Codger_64
Moderator
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
- Messages
- 62,324
After two divorces and five kids, I am once again going backpacking and camping solo. Unfortunately, I've lost the majority of my hiking and camping gear... including my trusty down sleeping bag (circa 1978).
So... the quest for replacements is on. I bought an $80 Eureka 20 degree synthetic bag because it was there and cheap. It sucked. According to the tags, it had been made about a year ago (in Asia) and had spent all of it's time since then (shipment from overseas, storage at the warehouse and in the store) in a compression bag. I gave it my best "fluff" treatment, but no joy... it was still 3/4" or less thick in many places. Twelve hours later, I repacked it and drove back to the store for a refund (thankfully, I hadn't left on my backpacking trip without checking it out).
My second choice was a pricier (for me) North Face "Cat's Meow". A good down bag will just have to wait. This bag was slightly below MSRP ($149 @ Gander Mountain), weighed sub-3lbs, compressed small, came in a large storage bag and included a compression sack. The insulation is Climashield and fluffs up just fine. In fact, I am a cold sleeper and I didn't get cold at all when temps dropped near freezing. I did use a 1/2" closed cell foam pad (thick enough for ground insulation... not thick enough for comfort) and wore my baselayer of Thermax.
I like a lot of the details on this bag like the glow in the dark zipper pull (my half-century-plus kidneys require me to unzip and water the lillys several times during the night) and the snag-free zipper. I didn't use the stash pocket, but the hood drawcord beat my old style down bag's cord(s) by a mile. A minus is that the bottom material is slick and slid off my pad repeatedly thru the night. But... I do move around a lot and I can add some silicone dots to my pad to stop the sliding. Besides, the bag does have sewn-in tabs to strap it to a pad.
Hoping to entice a nice (?) cougar into my tent, I am going to buy a second bag before long. This one will be either a Kelty or a TNF XT-20, mostly just so that I can compare them.
By the way, it was the high recommendations here that led me to buy the TNF Cat's Meow. Thanks guys!
Now for a lighter tent.
Codger
So... the quest for replacements is on. I bought an $80 Eureka 20 degree synthetic bag because it was there and cheap. It sucked. According to the tags, it had been made about a year ago (in Asia) and had spent all of it's time since then (shipment from overseas, storage at the warehouse and in the store) in a compression bag. I gave it my best "fluff" treatment, but no joy... it was still 3/4" or less thick in many places. Twelve hours later, I repacked it and drove back to the store for a refund (thankfully, I hadn't left on my backpacking trip without checking it out).
My second choice was a pricier (for me) North Face "Cat's Meow". A good down bag will just have to wait. This bag was slightly below MSRP ($149 @ Gander Mountain), weighed sub-3lbs, compressed small, came in a large storage bag and included a compression sack. The insulation is Climashield and fluffs up just fine. In fact, I am a cold sleeper and I didn't get cold at all when temps dropped near freezing. I did use a 1/2" closed cell foam pad (thick enough for ground insulation... not thick enough for comfort) and wore my baselayer of Thermax.
I like a lot of the details on this bag like the glow in the dark zipper pull (my half-century-plus kidneys require me to unzip and water the lillys several times during the night) and the snag-free zipper. I didn't use the stash pocket, but the hood drawcord beat my old style down bag's cord(s) by a mile. A minus is that the bottom material is slick and slid off my pad repeatedly thru the night. But... I do move around a lot and I can add some silicone dots to my pad to stop the sliding. Besides, the bag does have sewn-in tabs to strap it to a pad.
Hoping to entice a nice (?) cougar into my tent, I am going to buy a second bag before long. This one will be either a Kelty or a TNF XT-20, mostly just so that I can compare them.
By the way, it was the high recommendations here that led me to buy the TNF Cat's Meow. Thanks guys!
Now for a lighter tent.
Codger
