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View Full Version : Reconsidering MB UL #2



tammons
09-05-2009, 20:06
I plan to do a southern section hike in late December, burr cold.

I have a -40dF Snowlion that is over kill but I already have it - 4#.
Its probably more like a 20dF bag now. Incredibly warm but a bit heavy.

I already have a #2 montbell UL that I had planned to take with a climasheild quilt and some insul clothing to take me down to 0dF.
I am losing interest in building a quilt for this trip and its bulky.

I also wanted to use just that #2 bag for a thru hike later in 2010 because I can sleep under it spread like a quilt in the 70's just fine. Hotter nights it will be too hot, but I do have a tyvek bivy. A #2 seems like the perfect bag for a march start thru hike.

My question comes from a previous poster that said get a #1, ditch some of the extra insul and go that route.
It would be lighter for sure.

What I am wondering about though is starting in march, would a UL #1 be too hot for a thruhike, and I think it would be.

I can send my #2 back and upgrade to a #1 for about $50. The weight difference is 8 oz-total 2#7oz.

If I knew I would not roast in the sumemr nights with a#1 draped over me I would go for it.

I also have a med adventure bivy that is the 7 oz version. I could take that along with the MB #2 as an extender just in case instead of the climasheild overquilt.

My stay warm and dry gearlist in general for this winter hike will be whichever bag,
MB 1,2 or the snowlion.

Tyvek bivy
Maybe med emer bivy as a backup inner liner
Neoair
bluepad
Spitfire tent
Merino T
Merino/poly blend Long johns

Syn vest
Salsa syn jacket
Insulated nylon pants similar to the BPL version
Driducks I could climb into also

And the other normal wear, warm hat, gloves, pants, shirt etc

Thanks in advance

Lyle
09-05-2009, 22:35
What is a #1 rated at? 15*?

You could go that route and be more comfortable at the beginning and end. Carry a silk liner (5 oz), and on warm summer nights you could just use it with a base layer. They are quite warm even by them self. If during the night you get chilled just pull the bag over you part way. I think good down bags breath better than synthetic, so they are more comfortable in hot sticky weather.

Just a suggestion. Probably what I would try.

Jonnycat
09-06-2009, 12:29
The MB bags have a long zipper, so you could just use it like a blanket covering part of your body when it gets warm.

buz
09-06-2009, 22:12
Owning a #2, I would say a #1 would indeed be too warm for a complete thru hike. Great for the start and end, but august, no way. So you can either keep the 2, and buy/carry nice warm layer clothes until they are not needed, or buy the 1 and not have to worry as much. But you will still need pretty good insulating clothes for when you are not hiking, unless you are planning on putting the #1 on when in camp, lol.


So the way I see it, is do you want nice warmer layering clothes, which would be needed with the #2, or less of them and a #1. If you only do the #2, do you have acess to a warm weather bag to swap out with? If so, maybe the 1 is better. If you have to buy a warm weather bag, would you use it more instead of nice layering stuff you would need with the #2 only? Trade offs that you need to consider. Try and figure out what you need with both choices, gear wise, and look hard at the lists created for both cash outlay, if that matters, and more importantly, long term use of the choices from either list. Perhaps that will lead to a logical conclusion. good luck.

tammons
09-06-2009, 23:30
I have mostly everything I need except I wanted to build a XP over quilt.
It would be cheaper and lighter to just get a #1, but I dont want to roast at night in the summer.

Origially I intended leave from springer in feb/early mar and send back some gear in early summer and just use a quilt the rest of the way.

I have only hiked in the southern areas a few times around springer back in the early late 70's and early 80's, all in Winter. I was really more interested in New Mexico and Arizona back then.

At any rate back then I used cold gear, -40 bag (overkill but I had it), tent, my same old pack from the early 70's, still got it.

I have always used a sleeping setup just for that, sleeping. Clothes ans insul layers were just that and I did not count on them for sleeping, although I still could have used them.

If that was the scenario I would swap to summer gear.

I guess what has got me so floundered is that having never thru hiked, I dont know what sort of weather extremes to expect in the summer and towards the end of the trip.

Although a XP 2.5 oz quilt (IE sending back the #2) would be great to cut down on some weight during the summer to me it sounds like it could be risky in some areas, thus I had just planned to do the entire hike with the #2 and send the over quilt back when it got warm.

All that said, I know if I start out in Feb/Mar its going to be very cold for a couple of months, but thats okay. I prefer cold weather hiking so a #1 or #2 with an overquilt will do well there.

I am also assuming at the end of the trip in maybe Sept, a #1 or a #2 would be a good choice.

What I am confused about is what about the months of May through August.

What weather extremes can I expect there considering starting in the south ??

skinewmexico
09-07-2009, 01:32
I'd just use extra clothing and a bivy with the #2. Or the overquilt and bivy. I hate having a bag that is too hot.

tammons
09-07-2009, 11:22
Thanks Joe,

I think I will do that and just keep the #2. ITs light and I can sleep under it comfortably in the 70's

I should know what works for sure after my shake down section hike in Ga in December.

For that short trip I plan to take the MB #2, climasheild overquilt, tyvek bivy, slightly moded spitfire.

