I have a Montbell 30 deg bag that is not warm enough for me. My options are spend lots of $$ for an upgrade, make a quilt to use with the bag (medium $$), or add more down to my Montbell.

I like the last idea since it is the cheapest. My idea is to cut a small opening in the bag, add some more down, and the sew back the hole.

Question???Does this stand any chance of working? Any suggestions on what to do or not do?

Thanks, Stag3

One thing to think about:

Adding more down to your bag will only increase the warmth if it also adds loft to your bag. Does your sleeping bag have room in the existing materials for more loft? Warmth is created when air is trapped above (and around) your body, not by the amount of stuffing above your body.

Pink

Over time, as the down looses a little of its loft, this has a good chance of being a decent idea. But for results right now, Pink got it exactly right: the additional down will only be effective if there's available depth in the bag, since it's the thickness of the insulating layer that does the work.

I have an overstuffed bag from about 1975. It's still formidably warm. It's overstuffed because my wife then made it that way; at the time making custom gear was her business. Great bag, very warm and somewhat heavy.

Have you tried a fleece liner? Might get you by, and on warm nights you can leave it out or use it and skip the sleeping bag.

Froggy

Probably won't work. The baffles are designed to allow a certain amount of space between the inner and outer fabric (this space is the loft). So if your down now expands as it should to properly fill this space adding more down will only add more weight, and could actually decrease the insulation value of the bag since the total down could no longer expand properly.

I agree with the above posts. For the amount of work you'd have to do to stuff more down in that sweet bag of yours without tearing it up, you could easily make a sewn-thru summer quilt to throw on top of it that would weigh about a pound with 800 fill down.

I agree with the above posts. For the amount of work you'd have to do to stuff more down in that sweet bag of yours without tearing it up, you could easily make a sewn-thru summer quilt to throw on top of it that would weigh about a pound with 800 fill down.

yep, I like this idea. At least if I totally botch the project I still have a decent bag left:D

Not to mention that when you cut into the bag you will be fighting keeping that down in. Especially since I believe that the Montbell bags not only have horizontal baffles but also have vertical baffles to keep the down from shifting. The time it would take to cut stuff and sew you could make a new overquilt that would weight less than a pound and a lot less of a head ache.

dumb question - have you tried washing the bag? I have heard that sometimes that will restore the loft to the original specs and as a result the bag will be warmer.

do this and be right. cut, stuff, sew. except dont sew. use tape. the kind made by the makers of seam sealer. and do only the draft tubes. these are not baffeled and need help most.do the face of the foot section and finally the area over your heart. this is a tryed and tru way and workd.










just made all that up . sounds good though.

dumb question - have you tried washing the bag? I have heard that sometimes that will restore the loft to the original specs and as a result the bag will be warmer.


Not yet..the bag is about a year old,used only 15 times. I didn't think it was ready for a bath.

Don't foget, you'll have to do the cut and sew thing between each of the baffles to get down into each space.