Anybody heard of or have the Marmot Radon Sleeping Bag?

[Smooth & Wasabi]

Looking for info on the Marmot Radon. I can't find reviews anywhere. I need a winter bag and this is discontinued and on sale. Looks like the older version of the Lithium maybe? I appreciate any info you might have. Thanks.

[slbirdnerd]

I did a quick search and came up with nothing. I have to say, for that kind of money (I saw $479 on sale) I'd skip the 'Made in China' bag and get Zpacks or Western Mountaineering, or a quilt from Enlightened Equipment--all made in USA, incredible quality gear.

[FloydBanks]

For what its worth, I bought the Marmot Never Summer for a 0 degree bag. On Sale @ Backcountry right now for $231.

At 3 lb its slightly heavier than the Radon but not much for a considerably lower price tag (650 fill vs. 800). Down Defender supposedly helps if it happens to get wet.

I used it last winter with temps in the low single digits with a Therma Rest z-lite and was very comfortable.

Good Luck.

[Smooth & Wasabi]

I am far from set on anything. Just doing some long term scouting for a great deal on a close to the best 0 winter bag. I have never paid more than 70% of STPs prices. 340$ would not be bad if this bag is as described. 40 oz of 800 fp down is a lot. That's six more oz of fill than the WM Kodiak which would be twice the cost and 13 oz more than the FF snowbunting at almost twice the cost.(granted there fill power is a little higher but not that much) This with only a 2 ounce weight penalty over these two preeminent 0 bags. I am set on a full sleeping bag for winter use so quilts are out. I have an email into marmot about it so Ill have to wait and see what they say. Ultimately top tier bags are not in my budget and really I don't need it as with the amount of winter trips I do continuing to double bag is not a huge deal. I just find it strange that I can find no reviews anywhere. This gives me pause because I wouldn't purchase it without knowing it is as good a bag as it seems for the cost.

I have also been looking at the never summer, it seems like a great value, quality bag and is at the top of my list if I decide to go with a lower fill power. I think for now I will bide my time looking for deals trying to get something a bit lighter or warmer or both.

I appreciate the feedback

[mikespranger]

I am far from set on anything. Just doing some long term scouting for a great deal on a close to the best 0 winter bag. I have never paid more than 70% of STPs prices. 340$ would not be bad if this bag is as described. 40 oz of 800 fp down is a lot. That's six more oz of fill than the WM Kodiak which would be twice the cost and 13 oz more than the FF snowbunting at almost twice the cost.(granted there fill power is a little higher but not that much) This with only a 2 ounce weight penalty over these two preeminent 0 bags. I am set on a full sleeping bag for winter use so quilts are out. I have an email into marmot about it so Ill have to wait and see what they say. Ultimately top tier bags are not in my budget and really I don't need it as with the amount of winter trips I do continuing to double bag is not a huge deal. I just find it strange that I can find no reviews anywhere. This gives me pause because I wouldn't purchase it without knowing it is as good a bag as it seems for the cost.

I have also been looking at the never summer, it seems like a great value, quality bag and is at the top of my list if I decide to go with a lower fill power. I think for now I will bide my time looking for deals trying to get something a bit lighter or warmer or both.

I appreciate the feedback

I have been looking at this one too. seems stp hasn't gone over 25% on the coupons in a while. still a pretty good deal though. As for the lack of reviews, i think i know the answer - like the ajax tents, this sleeping bag might be a stp exclusive. No idea why marmot would do this, but they def already did with the tents. FWIW, i love my ajax, seems to be of equal quality to other marmot stuff.
The tent at least had a ton of reviews on stp, as it was lower priced and they must have sold more.
Please update the thread if/when you hear back from Marmot.
I'm with you, i rarely if ever camp when it's that cold out. I mostly want this for when i'm hiking mountains and need a sleeping bag for an emergency. I'm sure if i pull the trigger on it though, i'll take a couple trips just to test it out.
As for fill power, seems to me so far that 800+ is the way to go if you can at all.

[freys]

I just got the Krypton from them and pulled my WM summerlite out to do the usual. Jump on those deals. I got this for $235. I had planned to thru with my summerlite but the price I couldn't pass it up. I gain almost a pound but I will be warm and dry since it has the new dry down which WM hasn't done yet.

