Sleeping bag question

[gracebowen]

Im planning a flip flop from Harper's Ferry to Maine. Return to HF sobo to GA.

At home I like to sleep at 75 degrees. Im cold when I get up.

If I go with a sleeping bag what temp should I get. I plan to start late april to early May.

I havent decided yet. I want to miss mud and black fly season. Or at least miss the majority of black flies. Start year is undetermined.

Im also thinking about designing and testing a quilt system.

[Connie]

75F?

I suggest a hike somewhere quite warm, no higher altitudes, no cold/rain, and no snow.

[gracebowen]

Ok so a zero degree bag.

[gracebowen]

Oh and I'm allergic to down.

[moldy]

One bag for entire trip.....you need a 20.

[gracebowen]

Thank you moldy.

[lemon b]

Good luck with that. Only been above 75 a few here this year. Also in my experience it isn't the bag it is the r value of the pad. Look for something above 4.

[Connie]

I suggest Utah, Arizona or New Mexico for desert hiking, or Florida.

[gracebowen]

I can sleep colder. Thats just my normal range at home.

[Huli]

I sleep at 72 at home. Use a 15 degree cloak year round. Have you considered a quilt or cloak?

[Venchka]

Oh and I'm allergic to down.

Talk to WhiteBlaze member Just Bill. He might be able to steer you in the direction of a suitable synthetic quilt.
I hope you aren't allergic to wool, silk or fleece also.

Wayne

[gracebowen]

75F?

I suggest a hike somewhere quite warm, no higher altitudes, no cold/rain, and no snow.

I didn't ask where I should hike.

[Datto]

Oh and I'm allergic to down.

If you decde to go with a 20*F sleeping bag with man-made fiber used for insulation, then since you're a cold sleeper I would also consder these five items:

1) Make sure you get a man-made fiber sleeping bag with an insulated hood. The insulated hood will make quite a difference in nighttime warmth and the hood will help keep the warmth coming from your body from escaping out the top of your sleeping bag as you roll around at night while sleeping.

2) Since you're looking at starting at Harpers Ferry in late April or early May, I'd also put into your backpack a mylar sleeping bag in case temps get really cold in the first month or the last month when you're coming into Georgia. If the temps get really cold, you can stay on the Trail for a couple of really cold nights by putting the mylar sleeping bag inside your regular sleeping bag, warm up some hot water with your cookpot, put the hot water into your water bottles (such as Gatorade bottles) and then putting the hot water bottles into your mylar sleeping bag. You'll likely be really really warm in under 20 minutes with that setup (this is my Hot Pocket setup). The downside is, the next morning your skin will be wet (but warm) when you wake up and the mylar sleeping bag is too fragile to be used for a sitpad. The mylar sleeping bags that have worked best for me are the ones from Amercan Sciences which weigh about 4oz or so.

3) With your start date, consider bringing along a balaclava in the begining and in the end of your hike in case there are really cold nights.

4) Since you're a cold sleeper and the beginning and end of your hike may have cold weather, a standard Ridgerest type closed-cell foam pad might not provide enough warmth. There is a super-thick Ridgerest you can consider or you could go with a Neoair type inflatable sleeping pad (which will likely be warmer than a standard closed cell foam pad. The downside of the Neoair is that it's more fragile and you may need a seperate sit pad for sitting in the dirt along the Trail when you take a break (I never got used to sitting on just a piece of Tyvek alone).

5) If you can stand the extra weight, you might want to consider a full-length zipper in your man-made insulation sleeping bag. That way, with warm nights you can just unzip the bag completely use the bag as a blanket rather than a mummy.


Datto

[Connie]

I had the impression from your first post, you did not want to be cold. That's all.

I suppose the desert could be cold at night, so Florida would be a better bet.

No down. Synthetic? More weight and bulk.

