[pct-l] Montbell sleeping bags

[John Abela]

Hey Mike,

I have recently had to re-adjust my sleeping system.

Take a look at this amazing bit of data:

http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/2010-December/042944.html

Huge props to Paul from  hikethru.com for being willing to lug along his
weather monitoring gear every single day to be able to record this kind of
stuff.

What I got out of it was that I had overshot with my planned bag. I was
going to take my MBSSDH#1 for the winter areas and a GoLite UltraLite
3-Season Quilt (20-f) for the rest.

But as it turns out, if you figure he spent 168 days on the trail and only
12 of those days was sub-freezing, it really does not make much sense to lug
around a 30, or zero degree bag. Ditch them, go with a 40-degree bag, save
yourself almost a pound of weight in your pack, and wear some extra close
for the 10-15 or 20 night it gets below your bag rating.

That said, you should of course, have some much colder weather gear ready to
be mailed out to you at a moments notice, if 2011 turns into one of those
"ultra cold years". Even if you pay for overnight shipping somewhere along
the trail, the weight savings for the hundreds and hundreds of miles that
you are not lugging around your MBSSDH#1 will be worth the money.

You can check out how I have progressed through different gear:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As-hvbUBJ_X_dHJXU3ZDb2VlOElUczlWS3JaUmNtNGc&hl=en&authkey=CLCE2LAO

The list does not have every single thing I will be taking, but it gives me
a good enough perspective at this point.

Anyway, yeah, ditch the MBSSDH#3 for all but the coldest areas of the trip
(and maybe even them if you choose to carry warmer clothing) and unless it
decides to be a vicious year, you should do ok.

That said, if you don't have the money to put out for another bag/quilt,
yeah, the MBSSDH#3 could totally work for you for the entire trip. It would
just mean an extra pound+ you'd have to carry. If you do not care about
that, by all means, go with that bag. One hell of a bag. I love my #1 even
though I rarely get to use it. I should probably just sell it or trade it
for a Nunatak quilt.

John


On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Michael Pinkus <mikepinkus at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> Hi all. Okay, I'm looking at the MontBell Super Spiral Down Hugger #3 bag
> which is rated to 30 f/ -1 C. Would this bag be suitable for the whole PCT?
> I will have a set of merino tights and a MontBell down jacket as well, so I
> can layer as well. I plan on using a Tarptent Sublite Sil as my shelter to
> complete the sleep system.
>
> I would appreciate your thoughts.
>
> cheers and happy new years to all!
>
> Mike
>