RagingHampster
03-07-2003, 12:44
Well I took a 4hr nap with it at a lean-to with my dual-stacked, 3/4 Length Z-Rests. Temperature was 30*F. I was wearing a polyester T-shirt & convertible pants, Mountain Hardware Chugach Polarguard 3D jacket, Black Diamond powerstretch gloves, and TNF 300weight fleece windstopper highpoint hat. Also had smartwool socks.
Sleeping on stacked 3/4 length pads, and having nothing between my legs and the wooden floor but the thin polyester pants, my calfs were cold. My feet were toasty in the footpocket, as well as the rest of me.
The blanket is way to light. There was a little breeze, and it kept lifting edges of the blanket up. I quickly lost heat, and was forced to stuff the blanket in around me, and lay motionless.
Although the 800fill down lofts well, it still does not have the density of a 550 or 600fill down. I feel that there is a huge insulative difference between 2.5" of 600fill and 2.5" of 800fill. I also got my blanket wet. I fell asleep for a couple hours, and woke up to find that a light rain had blown into the lean-to. 1/3 of the bag had become the consistency of packing peanuts, and the compressed tucked areas on my left hand side were no longer insulating me after being lightly wetted. Not cool. When compared to a bag, I don't feel you gain any insulation on the bottom side, but the loft between your legs and around your body definetly helps.
I have noticed that the weight/bulk savings of a 3/4 pad forces you to devise lower leg baselayers which will insulate you from the floor/ground. This adds weight.
Conclusions...
I'm pissed. Lots of hassle & money (~$160 & countless hours) for a product I will not be using.
800fill down sucks. No density. Balls with little moisture.
Blanket design sucks. Big Agnes Mummy type bag, and Nunatuk tubes would be the ideal choice.
I have seen the light however. I recently tried an insulation I fell in love with. Out with my 600fill Blue Kazoo, and out with my 800fill blanket. Polarguard Delta (the new Polarguard 3D variant) is the way to go. About as light as 600fill down, but about as dense as 500fill down. Synthetic so it keeps working when damp, and packs like 600fill down. Costs about 1/2 what 800fill down costs as well. Add to this that no baffeling is needed, and the final product is equal in weight to an 800fill product. The product I used was a TNF Flight Long. Rated to 35*F, but I feel it's more like 25-30*F. A friend let me borrow it as a comparison to use with the blanket. I slipped into it after the 4hr blanket ordeal, caught the same wind whipped rain, and stayed warm, even when the temp dipped down into the mid 20's (I retained the same clothing & jacket). It had TNF's new 9in "Expander panel" which allowed me to wear an insulated jacet and fit my wide frame in what was a 64" girth bag. Needless to say I bought one when I got home. $160. Weight for the long bag is 2lb 3oz. The zip in panel adds 9oz, but this would be reduced to 4.5oz if it was sewn in, rather than zipped in. Thus a net weight of 2lb 8oz for a very roomy synthetic 35*F (more like 25*F) bag. 8oz more than I planned, but I'm still around 13.5lbs for a dry pack weight.
Sleeping on stacked 3/4 length pads, and having nothing between my legs and the wooden floor but the thin polyester pants, my calfs were cold. My feet were toasty in the footpocket, as well as the rest of me.
The blanket is way to light. There was a little breeze, and it kept lifting edges of the blanket up. I quickly lost heat, and was forced to stuff the blanket in around me, and lay motionless.
Although the 800fill down lofts well, it still does not have the density of a 550 or 600fill down. I feel that there is a huge insulative difference between 2.5" of 600fill and 2.5" of 800fill. I also got my blanket wet. I fell asleep for a couple hours, and woke up to find that a light rain had blown into the lean-to. 1/3 of the bag had become the consistency of packing peanuts, and the compressed tucked areas on my left hand side were no longer insulating me after being lightly wetted. Not cool. When compared to a bag, I don't feel you gain any insulation on the bottom side, but the loft between your legs and around your body definetly helps.
I have noticed that the weight/bulk savings of a 3/4 pad forces you to devise lower leg baselayers which will insulate you from the floor/ground. This adds weight.
Conclusions...
I'm pissed. Lots of hassle & money (~$160 & countless hours) for a product I will not be using.
800fill down sucks. No density. Balls with little moisture.
Blanket design sucks. Big Agnes Mummy type bag, and Nunatuk tubes would be the ideal choice.
I have seen the light however. I recently tried an insulation I fell in love with. Out with my 600fill Blue Kazoo, and out with my 800fill blanket. Polarguard Delta (the new Polarguard 3D variant) is the way to go. About as light as 600fill down, but about as dense as 500fill down. Synthetic so it keeps working when damp, and packs like 600fill down. Costs about 1/2 what 800fill down costs as well. Add to this that no baffeling is needed, and the final product is equal in weight to an 800fill product. The product I used was a TNF Flight Long. Rated to 35*F, but I feel it's more like 25-30*F. A friend let me borrow it as a comparison to use with the blanket. I slipped into it after the 4hr blanket ordeal, caught the same wind whipped rain, and stayed warm, even when the temp dipped down into the mid 20's (I retained the same clothing & jacket). It had TNF's new 9in "Expander panel" which allowed me to wear an insulated jacet and fit my wide frame in what was a 64" girth bag. Needless to say I bought one when I got home. $160. Weight for the long bag is 2lb 3oz. The zip in panel adds 9oz, but this would be reduced to 4.5oz if it was sewn in, rather than zipped in. Thus a net weight of 2lb 8oz for a very roomy synthetic 35*F (more like 25*F) bag. 8oz more than I planned, but I'm still around 13.5lbs for a dry pack weight.