View Full Version : what bag to bring?
I have a WM 5*(I forget the model name), which is plenty of bag for a mid-March start. The problem is when the nighttime temps get up into the forties it is too much even opened.
The alternative is a WM Summerlite 30* together with silk liner and a cheapie fleece bag. Which would probably be good to 20*. The plus side is more options as the temps rise. I am a average to warm sleeper.
How would you play this if it was your choice?
couscous
02-08-2011, 09:33
Personally, I would take the 30° bag and supplement it with the silk liner, fleece, or breathable raingear like Driducks as this gives more flexibility. Even a lightweight tarp draped over the bag retains a little more heat without compressing the down.
I used a 30 degree Lafuma down bag and silk liner. I had an early March start an so had to wear an extra layer of clothes a couple nights when it got down to the teens to achieve "toasty" but otherwise was plenty warm. Went "bagless" from Harpers to Williamsburg, MA using only my silk liner.
Jim Adams
02-08-2011, 09:46
Temps can vary drastically from day to day and every year is different. I was cold in a 20* on 2 seperate nights and just "comfortable" several others in 1990.
2002 I didn't take the chance, I started with a 0*, switched to a 32* in Pearisburg...back to the 0* in Glencliff. I was comfortable the entire trip and actually was warm several times in GA, N.C. and TN when all around me were freezing.
Next time I think that I would use a 40* instead of the 32* but I would definitely do the 2 bag trip. In 1990 I used a sheet from Pa to MA and was cold a few times.
Why not use both bags and be more comfortable?
geek
max patch
02-08-2011, 09:53
I'd start with the 5, use it as a quilt if it got too warm, and swap bags out later. At a minimum* I'd plan on keeping the bag until you got thru the GSMNP, which means Hot Springs.
*I'm a cold sleeper so personally I'd make the swap at the first town I was planning on stopping at north of Grayson Highlands SP.
aaronthebugbuffet
02-08-2011, 09:56
What does the fleece+liner +Summerlite weigh?
That other bag would probably still be warmer than that combo and if the weight is negligible the choice would be easy.
Just switch to the Summerlite after a few weeks.
+1 on this....simple, easy, and no worries. Especially with a March start. 2007 had single digit temps in April.
Temps can vary drastically from day to day and every year is different. I was cold in a 20* on 2 seperate nights and just "comfortable" several others in 1990.
2002 I didn't take the chance, I started with a 0*, switched to a 32* in Pearisburg...back to the 0* in Glencliff. I was comfortable the entire trip and actually was warm several times in GA, N.C. and TN when all around me were freezing.
Next time I think that I would use a 40* instead of the 32* but I would definitely do the 2 bag trip. In 1990 I used a sheet from Pa to MA and was cold a few times.
Why not use both bags and be more comfortable?
geek
bigcranky
02-08-2011, 10:44
I'd start with the 5 and switch to the 30 in Pearisburg for a mid-March or earlier start.
Rocketman
02-08-2011, 11:46
You can "cool off" a warm bag used as a quilt by using boots, sticks, stones, logs to prop open some vents along the sides and bottoms.
I used to do that after having been told, back in the 1970's, to "buy a bag suitable for the coldest nights you will ever camp". So, I bought a -5*F Camp 7 bag.
I later bought a summer bag.
Trying to make one bag do it all is not that easy, for most people.