Sleeping bag help

S

Sundsvall

Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Messages
1,559
I've been shopping for sleeping bags and have found a number of lines by Coleman, but cannot get any information about the difference lines aside from the published differences in the physical dimensions or temperature rating.

Is there a better checklist of features to evaluate other than looking at manufacturer specs?

Thanx in advance.

PS. The sleeping bag will be used for 3-season camping on an air mattress; no winter use. Mostly car and canoe/kyaking trips; backpacking is not a major concern.
 
you can almost safely assume that the lower the temperature rating, the heavier the bag will be. It is good to get the heaviest bag you can use for the season (within reason) as one could always encounter inclimate weather, a cold spell, or not have access to a proper tent. If the bag is excessively warm you can always unzip and ventilate.
 
Here's a link to REI's "Learn & Share" page:

http://www.rei.com/rei/learn/index.jsp?ls=Camping

Although REI *is* selling something, their own name brand is only a small part of that. I have found those pages to be a good source of information.

Magazines, like Backpacker Magazine, usually cycle through various gear reviews every few issues.

Scott
 
I opted for a snugpack bag with a comfort rating at 32 degrees and bought a silk bag liner that adds about 10 degrees to the warmth factor and rolls up to the size of a camp cup, plus my poncho liner adds more warmth if needed but usually goes between my bag and sleeping pad for extra protection and padding.

I tried air matresses and ended up with pluracy (sp) one year because of a early fall freezing spell. I decided then and there to go with a thermarest self inflating pad. The chambers inside help to keep the air circulating inside the matress so it stays warmer. Costs a lot more, but to me, it's well worth the expense.
 
Jim, I'm a 3 season hiker and my body prefers that I go as lite as possible, so I went with the ultralight long pad which is 20" X 72" X 1" and 24oz. I chose this pad mainly because of it's compact carry size of 4" X 11". My pack is a small German ruck, about 1700ci, so the small pad and very compact bag both strap on without adding much weight or bulk. It doesn't have the extra thickness, but my poncho liner adds considerable loft for additional warmth and padding. It works for me, but then, I live in an area with weather thats usually mild spring and fall and hot during the summer, so I rarely have to deal with sub freezing weather.
 
When looking for a fartsack I look at snore factor. Snore factor is how much I will snore because I am sooooo very comfy and warm.

I have two favorite makers. Snugpak and Wiggy's I love Snugpak for space savings/warmth and I love Wiggy's for sheer warmth. Look at getting a Gore Tex Over bag for even better Snore Factor
 
Sundsvall,

You may want to check out Wiggy sleeping bags @ wiggys.com. Many feel they are the best there is. WSI, a survival school in the bush of Alaska, only uses Wiggy bags. So does Alaska S&R.

A little over a year ago I was on the hunt for a quality bag. I did enough web searching to make one sick--it's a bad habit of mine when researching before a purchase. Anyway, I picked up a Wiggy bag and couldn't be happier. Early last spring a friend and I took our sons camping in the mountains. The boys were in a tent, I was in the open, on an air mattress (notorious for causing COLD nights) My bag is rated down to 0 deg. The night dropped to the high teens. I was sweating all night and had to unzip to keep cool. Although I am a 'hot' sleeper, I was quite impressed with the bag.

Give Wiggy a call--he will be happy to discuss recommendations/bag issues with you. Hope this helps.
 
Here's another reccommendation for Wiggys. I've done a lot of backpacking, camping, and have even spent nights hanging from the face of climbs such as El Capitan, and my wiggys bags have been there with me.

The best reccomendation I can give is to determine what your uses will be and what temperature ranges you will be in. If you're like me, and are in an area where winter and summer are very far apart, you may want to either buy two separate bags(one for summer, one for winter) or a convertible system. A convertible system is either one where it has an insulation layer that can zip off, resulting in a lighter bag when the extra insulation is not needed, the main bags that come to mind is the Sierra Designs Metamorph and Spectrum. There are also multibag convertible systems, the best example that comes to mind for this is the one made by Wiggys upon request by the Navy Seals. Known as the FTRSS(Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System), this consists of an overbag and a regular Wiggys sleeping bag, like the Ultra Lite -20F or Super Lite -40F. Using this system, you can use the overbag by itself as a bag rated to +35F, the regular bag(rated to whatever it is rated for, be it 0, -20, etc), or mate the two bags together and have a very good system that is very warm.

Looking back at the first post, and for air mattress camping where weight won't be much of an issue, you can't go wrong with the Wiggys Hunter Model, it's large, comfy, and you'll never have problems being cold. If your area gets warm in the summer and stays warm at night, the wiggys Desert or Nautilus would be a good choice.

Also, there is nothing wrong with REI brand sleeping bags, and the nice thing about REI is that in their stores(a good place to visit) they'll let you crawl into the bag you're looking at, to make sure it fits, as well as being able to give you reccommendations based on your area(remember, lots of REI employees work there primarily for the discount).

Well, there's my 2 cents.

TC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top