seeking reccomendations for sleeping bag..warmer portion of AT thru hike

[DavidNH]

Hello,

I am seeking reccomendations for the warmer portions of a north bound AT thru hike.

I currently own a long size Feathered Friends Raven bag which is filled with 800 power down, is rated to +10 degrees F and weighs 3 pounds. From experience..this bag is chilly at +10, freezing at 0, fine from 20-50, and when temps get over 60 at night or so.. it is way too hot.

So I am thinking of getting a second bag (size long and down) that will work well when the temps are Plus 40 and up..but be tolerable on the very warm nights of mid summer when night temps are in the 60's or even 70's.

I have read about the Marmot Pounder on the web and here at WB and it seems like a good back though I am a little concerned about the half length zipper.. does it trap you in a too warm bag? The WM Highlite also looked good but seems like it is very thin and not too durable and again there is the short zipper.

So what can you recommend? 300 or under is my price range. Over 300, well that is too much for a summer bag in my view.

nhhiker

[Youngblood]

I have the WM Highlite and like the bag... I would like it even better if it had a full length zipper.

I have been hammock camping the last few years and usually use it as a quilt. Due to using as a quilt and because the bag has pockets of down with some sewn through construction I have noticed something that might be of interest to you. My bag was bought in late 2000, maybe early 2001, and has 2.5 inches of total loft. WM used a 60/40 down distribution which means that 60% of the down is on the top side of the bag and 40% of the down is on the bottom side of the bag. When used as a quilt this means that one side of the bag has 1.5 inch thick pockets of down and the other side of the bag has 1 inch thick pockets of down. When the temperature is at 40 degrees, I am okay with the side that has the 1.5 pockets but the side that has the 1 inch pockets feels like there is a draft coming through. (When this happens I usually just wiggle around, get inside the bag and zip it up like it was meant to be used.)

The moral of this story is that the temperature rating for a sleeping bag is determined by the loft (among other things) and if you want a sleeping bag to keep you warm at a certain temperature, pay attention to not only the manufacturer's temperature rating but also the loft of the bag. Not all '40 degree rated' sleeping bags are equal.

Youngblood

[Bob Baker]

I am in the same predicament as you are and I started a similar thread (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9253). I think I will be going with the REI travel sack (http://www.rei.com/product/11429496.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC). I believe they also have a 45 degree bag that is roughly the same weight because it is down and not synthetic (the 55 is synthetic). The best thing about the travel sack is that it only costs 70 bucks which would let you have enough money to buy a lighter winter bag or whatever.

I also like the GoLite Daze (http://www.golitestore.com/store/NS_proddetail.asp?number=SS7300). It is also light and not too expensive.

If you are willing to spend 300 dollars the WM will be a great bag and will be the highest quality.

[Dharma]

I have the WM Highlite bag too and my only gripe is the half-zipper. I kept my silk liner with me up north and sometimes I slept in that when it was too hot to be under the down.

The bag was durable enough for a thru hike. It does have a thin shell fabric and you'll have to pull more quills back through than a standard down bag. This wasn't a problem.

-Dharma