Is a 45 degree enough?

[DinnerFer2]

Planning on leaving from Springer Mt. NOBO on March 19th...

Is my 45 degree Sierra Designs Wicked Light 800 fill enough? Should I bring an 8 oz fleece liner along? It's supposed to bring the rating down 10 degrees.

I'll be most likely sleeping on a Thermarest Neoair and sleeping in a TarpTent Double Rainbow...

Thanks!

[HikerRanky]

So your bag and liner would get you down to 35 degrees with everything being correctly rated. Springer in Mid March can be a gamble as to what the weather is going to be like. Sometimes it will be 60s to 70s during the day, dropping down to 30s and 40s at night. Then something happens, and the highs are in the 30s during the day and down into the 20s or lower at night time.

Personally, I would find me a 20 degree bag and take the liner as well.

Randy

[Blissful]

Nope. You need a 20 degree (the other is fine for summer). Neoair is only good to 30 degree, I'd bring a gossamer gear pad or the like to put under it too. And fleece is heavy. Silk is much lighter for the warmth in a liner.

[4shot]

agree with the posters above - a 20 degree bag is what I would (and did) carry. It was necessary on more than a few nights. Switched to a 40 deg. bag past Mt. Rodgers, then sent it home and carried only a silk liner and lightweight fleece blanket. Got my 40 deg. bag back in VT.

[GeneralLee10]

If it were me I would say no, a 20 should be good. You never know what the temps are going to drop to in the Smokies at night. I started on the 11th of March and it was cold for a bit. I did not get a 45deg bag till I got to Daleville Va. That was me, all though most of the guys I was around switched out their bags around the same time. Team Lafuma!

[bigcranky]

How low have you taken the bag? The average temps will be below freezing in late March, and we've had single digits in mid-April in the North Carolina mountains. If you've had that bag/liner combo out in the teens and been happy, go for it.

Being in Vermont you have all winter to test it out.

[JAK]

I don't think only 9oz of down fill justifies the 14oz of nylon shell.
Whether or not it works would depend primarily on the rest of your system, not on it.
It appears to be lacking in a hood, so you would need something for that critical area.
There will probably be alot of convection through the shell and fill.

I'm not really sure what the question is that you want a straighforward answer.
It would help if the question was straightforward.
What temperature? What is the rest of your clothing and gear?

This is rather like showing a pair of underwear and asking if it is suitable for a dinner party.

[max patch]

No way will a 45 degree bag be adequate.

[JAK]

No, an 8oz fleece liner will not bring this from 45F down to 10F.
Not even with the tent and sleeping pad.

What sort of clothing do you have in mind?
What about the head and neck and chest area?

[JAK]

It would make more sense if this was a quilt.
Then the 14 oz of shell would become more like 9oz,
and the 9oz of fill would become 14oz, and be all on top.
A blue foam pad would provide insulation underneath.
You would still need some sort of detachable hood for head and neck and shoulders.

When cold sleeping, average skin temperature is around 80F. In the neck and chest area is still like 90-93F. In the lower extremities and arms is can be as low as 70F, roughly. So clearly, especially for temperatures around 45F, you need more loft in the head and neck and chest area. This bag doesn't seem to address that very well.

For going down to 10F, you really want to start over.

[garlic08]

I started April 4 with my 15 degree bag and I really needed it many times. There were two late winter storms that year in the high country, with temps in the teens for days at a time. Maybe it didn't save my life, but it did keep me on the trail when many others were bailing out to town. All the cold weather I faced was forecast, and it was avoidable if needed. If you have the flexibility of picking and choosing your hiking depending on warm weather, you might make it with the lower rating. But if you plan on thru hiking with minimal town stops, no way.

[Morning Glory]

In April of 2009, along with probably 40 thru hikers, I spent 2 nights in Hiawasee do to a snow storm. It was so cold that I don't think my 20 degree bag would have been good enough. I would have wanted a 0 degree bag. My 20 degree bag was perfect for the other nights. Take a 40 degree bag and you will freeze.

[lunatic]

Agree with others above. Probably need at least a 20 degree bag. On my thru I started in late Feb. with a Campmor 20 degree down bag (bought for only $119) and it was perfect (some nights with lots of clothing on too). I kept it until H.F. when I switched to a 40 degree bag, which was fine the rest of the way...finished in late July.

[JAK]

What is the lowest temperature to be expected, for a NOBO thru-hike starting March 19th?
To what degree can it be mitigated by choosing camping sites wisely on cold nights?

[Morning Glory]

What is the lowest temperature to be expected, for a NOBO thru-hike starting March 19th?
To what degree can it be mitigated by choosing camping sites wisely on cold nights?

I would say probably the teens....choosing a campsite isn't going to help you much...maybe a few degrees. I've never through hiked, but I've been out plenty during that time of year and I wouldn't settle for less than a 20 degree bag until May 1 at the earliest....and i'm a warm sleeper. I've seen it get down in the low 30's at night in mid May at the lower elevations in the Smokies. Just not a risk I would be willing at all to take...

[Skidsteer]

Planning on leaving from Springer Mt. NOBO on March 19th...

Is my 45 degree Sierra Designs Wicked Light 800 fill enough? Should I bring an 8 oz fleece liner along? It's supposed to bring the rating down 10 degrees.

I'll be most likely sleeping on a Thermarest Neoair and sleeping in a TarpTent Double Rainbow...

Thanks!

No, very good chance you'll be miserable or worse at that time of year with that bag rating.

[Grinder]

two years ago I hiked in early April to avoid the cold weather in March.

That year it was under 20 degrees for two nights and I about froze in my 24 degree rated bag. Thank God I carried a poncho liner as backup.

It's always a gamble with weight versus comfort.

[10-K]

If your goal is simply not to freeze to death you'll probably be ok.

[mweinstone]

the science of this argument has been forsaken and im one who takes safty seriously. all you need sir or mamm is to witness the tossing. the turnning. the mumbuling under breath. the inability to hike with vim and vigor the next day. and the horror. ohhh the horror. of the folks all around me each time im on trail in cold,......shivering. praying out loud for sunrise. makeing deals with devils. and all manner of sorrow associated with the cold lameass dummy bag like the one your bringgin. bring it. and suffer. just so next year we can be closer friends. we will allways have this moment. when your about to hike with a deadly bag that could leave your parents childless and i,..matthewski,...dont take that .

marmot. helium. eq coated. 15. 545$ under 2. fully waterproof and breathable. for real. life.warm 850-900 warmth. spend. join us. we are asleep. you will be awake and as hate filled as a you the next day buying a real bag.

[John B]

I would carry my 5-degree WM Antelope and then switch out in May to my 20-degree bag. I was hiking in the Grayson Highlands in late April and there was snow and temps in the 20s. I almost froze in my 20-degree bag. Maybe I'm cold natured, but I'd rather carry the extra ounces and sleep nice and warm than laying awake with that not-quite warm feeling.