Sleeping Bag Questions

[Tallpaul]

Questions:
1. Best Synthetic Bag
I am looking for the lightest & most compact synthetic bag I can find in a long, 20 to 30 deg range. I am 6'3", 250#, and a "side" sleeper. Would appreciate specfic rconmendations.
2. Girth Measurement
Sleeping bag manufactures give a girth measurement -- most times in the 30" to 34" range. However, once in awhile I see it given as 60". I have always assumed it measure the with of the bag at the shoulders. Is this correct? How do you measure your personal shoulder girth?
3. Sliding off Pad
How do you keep your bag (and you) from sliding off your thermarest pad in the night?

[fullofadventure]

Here are some of the lightest synthetics on the market, the first few are new 05's.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47856939&parent_category_rn=4500653&vcat=REI_SEARCH


http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47856082&parent_category_rn=4500653&vcat=REI_SEARCH


http://backcountrygear.com/catalog/...ail.cfm/MOON100


http://backcountrygear.com/catalog/bagdetail.cfm/MTH200

http://www.moonstone.com/d_sb.asp?i...20T12471%20Long

[The Will]

TallPaul,

Many sleeping bag manufacturers include three girth measurements: foot area, hips, and shoulders. Shoulder girth is a circumferential measurement.



Staying on your sleeping pad, in my experience, is dependent upon two things. First, how much you move while you're sleeping and two, the degree of slope you’re sleeping on. If your able to find flat ground to sleep on and you are a relatively still sleeper, than I wouldn't think that staying on your pad would be a problem. There are some sleeping bags that have a sleeve at the bottom for inserting your T-Rest. While this does solve the problem of rolling off your sleeping pad during the night, you mentioned that you were a side sleeper and this pad/bag arrangement is definitely not conducive to side sleeping....allow me to clarify...It can certainly work fine for side sleeping until things get cold and you need to cinch the collar and hood tight to stay warm...when cinched tight, the hood will not move with you as you roll to your side and you will end up breathing into your bag.



Regarding bag type, do you have an aversion to down? I've found that the durability factor far out weighs the initial cost of choosing down over synthetic and the big-to-do over keeping down bags dry is rarely legitimate, not to mention the weight and stuff-size savings down offers.





Good luck in your search.

[snarbles]

Good stuff, keep it coming. That marmot 25degree bag may win out of the 20 degree WM down I have had my eye on. I like bags with a face hood, that's just smart stuff.

[Alligator]

1. I don't have one but suggest looking at TNF Cat's Meow. I have a Wild Bill from Sierra Designs. While rated for 20F, I think the rating is a about 5-10 degrees off. For any bags in the range you are looking for, 20-30, I would go with one that has a chest baffle in addition to the zipper draft tube. The chest baffle is worth paying a weight penalty for IMO. The Wild Bill does not have one unless SD made updates to the model and I feel that it would be warmer with one.

3. A nice feature on my Wild Bill is the sleeping pad locks. These prevent the bag from turning too much. They are stretch cords that form an X underneath, with the sleeping pad inserted between the cords and the sleeping bag. One could easily add the loops necessary to attach these to any bag. I roll around in my bag and these prevent it from twisting up and also keep the bag on the pad.

If needed, a pillow pocket can be sewn into any bag. So if this is a feature that you want, don't let it influence your decision any.

[orangebug]

I have a 7 year old WM PUMA zero degree bag. I had a stuck zipper on it, which my handy outfitter fixed by yanking the thing harder than I did. He noted the heft of the bag and suggested it was time to wash it.

I've done the Nikwax thing at the local coin laundry - front loaders. It has been a bitch to get dry and rid of all of the lumps. But it looks new and lofts better, and has lost a couple of pounds.

Down bags are a good lifetime investment.

[hikerjohnd]

I have a 7 year old WM PUMA zero degree bag. I had a stuck zipper on it, which my handy outfitter fixed by yanking the thing harder than I did. He noted the heft of the bag and suggested it was time to wash it.

I've done the Nikwax thing at the local coin laundry - front loaders. It has been a bitch to get dry and rid of all of the lumps. But it looks new and lofts better, and has lost a couple of pounds.

Down bags are a good lifetime investment.

lost a couple of POUNDS from washing??? EEEEEWWWWWWW!

I just bought my first down bag and now I'll be sure to weigh it regularly and wash when it gains a few ounces! Thanks for the tip!

