sleeping bag? Or not?

[chris]

For next summer's (mid May) possible Damsascus->North trip, I'm thinking about not taking my sleeping bag at the start and using, rather, a silk liner and a bivy bag, or perhaps overbag. I am a warm sleeper and I'd have my insulated pullover, warm hat,
etc for colder nights. Comments? My current (and only) sleeping bag is a Marmot Arroyo 30 degree bag. It weighs, according to my scale 2 lbs 9 oz. Being cheap, I don't want to spend several hundred dollars to get a WM Megalite and save, I suppose close to a pound. Nor do I have the skills to make my own quilt. I am, also, unfortunately, too big for the WM Highlite. The Kelty Lightyear weighs significantly more than they list and the Marmot Hydrogen seems to weigh more as well. Is there a reasonably priced 40 degree bag out there that truly comes in around 24 oz or less?

[SGT Rock]

Take the sleeping bag. I spent a June night at Rice Field Shelter with a guy that sent his home. He was freezing. I did Mt Rogers (the section your talking about) and got an ice storm in May - the time your talking about going.

[The Weasel]

At a minimum, take a fleece sleeping bag (about $10 at Walmart), which is what I used from May-July. When very cold, I put on a lot of my clothes at night, which happened only 1-2 times (including Mt. Rogers at 20 degrees). I agree with Sgt Rock that you have to have SOME kind of bag.

The Weasel

[Peaks]

Some of the best advise that I heeded while planning my hike was to keep the cold weather gear until after Mt. Rodgers.

[chris]

Would the silk liner and bivy bag be sufficient after, say, Pearisbrug? That would get me to the lower reaches of Virginia and would be in mid-late May. Or, perhaps, would it be better to wait until Harpers Ferry for making such a switch?

[The Weasel]

I think that's still a little thin. As I said, I just had a fleece bag, with a tent, and there were some nights when it was cold enough that I had to wear most of my clothing, too. The fleece bag was the lower margin of comfort in the "warmer" months.

The Weasel

[Hammock Hanger]

I sent my winter bag home at Traildays 01 and had a litewt 45 degree bag with a liner. There weather took a turn and I froze a number of nights till I got to Pearisburg where my husband had sent my other bag back.

I was sectioning in Grayson Highlands one year around May 15th and had snow.

Just remember the mts are much cooler and sometimes moister then the lower cities. So when watching the news always deduct about 10 degrees to be closer to mt weather. There is usually a breeze near summits and the fleece bag will let the breeze right in.

This summer even when the days were in the 90's some of the nights were cool.

Hammock Hanger

[MedicineMan]

consider the Linelite sleeping bag by Western Mountaineering...I used this on all my hikes this past summer/late spring...coupled with a silk liner and you have good coverage for the surprises....and if you are lean enough (i am not ) you can use it as a vest as well...12 or 14 oz. and workmanship is incredible...I have three WM bags and consider them priceless.

[chris]

Have you noticed any durability issues with the lightweight shell fabric of the Linelite?