Apex synthetic insulation, reputedly, has the least weight for the insulation value, I understand, so I would recommend a sleeping quilt made with Apex for least weight and bulk. Combine that with an XTherm air mattress (the down is sealed inside) or at least a R-5 sleeping pad, for example. This may provide the warmth for where you do hike, at a readonable weight and volume for a suitable backpack.

Quest Outfitters has pattern and materials for custom-made or DIY.

Enlightened Equipment website has length and width and temperature ratings for their synthetic quilts.

The length and width listed at every top quilt website are a help: your height, your weight, restless sleeper, like that. That is how I got started. Then, I chose what I thought would work well with everything else I have for a hike and for where I hike.

[gracebowen]

If I go with a bag I will get one with a hood. I will also use the hot water bottles and emergency blanket if needed. Yes on a full zipper and a bacalava or two. I will probably also sleep in socks.

I will also look into Apex.
The pad I am considering is reflective on one side but has no r value listed. I will keep looking.

I will try to contact Just Bill.

[gracebowen]

I forgot something. With the emergency blanket I know you wake up wet because it does not breathe. I wonder how taking a hole punch and putting a few holes in it would work.
Then it could breathe but it probably won't retain as much heat. Would the holes make it rip apart. What about needle holes instead?

[Datto]

I forgot something. With the emergency blanket I know you wake up wet because it does not breathe. I wonder how taking a hole punch and putting a few holes in it would work.
Then it could breathe but it probably won't retain as much heat. Would the holes make it rip apart. What about needle holes instead?

My experience has been that mylar blankets/sheets of mylar will become useless more quickly if you put holes in it.

When I was doing my prep hikes prior to starting my AT thru-hike, I was usng a mylar blanket type sheet of mylar -- this because it was less expensive. During the winter just prior to starting my AT thru-hike I had discovered the mylar blanket types of mylar sheets just didn'weren't holding up well at all and I was using quite a few of them per month (one at a time). Also, during the winter the mylar blanket types of mylar sheets just didn't add much warmth to my setup because of the increased wind. I went on a search for something more sturdy so I switched to a mylar sleeping bag which was more sturdy and is sealed (so the moisture stays inside the mylar bag and didn't make my sleeping bag wet).

Keep in mind, I'm very hard on hiking gear. Some people are not.


Datto

[Secondmouse]

I forgot something. With the emergency blanket I know you wake up wet because it does not breathe. I wonder how taking a hole punch and putting a few holes in it would work.
Then it could breathe but it probably won't retain as much heat. Would the holes make it rip apart. What about needle holes instead?

no that's not going to work, just go with a suitable rated bag/quilt. if you sleep cold (you prefer to sleep @ 75*) you'll probably want to shade temp ratings by 15-20*, not the normal 10. as others have said, your bottom insulation is at least as important to this equation if not more.

I'm using an Enlightened Equipment Prodigy Quilt made from Climashield Apex synthetic insulation. it's rated @ 40* and I use it as my summer quilt and I have been skirting the edges of comfort. a little wind, high humidity, being tired/dehydrated and I can easily drop right through the bottom of my comfort limit.

at 40* rating the weight and bulk is still manageable, but these issues with synthetics starts to pop up when you try to make them go much below 20*.

if you prefer a bag over a quilt, one of the best rated synthetics is the Mountain Hardwear Hyperlamina Flame (20*) or Torch (0*). good luck...

[Datto]

The other great advantage to using a sealed mylar sleeping bag -- you can dry out your regular sleeping bag if it gets wet just by using the Hot Pocket setup I've described above. All the heat from your body gets to the inside face of your regular sleeping bag but none of the moisture gets to your regular sleeping bag. So if the regular sleeping bag is wet, the heat from your body makes the moisture in your regular sleeping bag dissipate more rapidly.


Datto

[Datto]

Also, you can jetison your mylar sleeping bag to save weight once the temperatures get warm, then later on (say in your southbound Georgia ending) you can get another mylar sleeping bag for the returning cold temps.


Datto