PCT sleeping bag choice

What pad are you going to use?

I used a zero degree old sleeping bag from mile 0 to Big Bear. It was too bulky but it was warm. I used a 20 degree from Big Bear onward. I think I might have found a 10 degree to be a lot more toasty when it was really cold but the 20 degree worked fine.

The coldest nights for me were in the desert section, especially Lake Morena and the night I camped by Tyndall Creek. I took care as much as I could to make good campsite selections, such as not sleeping at the bottom of cold sinks like Lake Morena and Tyndall Creek.

If the pad you are using is well insulated and you plan to take a beanie anyway, I’d just use the lighter of the two. When are you starting, and I assume you are going northbound? Also, what shelter?

Thanks for feedback…

more specifically, NoBo, starting beginning April, using Thermarest  neoair xlite, zpacks duplex

‘Thanks!

The 20F, 20-oz option definitely for spring in the low desert.  Weeks later as you gain some elevation, track how much the weather has warmed up.

Before resorting to another 10 ounces for another 10F as you head into the High Sierra, I’d first add another the 2.5 ounce Thinlight Foam Pad – 1/8″ CCF pad by Gossamer Gear.  $18.  Have someone send it to you.  And, of course, have someone who can access your 10F bag and send that to you, if it’s shaping up to be cold or late snow season.

Remember that if you didn’t wear all your clothes at least one night, you brought too much sleeping bag.

And that your macro- and micro- site selection choices can easily make a 20F difference.  Each 1000 feet lower is 3.5F warmer.  Getting under cover of a tree / roof / tarp eliminates your radiant losses to deep space.  Getting just 20 to 30 vertical feet above the floor of a valley, meadow or lakeshore can be another 10-15F for free.  Avoiding a sloping creek drainage gets you away from the descending katabatic wind from higher, colder terrain.

Guess where the coldest spots will be and then look around the next morning for where the dew and frost formed.  That kind of active engagement is a powerful teacher.

Hmmmm… On a 2012 August trip on the PCT to Olancha Peak I took a Western Mountaineering Megalite 30 F. bag. The last night in an 8,000 valley was 24 F. and I had to wear all my clothes including a 100 weight fleece vest. The bag was cinched down to a blowhole and I was “OK” – just.

When I got home I contacted WM and they said send it in for an “overfill” which I did for $40. That was a very good decision B/C since, with medium poly long johns, I was comfortable to 15 F. on a Thermarest Prolite mat.

Now I have a 3 season REI FLASH Insulated air mattress (R 3.2) and might be able to go to 10 F. wearing my down puffy jacket as the Megalite is made with a wider (“Mega”) shoulder and chest area. That also requires wearing my light fleece balaclava.

20 degree bag!

A 20 degree bag, a thermarest ridgerest, and a very old original tarptent were all that I ever needed on my thru.  And I’m a cold, middle-aged sleeper.

Great feedback…thanks so much!

Neither…. I’m 53-years old now and I’d carry a 30-deg. bag.    The REI one would save you weight and money.    If I were planning a PCT thru-hike it is what I’d buy.

https://www.rei.com/product/148246/rei-co-op-magma-30-sleeping-bag-mens

Oh.. hit the enter button before finishing my $0.02.    I carry a puffy and enough clothing that on the nights you really need the extra warmth you add clothing.     I don’t remember any really cold ones at it was dry when I hiked it.    YMMV and HYOH and all that.

My setup consist of a zpacks 20 degree classic sleeping bag, Neoair xlite pad,  1/8″ Thinlight Foam Pad by Gossamer Gear, and my 150 merino wool base layer.  This gets me through my 3 season needs and into some fringe weather.  If I feel like I need more warmth or temps drop a lot I just start layering with my clothing.  This would be my puffy jacket, EE Torrid apex pants and my EE sidekick insulated booties.  When winter weather arrives and it gets really cold I’ll start carrying my feathered friends Ibis EX 0 Sleeping Bag and bump up to my 250 merino wool base layer.

If u r a cold sleeper, error on the side of a warmer bag ( e.g. a 20 degree ish ).   Getting a good nights sleep = critical…for a good trip …..bad night sleep = a not so fun trip

The problem with erroring on the warmer side is that most of your nights are warmer and for me, I sweat when I’m in too warm of a bag.    I know it is gross but between my legs is where it is the worst.   You don’t want your working parts sweaty and gross for long periods of time so a bag that is sized right for the majority of your nights is better than one sized for a couple where you might sleep cold.    Once you are on the trail you will lose weight and you will likely sleep differently than you do on a week-long or a weekend hike.   Most people use the logic of getting a warmer bag for the same reasons they overthink bringing all kinds of unnecessary things on the trail.    Clothing is multi-purpose.   It is safety margin, camp wear, town wear, and extra warmth on the couple nights when you might need them.

Yeah, I would go with a warmer pad, and the lighter bag. If you don’t want to spend money on an XTherm (which is understandable) then get the 1/8 inch pad as mentioned. I’ve done both. The second pad adds flexibility (as mentioned, you could have it sent to you after you leave the desert). It can also be used as a sit pad during the day. The XTherm is quite a bit warmer though. I’ve used both, and would consider it a personal preference thing. I’ve also found that I don’t need my warmer bag now that my pad is warmer.

I use the GG thinlite pad primarily with pad punctures in mind. It certainly provides protection from prickly pine cone needles, for example, that you may have missed when choosing to lay down. And of course it adds some extra warmth.

WereI going to do the PCT tomorrow (contemplated it in 1979) I’d use my WM Ultralite. I have a Versalite, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Brad,

All you could have done in 1979 was “contemplate” hiking the PCT because in the summer of 1980 we were just building the PCT!.

I worked as a professional trail builder for Bell Brothers trail builders in 1980 on the Snow Creek section near Wildwood  and Palm Springs, CA. Good money in those days at $12.90/hour for labor work. But it was truly “hard labor”. Lived in tents and cooked on our backpacking stoves for dinner and breakfast. Went to town every week for groceries and beer – and weed, natch.

Younger, a fresh 30°F quilt was fine on the PCT, but I had to wear my down hoody zipped up sometimes.  If having to do it again, I’d go with a 20°F-ish quilt, dedicated hood, thick dedicated sleep socks, and a plan to wear more layers if it felt colder within an entire system.   My “luxury“ item now is a 25×78 inch sleeping pad atop a second GG thin pad, so that’s taken care of.   The system is also important ..

One of the coldest nights I remember was an after sunset/ night set up in a howling cold wind/cold front nearing Etna pass.  I was so smashed, I just bundled up in my half-mesh bug bivy.  Well, that cold wind hit my sweat and I shivered myself to sleep.  I’d look at my shelter system and how it would react to a cold blowing wind.