[pct-l] Sleeping Bags and paDs

[Brian Lewis]

Edan asked whether a western mountaineering brand 32 degree rated bag and a
silk mummy liner would be warm enough for the entire PCT.  Monty opined that
it is, or at least it is for him.

I used a WM 20 degree rated bag from Campo to the Bridgeport, i.e., to the
~end of the Sierras, and then swapped to a 32 degree rated WM bag from
there.  For me, that was a perfect combination.  Certainly I could have done
fine with the 32 degree bag for most of the first ~1000 miles, but there
were a few times when I think I was better off with it, and I felt more
confident going through the Sierras and a couple of other times with the
warmer bag.    Knowing nothing else about you other than that you're female
(statistics, not sexism ...), I'd guess you might be better off with a 20
degree rated bag, but it depends so much on your metabolism, other clothing
you bring and are willing/able to wear in the bag, the particular weather
conditions that you get in your hiking year, what kind of shelter you use
(tents can add warmth) ... it boils down to a crapshoot for someone else to
guess at this for you.

I already owned both the bags (well, I borrowed the 20 degree bag from my
wife ...), so I reckoned it was worth swapping after the Sierras to save
about 10 oz of weight and bulk in my pack.   If I were to use just one bag,
I might consider adding light + warm clothing to augment a 32-degree rated
bag until I got through the Sierras.

On the topic of pads, btw, I started with both ccf full length pad *and* a
thin/light inflatable, figuring that I'd ditch the ccf pad after the
Sierras.  By then I had adjusted my thinking about base weight and just
carried both the whole way.  At age 52, at least, that felt like a good
trade-off, and the ccf underneath gave me more confidence that my inflatable
would survive (never had to patch it), plus it was handy for breaks.   It
was one of my "luxuries", and I'd also do that the same way again.


Brian Lewis / Gadget '08
http://postholer.com/brianle