Winter sleeping bags

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
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Well, the polar vortex is finally breaking, but after a frosty week it might be good to get a check-up on everyone's favorite sleep system for plunging winter temps.

I'm still sporting my Wiggy's Ultima Thule - bulky as heck but very warm and kept me toasty in -20 oF more a few nights over the years. Still, every once in awhile my eyes wonder onto the websites to see the latest and greatest shiny stuff out for offer. Down-Tek and Dri-Down are a couple of revolutionary products that have since come along. We have down-tek in our 3 season quilts and love what we've seen of this product so for. I don't see many manufacturer's bringing this material into a deep cold bag systems where it would really shine over regular down especially when it comes to multi-night camping trips where down bags sans vapor liners tend to store lost body water and reduce their insulation efficiency over time.

I see that Thermarest came up with a -20oF bag recently with Down-Tek that is as pricey as a Western Mountaineering bag and similar in weight and dimensions. Albeit, I imagine it doesn't pack like a WM bag though and therma-rest non-sleep pad products seem hit and miss on other items (like their relatively poorly designed hammock).

Thought I'd canvass the crowd here on their preferred - deep cold - sleep systems. Not interested in anything rated above -20 oF, so lets keep the -12 three seasons out of the thread.

What do we have on offer these days and who wants to vouch for their latest purchase?

P.S. its been a long time since I posted in W&SS. Hope everyone is still doing well.

Ken
 
-10º Slumberjack (Polarguard) (very large inside) inside Sluberjack Cabin Creek 5º rectangle Qualofill. Wear a Polrfleece ski mask. 3" thick Alps self-inflating foam-filled air mattress. Worked with plenty to spare on -17º F night in tent wearing only undershirt and thin long johns.
 
I have a Holubar winter bag that’s good to 20 below, and I have tested it twice to that temp. It has 135 V-baffled down compartments and about 10-12” of loft.
 
I've got a Big Agnes Elk Park. The price gets me out but I'm not that thrilled with it. A Therm-o-rest is the insulation for the bottom of the bag and it' wide!
The width isn't so bad because one can wear extras to bed if need be, but with the bulk and week points I've been eyeing up a Down bag.
Having a hard time spending that much on a bag that I'll most likely only get to use a couple times a year; still, drooling and comparing .
 
KGD - while I won't be buying the Polar Ranger you speak of here, I watched the short video describing it. It looks like one bad, mama jama.
Of course where they were at, I wouldn't want to come out of it.
 
For years I camped at -40 and colder, (the coldest my thermometer ever registered was 68 below) with a three pound Qualofil mummy bag inside a 5 pound rectangle bag. I would camp for a month at a time on the trap line cutting trail then go back the the cabin for some sit down meals and a real bunk. I always stayed away from down because of the extended stay.

I learned one really neat trick for the real cold nights. I would peel the labels off of two cans of fruit cocktail, I'd eat one before bed and put the other one inside a wool sock down in the foot of the sleeping bag to keep my feet warm. In the morning the can in the sleeping bag would still be warm and I would eat it for breakfast. I peeled the label off the cans so I could still drink the water if I chose to.
 
Funny off-topic story, 20 years ago when my buddy got married, we went in his house while they were on their honeymoon and stripped the labels off all the canned goods. :)
 
You guys in Alaska must just be tougher. It is 20 degrees F here with 66% humidity.... and windy.... there is no way that I would spend the night in a sleeping bag outdoors at this temperature (unless I had to). It gives me the chills just thinking about it.
 
I bought a browning -40 Celsius mummy bag from a tacklestore i do pest control for for 125 bucks a few years ago....I had to tent at minus 20 while ice fishing last year because a suck snore so loud it vibrated the trailer.....they said I was crazy but after another night they woke him up yelling every hour until he rented a cabin because they would not let him sleep! I moved back into the trailer after!
 
22-rimfire said:
You guys in Alaska must just be tougher. It is 20 degrees F here with 66% humidity.... and windy.... there is no way that I would spend the night in a sleeping bag outdoors at this temperature (unless I had to). It gives me the chills just thinking about it.
Click to expand...

Well, we don't get the 40 below temps for extended periods anymore, but if we didn't do anything at temps below zero, we wouldn't be doing anything for six months of the year.
 
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