[Another Kevin]

I have also been looking at the never summer, it seems like a great value, quality bag and is at the top of my list if I decide to go with a lower fill power. I think for now I will bide my time looking for deals trying to get something a bit lighter or warmer or both.


For what it's worth, I have a Never Summer. It's heavier than WM or FF at the same rating, of course, but it runs true to rating (adjust for your own metabolism, of course!)) and is a great bag for the price. It even goes on sale sometimes. If course, it has a weight and bulk penalty relative to an 800 fill bag, but it was within my budget.

By using a lot of the techniques that are used to push ratings (having every stitch of clothing on, over, or under me; using two sleeping pads plus a car sunshade; pitching on packed snow and banking snow upwind of my tent; preheating the bag with a hot water bottle; eating to 'fuel the fire'; that sort of thing) I've had it down in the negative single digits F and slept comfortably. For an overnight at a little below -10, I packed a couple of chemical body warmers and ripped one at bedtime and the second when I got up in the night, and they were enough extra heat that I was still OK. I concede that was really pushing it. The forecast wasn't that cold.

I do sometimes envy the people that I hike with who have mountains of geese like the WM Puma, but then I look at the price tag and hike on.

[mikespranger]

For what it's worth, I have a Never Summer. It's heavier than WM or FF at the same rating, of course, but it runs true to rating (adjust for your own metabolism, of course!)) and is a great bag for the price. It even goes on sale sometimes. If course, it has a weight and bulk penalty relative to an 800 fill bag, but it was within my budget.

By using a lot of the techniques that are used to push ratings (having every stitch of clothing on, over, or under me; using two sleeping pads plus a car sunshade; pitching on packed snow and banking snow upwind of my tent; preheating the bag with a hot water bottle; eating to 'fuel the fire'; that sort of thing) I've had it down in the negative single digits F and slept comfortably. For an overnight at a little below -10, I packed a couple of chemical body warmers and ripped one at bedtime and the second when I got up in the night, and they were enough extra heat that I was still OK. I concede that was really pushing it. The forecast wasn't that cold.

I do sometimes envy the people that I hike with who have mountains of geese like the WM Puma, but then I look at the price tag and hike on.

i just did a pretty thorough comparison of the never summer vs the radon. hard to argue with the never summer, being cheaper and all. they are a little different in sizing too. the radon is 2 inches longer for the long version (i'm 6'2", dunno about you) so i'd definitely compare them size wise too (the circumferences for hip/chest/foot were diff too). i have some credits piled up at stp for a couple returns, plus some points from the store credit card, so i'll prob be ordering a radon tonight.
also, stp had me worried, as the radon doesn't show DWR in description, but i checked pertex.com and they show the microlight fabric as being dwr, so stp just forgot it or something.

[freys]

I should have added. When I crawled in mine it felt shorter than the WM so if you are close go long.

[Another Kevin]

the radon is 2 inches longer for the long version (i'm 6'2", dunno about you) so i'd definitely compare them size wise too (the circumferences for hip/chest/foot were diff too).

Uhm. Yeah. I'm 6'1". The Never Summer regular doesn't quite work. I need the Long. It's probably only by an inch or two, but I need it.

[mikespranger]

I don't seem to be able to post pics from my phone, but I just got my radon today- I'm impressed. The length is as stated, 6'6". Usually I find even "long" sleeping bags to be tight at 6'2 n a half.
The zipper was easier to pull without snagging than usual. The loft was nice, and I was still able to get it into the included stuff sack, although I did break a sweat doing so. It also came with a big mesh bag for storage.
One thing I wasn't expecting was a sort of draft tube in the neck area, even has a pull adjustment to tighten it close to you if desired. It's 50 degrees here now, so haven't tested it, but I got hot super fast. The width was good, room to roll over, but not huge enough to let air out.

[MtDoraDave]

Uhm. Yeah. I'm 6'1". The Never Summer regular doesn't quite work. I need the Long. It's probably only by an inch or two, but I need it.

I realize the OP went with the Radon, but for future searches by other people...

