Silk liners

I've used a silk liner (Cocoon brand) all by itself in very mild temps — low to mid-50's, I think — and can tell that it adds warmth all by itself. I'd definitely use it with my down quilt if I wanted extra warmth, but can't begin to quantify how many degrees it would add.

JRS

If you wear silk long johns you keep the bag clean and are warmer than using a liner. Plus a liner can be a pain as it twists and turns into "knots" around your sweaty body.

.. to how many dgrees a liner is worth, please note that you can get get different thickness (weight) of silk liner material depending on brand. I use mine more to protect the bag. There is some info somewhere on this site about the benefits of a silk liner.

I sleep cold so I generally have on most, if not all, of my clothing to get a good night's sleep. This almost always means having my trail clothes over an insulation layer. I use a silk liner to keep my bag clean and extend the range of my bag a bit. I think the manufactures claims of an additional 10 – 15 degrees is optomistic – but, again, I'm a cold sleeper. I think 5 degrees is about it for me.

I agree with Denis, they can be a pain. OK, they are a pain – pretty much any time I get into my bag. Especially in the middle of the night when it can be pretty had just to find the opening. Then getting it pulled up until it's under my shoulders is often a surprisingly difficult task – glad no one is taking any videos of my contortions to do this.

But I've used one for years and keep doing so because a quality down bag is worth the effort (for me) and I'll take the extra 5 degrees I may be getting.

As so often noted, YMMV.

> If you wear silk long johns you keep the bag clean and are warmer than using a liner.
Keeping the sleeping bag clean and dry is crucial to happiness.
I use silk pygamas rather than a liner because they allow me to sleep normally under a quilt. A liner is too restrictive.

I use a silk liner primarily to keep stuff off of the inside of my bags, but have found as other posters have mentioned that the liner is a pain. I move around a lot in my sleep, and the liner gets tangled up inside the bag. It is also annyoing getting in and out of the liner/bag combo. I have been thinking of trying silk clothing.

My experiences are that a silk liner adds about 2-3F of warmth. A fleece liner adds about 3-5F.

MontBell sells a 800 fp, 14 oz. hoodless down bag ("Thermal Sheet") that can be used alone (50F) or as a liner inside any of the other MB hooded bags. With such high fill power and three times the weight of a typical silk liner , MB only claims a 10F boost (although my own experience is around 15F)!

If a thin, 5 oz silk liner can add 8F — then we have a new miracle fiber that's far superior to high fp down!!! Alas, that is not reality.