Sleeping Bag for Teenage Daughter

How low do you need to go?

Was the skin layer all she was wearing and is the bag simply too big for her? Yoo big can be helped by wearing extra clothes inside

Was she inside a double skin tent?

But the first thing that come to my mind is that the ground insulation wasn’t sufficient and a CCF pad added to the system may be enough when used with a LW sleeping shirt

I’ve been wrestling with a similar dilemma and I decided to buy a LW overquilt from Nunatak but that may be more warmth than is needed so would a simple sleeping bag cover work for her, even a simple cover from Tyvek would add a lot of warmth

That 30 degree bag has a 40 degree comfort rating.

Other [EN TESTED] 40℉/4℃ (Comfort), 31℉/-1℃ (Lower Limit), 3℉/-16℃ (Extreme)
* We do not advise consumers to reference the extreme rating for general use.
[Max User Height] 6′ / 183cm
[Shoulder Girth] 53″-75″ / 135cm-190cm
[Knee Girth] 44″-62″ / 112cm-157cm

Get her a real EN rated 20 degree bag.

Yeah Montbell bags are essentially 10 degrees warmer than competitors at a specified rate… I personally think EE quilts are too. (i own 3 enigmas but just use 10 degrees lower than normal… They are still the lightest around though.)

I would buy her a western mountaineering summerlite.. Or if you are really worried… An ultralite. At those Temps… I would probably say an ultralite.

Really worried? Go for a narrow 15* bag. I think the logical step for your daughter is def to look for a 20* quality bag. It could very well be a combination of factors of ground insulation, breezy, no fats being broken down at night, etc but going down to a 20* I think makes a more versatile bag anyways.

Like you said, this is an investment and I would look at 800+ filled super(ultra?)light bags from Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, even Mont-bells 15* 800 fill bag, plus others like nunatak (their work looks amazing!). Consider the width of the bag as well since you say she is lean. I know montbell bags are naturally narrower but they stretch so essentially heat efficiency should not be as much an issue as traditional non-stretch.

I agree to stick with a tradtional bag rather than a quilt. As she becomes more experienced and willing to experiment she can try quilts. She first needs to master being warm at night! lol

Since I don’t generate a lot of heat when I sleep, even a Western Mountaineering Puma -25F GoreWndstopperi iscold in 20F weather. However, two hand warmers like HotHands or Yaktrax generates the heat that I cannot for the evening. Now I can use a 15F WM bag in the same 20F weather. I wish I had a 20F or 30F WM bag to test.

I’m a woman, super cold sleeper (thyroid disorder) and I sleep in a WM Versalite that has been overstuffed. I think it’s rated to 10. Even in summer, temps in the mountains can easily drop into the 40’s and even the 30’s at night. Despite having a bag with a good rating, I still have trouble when I first go to bed. I pay the weight penalty to carry a stainless steel water bottle, in which I boil water, drop the bottle in a sock and sleep with it in the bag with me (cap on tight, obviously). Having an external source of heat makes all the difference.

I’m a cold sleeper too but even at my advanced age I only need a bag 10 C warmer than the rating, are you sure you all making sure you are fed and hydrated when getting into bed?

Rather than buying a new bag I’d first make sure that

A Technique is right by 1/Wearing appropriate warm clothing /2/ Adequately fed and watered /3/ not hopping into bed cold /4/ not wearing wet or dampclothing to sleep in if avoidable

B Alway having appropriate extra insulating clothing to hand, socks hat pants parka

C mattress system is as good or better than the bags rating

Women tend to sleep colder than men (I will say ~10*F but it’s not linear) and the EN ratings state men and women though most bags marketed to women use the men’s railings which makes them look lighter.   EN Ratings are not the end all, but are useful, you just have to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

A true to rating women’s bag will be quite a bit heavier than a mans bags with the same rating.  For example my wife’s Marmot Women’s Helium 15 (EN Rated for a woman at 19*F) has the same amount of down as my Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 (EN rated for a man at 4*F) and is just as  heavy despite being 6″ shorter.

Ground insulation is also a concern like others have said so make sure she isn’t skimping with the pad.

FYI, it’s been pretty warm near Philmont. I was just camping at Valle Vidal (just north of Philmont), and the lowest temp was 49. We were over 9000 feet in elevation. Of course something could blow through and it could get colder, but most likely it’ll be in the 40s or low 50s at night. My 20 degree EE quilt was perfect for the conditions, but if I was ordering it all again I’d get a 10 degree for those colder nights (high 30s) when I’m in my drafty backpacking tent.