[NICKTHEGREEK]

To fix slipping and sliding on your pad- Get a tube of McNett seam seal, RTV silicone adhesive, or similar. Wipe the pad down with some alcohol first then put some dime size dots of the sealer on the "up side" of your pad about every 6 inches. This will provide some grip. Also works well on the down side of the pad to keep you from slippin' and sliding around on the tent floor. Be careful this adds weight you don't want the Gram Gestapo kickin' in you door.

[orangebug]

lost a couple of POUNDS from washing??? EEEEEWWWWWWW! ...

Well, I had this horrible accident with a tube of diaper creme, trying to treat a case of chafing. That and the fact that it is a zero degree bag, which lends itself to higher than normal sweating.

[wacocelt]

I had this horrible accident with a tube of diaper creme

OB, you didn't really just say that did you?

In all honesty, I'm biased against down bags because of hiking in 03'. We had so much rain that year I'm still in a state of shock. Perhaps after this years hike, if it isn't another monsoon, then I'll contemplate a down bag. I hear Winton at Mountain Crossings at Neels Gap has been dabbling in synthetic bags recently, I'm interested to see what he'll come up with.

[orangebug]

At least it wasn't a cell phone!

The damned tube was frozen, so I brought it into the sleeping bag to warm up. I fell asleep. I rolled over. I awoke to find lots of thawed diaper cream, out of the tube and on the fabric and me. Lots of the stuff. More than a year's supply of the stuff.

I had dabbed most of it up, ran the bag in a dryer with a few towels to get as much as possible. I was not surprised with the outfitter's recommendation, but I was surprised how well the Nikwax seemed to work.

[dla]

Tallpaul: I'm your size and you'll discover that 95% of mummy-style bags are made for Oz-munchkins You'll want a bag with a minimum of 65" shoulder girth. And if you really intend to sleep in 20*F weather and wiggle around, then as someone else mentioned, you'll really appreciate a chest draft collar. Most bags have pad loops on them, but I doubt you'll find them convienent. I'm a wiggler too and I only use the loops on the foot of my bag as I use a 72" LinkRest. I use a North Face Goliath, but that is a 0*F bag.

You might take a quick trip to the Campmor web site and check out the bags.

[Stuart]

TaulPaul,

Like Dla I am your size as well --- 6'5"ish and 260+/-.

Dla is right... you are going to need a wider cut bag.

I find the Western Moutaineering bags cut 65"/56"/39" to be just right.

Take a look at the AlpinLite (20*) and MegaLite (30*) and Caribou (35*) all in long. Of course these aren't synthetic, but they are dang near a work of art when you consider how small they stuff and how little they weigh.

[hikeswithwine]

Hey, weighing for the muchkins, I can tell you that the opposite is also true: Most regular size bags have more material than I need, which should tell you that I am not going to be an NBA draft pick.

Tallpaul: I'm your size and you'll discover that 95% of mummy-style bags are made for Oz-munchkins You'll want a bag with a minimum of 65" shoulder girth. And if you really intend to sleep in 20*F weather and wiggle around, then as someone else mentioned, you'll really appreciate a chest draft collar. Most bags have pad loops on them, but I doubt you'll find them convienent. I'm a wiggler too and I only use the loops on the foot of my bag as I use a 72" LinkRest. I use a North Face Goliath, but that is a 0*F bag.

You might take a quick trip to the Campmor web site and check out the bags.

[snarbles]

So are these new synthetics (such as the Marmot) going to take up more pack space than say a WM ultralight?

I'm new to this and having trouble fitting everything in my ULA P2 (I'm not an ultralighter, but working on being lighter)

[tribes]

I would venture to say that the WM Ultralite would compress more than the Marmot 25 degree synthetic.

The specs from the companies are:

WM Ultralite compressed-- 7"x13"

Marmot Pounder Plus compressed-- 7"x14"

My 2 cents on these two:

The Marmot is made with primaloft and the WM with 850 fill down. The Marmot will eventually lose some of its loft as all synthetics eventually do and become not accurate to its temp rating. The WM is a lifetime investment if you take care of it. If it loses some loft then wash it like Orangebug suggested and most likely it will loft up close to new. The WM is $90 more but you willl never need to buy another bag for 3 season hiking. Oh yeah, the WM is 13 oz lighter too.

TRI BES

[Frosty]

the big-to-do over keeping down bags dry is rarely legitimate

Especially if you only hike on sunny days.