ordered one from Joe, A++ customer service. He is customizing it to fit my height (5ft 6). He is taking the 5ft 5in 20 degree bag and is extending the top baffle to accommodate a couple more inches.

I also got it with the side zip + draft tube. I will be sure to let you guys know how I feel about the sleeping bag once it comes in, as well as specs like weight and baffle height.

Very excited!! This will also be my first ever ultralight sleeping bag! :D

I've used my 20-degree bag three times now, and it has lived up to the high expectations I've developed for Joe's work.

It is impeccably designed and made. I especially like the zipper, which makes it easy to get in and out of at 3 AM when nature calls. In fact, I just slide in and out of it without unzipping.

Like most quilts that weigh so little, the fit is snug but not unacceptably so.

I love my Nunatak, as well, but I'm always getting tangled in the straps at 3 AM. Also, the zipper provides a better seal on the bottom than the straps.

I've used it down to below freezing (about 30 degrees?), and I was sufficiently warm — fully clothed, of course, and wearing a Buff balaclava style.

Great bag, great service, and more than reasonably priced compared to other vendors and given the individualized service that Joe and his wife always provide.

Stargazer

What!?! Not a single photo? Come on!

"I've used it down to below freezing (about 30 degrees?), and I was sufficiently warm — fully clothed, of course, and wearing a Buff balaclava style".

What kind of clothes were you wearing? What kind of pad and shelter? Think you could be comfortable at 20 degrees in it? Also, are you a cold sleeper, warm, or….?

Sorry for the slew of questions. I've been eyeballing the bag myself and am just trying to get more of an idea if it might work for me.

Thanks.

"I've used it down to below freezing (about 30 degrees?), and I was sufficiently warm — fully clothed, of course, and wearing a Buff balaclava style."

So the warmth is overrated then?

Do the cuben baffles crinkle and make noise when you roll over in the sleeping bag? (My biggest gripe with the NeoAir!)

To answer some questions:

I'm a warm sleeper, granted, but I'm a warm hiker, too. I was wearing a BPL Thorofare shirt and Railriders Weatherpants. I also tend to wear my Vibram Five Fingers when I sleep to save time in the morning and because they keep my feet warm. I was warm all night even when the temperature went below freezing — if my slushy water bottle is any indication.

I've never used the bag down to its rating, but based on how warm I was, I'd guess that, if anything, Joe has rated the bag conservatively. I'll wager I could get down to 10 degrees F if I wear the usual winter base layer. (As a warm walker, I wear a wool base layer only when the temperatures get really cold.)

I was sleeping on a 1/2-inch-thick closed foam pad. I was sleeping in/ under a zPacks Hexamid single tarp.

Cordially,

Stargazer

>Do the cuben baffles crinkle and make noise when you roll over in the sleeping bag?

Nope. It is far quieter than my Cuben Enightenment (sp?) quilt in that regard and it has almost exactly the same amount of loft. Note that I'm a heavy sleeper, however. Once I get out under the stars, I sleep like a sumbeech.

Stargazer

"Once I get out under the stars, I sleep like a sum beech."

And anyway, you'd never hear any baffles crinkling over the snoring….. ;-D

>"Once I get out under the stars, I sleep like a sum beech."
And anyway, you'd never hear any baffles crinkling over the snoring….. ;-D

Now here I am thinking all this time that you were the one doing all the snoring! ;-D) (my double chin to the left)

Stargazerino

Thomas,
I'm in between the "regular" and the "wide" but
I'm not sure how snug the regular is…
I'm regular weight but I have broad shoulders but the "wide" just seems too wide for optimum warmth/ performance.

Can you please tell me your chest measurement??

>Can you please tell me your chest measurement??

Ha! I'll admit it. I'm one of those 98-pound weaklings (140 lbs., 5'11" — 35-inch chest). There's more than ample room in the chest for me. What impressed me most was the room in the legs and feet. I'm used to sleeping in my Nunatak Arc AT, and I felt like I had all the room in the world down below.

Stargazer

I have a medium, regular length (5'9", 165 lbs.). I have a 39/40" chest, slightly broad shoulders. The bag fits snugly–in a good way–with my arms at my sides, on my back, but if I cross my arms on my chest, I feel like I'm compressing the down. So for me, it's the region of the elbows that's tightest. This might be an issue if I were wearing a jacket; I don't know yet. Overall, I like very much how little free air there is in the upper part of the bag. There's probably less room for my feet than there is in an Arc Alpinist, but that's also good, as my feet don't feel crowded.

James, Thomas, or anyone else that has this bag,

Joe's justification for putting the zipper on the bottom is to take away the need for a draft tube but,
How does the bag due when you want to sleep on your side?

Thanks guys

I'm confused by the different terminology used by different bag makers. How does the loft of the Zpacks 20 deg bag (w/ baffle height of 2.25") compare to….say a Western Mountaineering Ultralite with 5" of loft? Is the loft between those two bags, when measured between the baffles, the same or similar? Is the baffle height on the Ultralite similar to Zpacks?

Desiring a warmer bag than that of my WM Summerlite, the WM Ultralite has been on my radar. However, with the "20 deg" rating on the much lighter Zpack bag, I can't help but wonder if it combined with a Katabatic Windom hood might be better for me. Combined, the Windom and Zpack long bag is less than 20 oz compared to 31 for the long WM Ultralite. Thoughts?

The western mountaniring is 5 inches total loft Top and Bottom. The zpacks is single side loft. Joes a awesome guy and I trust that his 20 degree rating is spot on

How would these bags be for a stomach sleeper?

Thanks, William. But, what I'm asking is:

1) where is that 5" of loft measured on the WM bag? I assume it's between the baffles at the highest point. Also, how tall are the baffles?

2) how much loft is there between the baffles on the 20 deg Zpack bag? Joe states 2.25" baffle height but, I don't think that tells us the loft….does it? I assume the loft is actually higher than that between the baffles.

…..or, put another way, I'm wanting to establish a base line of measurement so I can more accurately compare the two bags.