sleeping bag coupler or two bags?

Linda; welcome to BackPackingLight; Here's another choice, the lightest one bag solution: one Super Stretch Montbell Down Hugger LONG and two Montbell UL pads toggled side by side. If you are 70kg or less you can both fit in this huge bag easily; longs stretch to a shoulder circumference of 75". This comes to 25.2 ounces per person for one 30'F bag AND two 120cm pads.

However, you already have your pads; so economically it would be better to go with the option mentioned at a slightly higher weight.

Others might suggest a quilt/pad combo which would be lighter still.

hi Linda! i have a 5-year-old so i kinda know what you're dealing with. nobody is currently making ultralight kids' sleeping bags, however there are a few options out there that you might look into if you decide not to go the shared bag route (you could also share a large quilt).

if you are totally new to ultralight, you may not know about quilts. quilts are similar to mummy bags, but they don't close up like a mummy – no zipper. go to nunatakusa.com for some great pictures of the quilt concept.

how does your boy sleep? if he instinctually keeps his blankets wrapped around him, as my boy does, then you could get him something like Nunatak's Arc AT, which is a quilt designed to come up to an adult's midsection and be used in conjunction with a down parka. i just sewed a copy of the Arc AT for my boy (although i doubled the insulation). or you could get him an elephant's foot or half-bag. pop a warm hat on him and these solutions should work fine.

my husband and i used a single bag with a homemade coupler for quite a few years, but this year i sewed a 2-person down quilt to replace that system. we've only had 2 opportunities to use it since i sewed it, but it seems to be working pretty well.

hope that was any help and if i wasn't clear on anything just ask.

Western Mountaineering makes the "Tamarak" bag that's 5' long and meant for kids or as a partial bag for adults.

http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Sleeping%20Bags&cat=Microfiber%20Series&viewpost=2&ContentId=73

We use the Aspen with a Coupler – not that light, and not the best option for people with widely-different temperature comfort ranges. It also lets in some cold air when either person moves (some quilt designs I've seen use a "tonsil" or other arrangement to block the gap).

Thanks for all the ideas! There are so many things out there that I'd never heard of before.

linda