Start times and Sleeping Bag ratings?

[psnipes]

Depending on which month you start your thru-hike what type of temperature rating on your sleeping bag should you have? I have always been a very warm sleeper and currently have a nice lightweight 35(f) bag. If I were to start in late march/early april would I be ok? I have no experience hiking in the southern states and don't really know how the weather would be. I'm sure this is more or less a repost and found some threads on the topic but nothing that really answered my question. Sorry!

[4eyedbuzzard]

What's the lowest temp you have actually been warm at in that bag? Ratings are just a starting point. I've got a 35 deg WM Caribou that I've stayed warm in in the mid-20's with base layer and hat, but I wouldn't push it beyond that, and I definitely wouldn't trust it for a late March start. Asking to freeze.

[Tinker]

When I first considered hiking Georgia a couple of decades ago I contacted the Georgia section of the ATC and they said to be prepared for the same temperatures that I would experience at sea level the same time of year. In other words, if it's 35 degrees at night here in southern New England, count on it being around 35 in the Georgia mountains. The mountains in NC and Tenn. are higher, so expect colder temperatures there, even though it will take you a couple of weeks (or more) to reach them, and you'll be in them for a while.

Unless you have some down pants and a warm down jacket to wear inside your sleeping bag (and the space in the bag to accomodate them), I think you'll be cold at night a number of times unless you start later in the year, like mid-late April. I've read accounts of snow in the mountains of NC in early May. That may be something to consider.

A 35 degree bag is what I'd be looking at to hike in the White Mts. in the dead of summer.

I finally ended up hiking Georgia in mid-March of 2006. It was much warmer than normal, and still, the coldest nights were in the high 20s and low 30s.

[psnipes]

Thanks for the advice. The forecast for tonight is 40 at the beginning of the night down to 30 at 6am or so. Sounds like a perfect night to test out my sleeping bags range. Depending on when I wake up shivering I've hit the limit. I'll be in my backyard!

[lush242000]

I'm heading out in a week or two. I'm taking a 35 degree bag and a sea to summit 20 liner. With that and my polypropylene long underwear I should be fine. But you never know.

[swjohnsey]

i'm startin' with a 35 degree bag (WM Highite) but not 'til March 30. I think carrying less weight is worth a couple of chilly nights. It makes a difference on whether or not you will sleep in shelters. Tents are warmer. Pad makes a difference. I carry mittens, hat and down booties mostly to sleep in. On cold nights I sleep in everthing, hat, mittens, 100 wt fleece top and bottom, socks with down booties.

[RodentWhisperer]

ULers like to forgo the traditional mindset of "take a bag whose comfort temp is 10 degrees lower than the coldest temp forecast," and like to use sleep systems whose lowest comfort temps are right at the predicted lowest temps, or even slightly above those temps. There's lots of reasons behind that thinking-- more than just carrying a lighter sleeping bag. Like others in this forum point out, it's easy to increase a bag's comfort zone by putting on some layers of clothing, a hat/balaclava, etc. Most compelling to me is that you're most likely to start feeling chilly just before dawn-- that's that coldest hour of any day-- and if you wake up then, you can get up, have some coffee to warm up, pack up camp, and hit the trail early.

[psnipes]

Update:
Spent the night out Temperature 40f-->30f throughout the night. Slept fine in my Icepeak 150 however I noticed that I did feel some coolness through my pad. Any heavier(200lb+) hikers out there have experience the Z-lite just flattening out real bad when used?