Kelty Light Year 20

[XCskiNYC]

People here frequently suggest the Campmor 20 down bag (but a lot of them also seem to say they've moved on and donated the Campmor to a nephew or boy scout troop).

How about the Kelty Light Year 20? According to Kelty's specs the bag has the same amount of fill, 19 ozs., as Campmor states for the Campmor 20.

Kelty's total weight on the Light Year 20 is 2 lbs 6 ozs. Campmor claims 2#4 on the Campmor Down 20 but a review of the Long version of the Campmor 20 reveals actual weight of 2#11 versus a claimed weight of 2#6 so it wouldn't be surprising if the regular size bag was more like 2#9 or 2#10.

http://www.trailquest.net/gear.html#downbag


For a long time, the Light Year 20 has been on Campmor for $130. Unfortunately, they just jacked the price up by $20 for some unknown reason (the list price has not changed and it does not appear to be a new model). Maybe because the weather's getting cooler

The down for the Campmor bag is 550 power and for the Kelty it's 650.

So the Kelty looks like a pretty good value, even with the price being increased 20 bucks.

Anybody here use it, checked it out, any other feedback?

I am presently engaged in section-hiking the AT. As we speak

[daddytwosticks]

I owned an older Kelty Lightyear 25 down bag. I am a cold sleeper. Any nights below 40 degrees and I was prayin' for morning. YMMV.

[bigcranky]

I had the Kelty Light Year 40 down bag. It was on sale somewhere on line, and it was my first summer-weight bag. I liked the general design, and it was well-made, but the chambers were somewhat underfilled, and the cold spots left me chilled under 50-F. But that sort of optimistic temperature rating is true of a lot of sleeping bags. If you can find it at a good price, and take the temp rating under advisement, it's not a bad choice.

[Grinder]

I also have a Kelty Lightyear 25.

I sleep in my EWS long johns. The bag is good to somewhere in the 30's as is.

I got through several nights below 20 Deg last spring with the addition of a Army poncho liner inside the bag. The first night was chilly with the liner outside the bag.

From a weight standpoint, that's 2 1/2 lbs of bag and 1 1/2 lbs of poncho liner. At four pounds, I could have carried my synthetic zero degree bag, but "who knew".

Plus, the poncho liner has a neck hole I added and doubles as a camp coat.

[mister krabs]

I had my eye on it too, but it only has a hip length zipper that might reduce it's usefulness at the higher end of it's temperature range. You can't open it all the way up and use it as a quilt.

[flemdawg1]

I had my eye on it too, but it only has a hip length zipper that might reduce it's usefulness at the higher end of it's temperature range. You can't open it all the way up and use it as a quilt.

I have the LY 40, and my biggest gripe is the half-zip. It does have a foot box zip, but unless you jam you feet out the bottom of it, you won't notice its open.

[JumpInTheLake]

I have a Light Year 40 and I really like it. I'm not sure I would be comfortable in it at 40 degrees though. And that is probably true of many bags.
I also have a Light Year 0, and so does my wife. We take the 0 bags for anything less than 60 for the wife and 45 for me.
Overall I like the Kelty Light Year bags very much. I would buy them again. They are a very good product for the money.

[max patch]

I bought 2 from SAC for a good price, $79 I think. I returned them unused when I discovered that half zip. When its hot you want to be able to unzip your bag all the way and use it as a quilt. Can't with this bag. This bag would drive me crazy.

[dradius]

i have a light year xp (synthetic version) 20* and i am happy with it. i've had it out in 15* weather or so and it wasn't too bad. worth the money, especially if you can get it cheap from sierratradingpost or something like that

[daltrey]

I had the light year 20 long. My scales showed the weight at 2lbs 13 ounces. It would be nice if manufacturers would be truthful about the weight of an item. I sent it back and replaced it with the marmot helium long. It's weight was suppose to be 2 lbs 1 ounce but mine comes in at around 2 lbs 4 ounces.

As a matter of fact not a single piece of gear I own has come in at the actual manufacturers specified weight.

[KMACK]

Went looking for a 20 bag too. I have a Kelty 0 LY which I like and has done fine for me down that low. I past on the Kelty 20 due to the have zipper length just like others have mentioned. I was considering the Campmor but wasnt sure about the 550 fill. So I went with a Cabela's Boundry Waters 20 down bag. 3/4 zip, 650 fill, DWR finish, claimed 2lbs 6oz and H20 proof stuff sack all for $130...find it in their Bargain Cave. I should have it next week.

[XCskiNYC]

Went looking for a 20 bag too. I have a Kelty 0 LY which I like and has done fine for me down that low. I past on the Kelty 20 due to the have zipper length just like others have mentioned. I was considering the Campmor but wasnt sure about the 550 fill. So I went with a Cabela's Boundry Waters 20 down bag. 3/4 zip, 650 fill, DWR finish, claimed 2lbs 6oz and H20 proof stuff sack all for $130...find it in their Bargain Cave. I should have it next week.

That Boundary Waters sounds pretty sweet. I'm gonna take a look at that. I don't usually shop Cabela's much (mostly Campmor because it's really close to NYC so ground UPS is usually overnight and then Campmor's prices are often pretty good).

[BobTheBuilder]

I owned an older Kelty Lightyear 25 down bag. I am a cold sleeper. Any nights below 40 degrees and I was prayin' for morning. YMMV.

I have had it out in the 20's. Man, was that miserable. I sill like it for nights in the 40's and 50's, though.

[lazy river road]

XC I am in the same boat as you...I am looking for a 20 degree bag and I dont want to break my bank account...can you pm me once you decide and test one out so I buy the right bag..lol JK ...i was also looking at the campmor 20 as suggested by this thread ill check out the kelty's as well...How are the marmot bags?

[skinewmexico]

Luxurylite.