Winter vs Summer Bags?

[Suckerfish]

I have a cheap summer bag I picked up in May, Marmot Aspen 40 degree down ultralight bag.

Any suggestions on temperature bags for fall, winter and early spring?

What degree bag is sufficient enough in Georgia along the AT and does anyone suggest synthetic or down?

[Kerosene]

I've had good luck with my Western Mountaineering UltraLite (http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=products&page=Sleeping%20Bags&cat=ExtremeLite%20Series&ContentId=17) 20-degree bag for my early spring trips down south and my Fall section hikes in New England.

I'd probably lug a 0-degree bag for the winter months, at least above 3,000 feet in most places.

Down works fine as long as you don't dunk it in water for extended periods of time. Most new bags have decent water repellency and dry quickly. The new Sierra Designs DriDown (https://www.sierradesigns.com/c-61-dridown.aspx) bags offer even better repellency, but I've had good luck in keeping my 800-fill bags dry enough to retain their loft, at least for my weeklong section hikes.

[bigcranky]

A good 15F or 20F bag will be fine into late fall, and again in late February or March in the southern Appalachians, but for Dec through late Feb I like my 5F Western Mountaineering bag.

A cheap bag is fine in the summer. It's tough to find an inexpensive bag that works really well in the winter. There are some big synthetic bags that will keep you warm enough and aren't too pricey, but they are heavy and pack down really huge.

[Seldomseen]

Samething here: summer bag 40, winter bag 0, and rest of the year bag 20