About a year ago, I bought the Never Summer from Campmor. I used the 20% coupon as well as it being on sale, paying $215 for it. At just under 5' 11", I went with the regular size, and I have plenty of room. I was worried, because I read somewhere that when a bag says it fits up to 6', that it may be tight for a 6' person - and I didn't want my feet "tight" into the footbox compressing the down.
Plenty of room inside, too. I tend to be a cold sleeper, but it kept me toasty warm @ 15 degrees F wearing nothing but my base layer (because I don't like the feel of the bag material on my skin), and also had two water bottles and my fuel for my stove in the bag with me. I was around 170 lbs last winter on that trip.

The information on the bag, when I got it, said 4 lbs ... so the earlier (in this thread) statement of 3 lbs has me curious. I may have to take the bag in its stuff sack to the grocery store and put it on the produce scale to satisfy my curiosity. (I don't own a scale) The two walmart bags I own (the football stuff-sized ones) weigh about 2 lbs each, and I previously used both of them for my cold weather trips - and they didn't keep me warm on cold nights - but I was already used to carrying the 4 lbs, so that's why I went ahead and bought the Never Summer.

The other negative about the Never Summer is the stuffed size. In the provided stuff sack, it is still relatively bulky. With my cold weather layers packed and with a week's worth of food packed, as well as tent, pad, and cook kit, and bag of misc (TP, pills, headlight, cordage, etc) I couldn't fit everything in my 60 liter pack.

[Time Zone]

What marketing genius thought radon was a good name? Next thing you know they'll come out with a line of smallpox blankets.

[MtDoraDave]

What marketing genius thought radon was a good name? Next thing you know they'll come out with a line of smallpox blankets.
Radon sleeping bag : you'll sleep like the dead!

[Another Kevin]

The other negative about the Never Summer is the stuffed size. In the provided stuff sack, it is still relatively bulky. With my cold weather layers packed and with a week's woritith of food packed, as well as tent, pad, and cook kit, and bag of misc (TP, pills, headlight, cordage, etc) I couldn't fit everything in my 60 liter pack.

60 litres is either tight or not big enough for a big guy in deep winter. It's just an unfortunate fact of life. Packs are heavy that time of year, too, which is why most of us Up North don't do long-distance hiking then (or go elsewhere to do it). I think my winter traction gear outweighs my summer base weight.

I get away with my Crown VC60 in winter for short trips because I have the bulky clothing and the sleeping bag in compression dry sacks, and do only short trips. But it's really tight. I see a fair number of 80 litre packs Out There that time of year. Tipi Walter has a point sometimes. I really don't like compressing down that far - I'm sure it's bad for it in the long run.

Cue the ultralighters telling me how stupid I am.

[Venchka]

Cue the Geezers who understand.
You're cool.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mikespranger]

I don't seem to be able to post pics from my phone, but I just got my radon today- I'm impressed. The length is as stated, 6'6". Usually I find even "long" sleeping bags to be tight at 6'2 n a half.
The zipper was easier to pull without snagging than usual. The loft was nice, and I was still able to get it into the included stuff sack, although I did break a sweat doing so. It also came with a big mesh bag for storage.
One thing I wasn't expecting was a sort of draft tube in the neck area, even has a pull adjustment to tighten it close to you if desired. It's 50 degrees here now, so haven't tested it, but I got hot super fast. The width was good, room to roll over, but not huge enough to let air out.

My first time posting pictures on this site, so patience please. Posted 4 of them. Don't know what order they'll be in but my best guess:
1: Bag out on the floor - good loft
2: My best attempt at getting a pic of the internal neck area tensioner
3: In a stuff sack, next to a size 12 boot. The floor tiles are 12" by 12"
4: In the mesh bag, takes up the whole bottom of a closet

I'll try and edit if i'm way out of order

[Smooth & Wasabi]

Looks nice! I hope you enjoy.

[MtDoraDave]

Also, for future readers, for comparison purposes: Here is the Never Summer it it's stuff sack. I noticed the Radon's sack has a "S" tag, probably for "small" stuff sack, while the Never Summer has a "M" tag, probably for Medium stuff sack.

The boots are 11.5 Keen's, the tiles are standard 12" tiles.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5565/30958447550_a95513863e_c.jpg