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Moosling
12-04-2017, 08:52
Hey guys and gals,

I went on an overnight trip to Linville Gorge last week and used a really wallet friendly sleep system that did the trick for me and wanted to share it with everyone.

Bag: Outdoor Vitals OV light 35 degree hollow fill synthetic bag. MSR $37 on Amazon

So I've had this bag for about a year and have spend 7 or 8 nights in it. At around 45 degrees I can't use the hood while wearing base layers because I was uncomfortably warm, this was earlyer this fall.

For the trip to LVG I was expecting nighttime temps down into the low 30's. Temps exceeded my expectations and actually got down to 27, needless to say I was prepared for the cooler temps.

What I did was bring along a double black diamond Costco down quilt as I'm sure most people on this forum are familiar with at this point. I lined the quilt into my bag all the way down to the foot box. I was wearing a poly thermal base layer and some wool sock and tada! that was it I was warm all night for less than $60. I did wake up a few times with cold feet which is something normal for me even at home in my house, my solution to that is to sew a footbox into my quilt to keep my from pulling it past my feet as I move around while I'm sleeping.
Had I worn my jacket and pants I'm sure I could have pushed it to lower temps but it wasn't needed and I'm not really gonna risk losing sleep.

Anyway this worked great for me and the bag is 2.2lb with a 15 or 16 ounce weight on the quilt so just over 3lbs I'm not gonna complain on a budge like mine.

soumodeler
12-04-2017, 09:01
What sleeping pad are you using?

Moosling
12-04-2017, 09:39
Forgot to add that sorry, I was just using a blue generic closed cell pad from stansport I believe.

Venchka
12-06-2017, 23:36
Before you ruin the quilt:
Layer the quilt over the bag. If you want a pseudo foot box to keep the quilt in place over the bag use 2-3 diaper pins. The theory here is to allow the bag to loft and give your feet room to move around.
Have you tried warmer socks?
Upgrade your pad/pads. R-5 does wonders.
I was in Boone last week. The mornings were refreshing!
Wayne

DownEaster
12-06-2017, 23:50
Cheap way to upgrade your R-value is to add a pad made of Reflectix. Get a 24" wide 10' long roll at a big box store (Home Depot, & c.) and cut 6' for your pad. You'll have a lot of material left to make cozies for your cookpot, freezer bags, and whatnot. Cheap and light solution, but extra bulk when you roll it up together with your blue CCF pad.

Hikingjim
12-07-2017, 09:08
That will work. It's not hard to get around 30f inexpensively for 3 lbs. People spend more because they want 20f for half that weight and good quality gear

People can also just buy a 3 or 3.5 lb cheap synthetic bag if they want to keep their budget low. that's what I did when I first started hiking... was bulky, a bit heavy, but did the trick.

Backpacking can truly be a very cheap activity.... as long as you can carry the weight and don't bring useless stuff. The colder it gets and the longer your trip gets, the more you'll feel it when your gear is lacking. eg: I could do a 2 day august trip with $100 budget from walmart, and would enjoy myself

moldy
12-07-2017, 09:13
You are correct, you can sleep warm for cheap. But....With a sleep system it's never been a "money" issue for long distance hikers. My warmest sleeping bag is a "0 degree" bag from Wal-mart that cost about 29 dollars. It weighs 6 pounds. It also takes up way too much room in my bag. It's not practical for hiking if I want to endure 15 to 20 mile days on the Appalachian Trail.

theinfamousj
12-07-2017, 11:01
Cheap. Light. Compact.

Pick two.

Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Moosling
12-07-2017, 13:51
Before you ruin the quilt:
Layer the quilt over the bag. If you want a pseudo foot box to keep the quilt in place over the bag use 2-3 diaper pins. The theory here is to allow the bag to loft and give your feet room to move around.
Have you tried warmer socks?
Upgrade your pad/pads. R-5 does wonders.
I was in Boone last week. The mornings were refreshing!
Wayne

Great idea with the diaper pins, We cloth diaper my son and I have a daughter arriving in February so those are readily available to me. The sock issue was mostly my own fault, the pair I had had a small hole in them that I discovered in the morning :)

Bronk
12-07-2017, 14:30
I've never owned a bag rated below 30 degrees but I've camped down to about 5 degrees many times...I was just sleeping with all of my clothes on.

Venchka
12-07-2017, 20:14
Great idea with the diaper pins, We cloth diaper my son and I have a daughter arriving in February so those are readily available to me. The sock issue was mostly my own fault, the pair I had had a small hole in them that I discovered in the morning :)
Stuffing the down quilt inside the sleeping bag robbed you of the quilt’s loft. Loft = warmth. Place the quilt over the sleeping bag. A bit of elastic should hold the quilt in place over the sleeping bag.
Good luck!
Wayne