Help me identify this old North Face sleeping bag

Any synthetic bag that old probably has lost significant loft, so the original temperature rating won’t be very useful.

Better to measure the loft, and estimate, using, e.g., this BPL article:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bpl_sleeping_bag_position_statement.html

and pay attention to all the caveats.

— Rex

If you are car camping, just bring something extra if you are worried about the temp. Synthetic materials decay over time, so it's original rating is not useful.

Fwiw, I still use a TNF down bag from the 80's because it still works so well (I've sent it back twice to TNF for professional cleaning/relofting. Don't know if they still do that.)

Anyway, I can't tell from your pics if its a semi-rectangular or not. I worked at a hardgoods store in the mid 80's and II don't remember many semi's rated less than 15/20 degrees. However, I also remember a few "red colored" mummy bags back then which were rated much lower. They had one bag (a down one) called the inferno. It's possible they had a synthetic counterpart.

Obviously the color red seemed to equate to "warm".

Hi,

I didn't know you can "reloft" a bag. Is that expensive? How effective is it at restoring warmth?

This one is a mummy bag. I had it when I was a kid. Back then it seemed warm, but I just don't remember the details. As for car camping, you're right. I can empirically determine the effective rating of the bag by trying it out in colder and colder temps.

Thanks,

rhz

If the bag was stored compressed in a stuff sack it is likely to have lost some loft. If it was stored loose it probably kept most of its original loft.

Cleaning the gas should remove oils and dirt that may cause the fill to mat down. Then putting it in a dryer with a couple of tennis balls. The motion of the dryer and tennis balls will dry it will help restore loft.

Instructions from the north face website:
http://tnfcatsmeow.weebly.com/sleeping-bag-care-and-use.html

the only way to know how warm that bag is is to use it on a trip. If it is just a car camping trip you could bring an extra bag or blankets if you encounter weather too cold for the bag.