Cloths for now will be silk johns to sleep in, Merino johns to wear, merino T, 3 pairs of socks (one heavy) wool pants, wool shirt, synthetic vest, Salsa jacket (thanks fo rthe heads up, nice) insul synthetic pants, down booties and a balaclava of some sort.

bumpass
09-13-2009, 16:29
If you tend to get chilled from below, maybe the R value of your pad should be reconsidered. Once I got that under control, then I was able to go with a lighter bag.

tammons
09-13-2009, 16:36
Well I backed off the MB #2 SS.

I taked to the guy at prolite and he made sense.

Spiral down hugger #1 weighs 4oz more than the #2 SS and I get $20 credit for the exchange.

I use a neoair on top of a blue foam pad, so I should be okay for ground insul.

Jonnycat
09-13-2009, 18:08
interesting product, Tammons. Please post back when you get it, as I would be most curious to see how much "stretchy" you can experience in the bag.

tammons
09-13-2009, 18:36
I researched it a bit before I made the final decision.
I did not find anybody that bad mouthed it.
The MB #1 spiral got the backpackers editors choice for 2009.

It is not really a stretch bag like the SS is, IE I dont think they use elastic thread or whatever. The stretch is supposed to come mostly from the diagonal baffles and cloth bias.

The girth is not quite as big as the SS, but I think I can live with it.
Shoulder is real close like 2" less max. Knee is 4" less, so sitting up and crossing my legs probably wont happen.

SS #1 long
Max User Height: 6 ft. 4 in.
Inside Shoulder Girth: 56.7” – 75.6”
Inside Knee Girth: 47.3” – 63”
Stuffed Size: 7.4” x 14.7

#1 spiral long
Max User Height : 6 ft. 4 in.
Inside Shoulder Girth : 61.4"~73.7"
Inside Knee Girth : 49.2"~59.1"
Stuffed Size : φ7.2" x 13.5"

Jonnycat
09-14-2009, 07:47
Ah, thanks for the specs, tammons. Looks like it's still got a fair bit of give in it, although a little less than the SS system. You do save five ounces with it, which adds up.

Odd that they don't have a spiral #2; I guess they figure people might just switch to the #1.

I have a UL SS #2 myself, and if that's the one you currently have I'd be interested to hear how your new bag feels, compared in terms of stretchy room.

tammons
09-14-2009, 08:50
A guy over at BPL said that montbell is changing their setup.

All the bags will be spiral.

No more #2 or #4.

The models will be

exp,0,1,3,5,7 in spiral superstretch.
exp,0,1,3,5,7 in regular spiral like they have now.

I hope they put a collar on the #3.

I think the spiral SS bags will be lighter.

Jonnycat
09-14-2009, 12:45
Rats, my #2 UL SS is just perfect for me down to just below freezing, which I run into even in the middle of summer around here. It'd be hard to justify the extra weight of a #1 SSS when it's not needed, but maybe the regular spiral #1 would be doable.

I guess they have their reasons, but rats!

tammons
09-14-2009, 12:55
I like the #2 SS a lot.
Its a great bag, roomy and light, but a #3 is only 5d less so not a whole lot of diff.

Actually my MB #2 long is 31oz and the spiral #1 is supposed to weigh 34oz so and extra 10dF at 3 oz makes sense and is easier to extend down to 0dF.
Is on backorder from prolite so I have not received it yet.

I would imagine the reason is just too much overlap and to make the manuf process easier. I also questioned, why you would have 2 different bags like a #4 and a #5 that are so close. Same with the 2 and 3 except the 2 has a collar.

Making them all spiral drops the weight of the SS from what I understand and makes all the patterns close. IE the spiral creates some of the stretch and the thread the rest of it. Probably does not take as much fabric as the current SS bags.

buz
09-14-2009, 16:07
once you get the bag, let us #2 owners know what you think about the spiral. I have modified my #2 with extra down, so it is really a #1 temp wise. I love the ss feature, but am not big guy, so the spiral could truly be the perfect bag for me size wise.

Jonnycat
09-14-2009, 17:22
Buz how did you do your mod? Like, where did you make the incisions, and which baffles did you add to (and do you have any pics of the incisions)?

buz
09-15-2009, 09:53
Jonny,

My mod started out by holding my bag up to a strong light, and for sure some of the pockets may have been underfilled. At least some had significantly less down in them than others. I had a real nice Eddie Bauer serious parka that ran into a car battery that blew up. Not a pretty sight. The parka got patched, but it was my "throw in the trunk in the winter back up now. So I took out the down, sorted it for feathers, and had a full, big paper bag of very nice down. Looking closely at the bag, the cloth is woven in two directions, rip stop style. So I used an x acto knife to make a slit in the baffle I wanted to fill up, about 3/4 inch long, making very sure I kept the slit between one row of the rip stop, not crossing over the other directional rip stop, if that makes sense. I used a smooth bore tube, about 1/2 inch od, maybe 6 inches long to fill the baffles. Took the down from the paper bag with needle nose pliers, crammed it in the tube until full, really condensed, put end of tube in bag, then used rammer to push down out of tube into baffle box. Worked great, no mess. Add as many tubes as needed, then I simply sewed the slit back up carefully, and added seam grip to the repair. The seam grip really make the repair solid. I ended up doing about 20 pockets, all on the top of the bag, adding slightly over 5 ounces of down, because I had it already, mostly. The bag is for sure a 15 now, as I have slept in it at that temp and lower. I will try and post a pic, not sure how, or just shoot me your email address. Turned out really well I think, but I am bias, lol.