[pct-l] Sleeping bag advice

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I have NO idea what it feels like to have 0% body fat, so my opinion  
might be worthless.

Anyway, one way to make a sleeping bag feel warmer is to unzip it all  
the way and drape it over you like a blanket with your feet in the  
foot box. Just sleep directly on your foam pad. That way you create  
extra piles of fluff around and over you.

Make sure you wear a warm hat. I like to have either a fleece  
balaclava type thing that covers my ears and neck, or else I wear my  
Ray Jardine bomber hat or sometimes I'll even do both.

Make sure you fluff up the bag before you use it. Hold it by the  
zipper and shake it so the feathers move to the top. Let it sit for a  
while to expand a little more before you sleep in it. Try not to  
stuff it in a stuff sack or lay on top of it before you use it.

If you have a light down jacket, you can drape this over your core or  
hips like an extra blanket inside your sleeping bag. I do that all  
the time and it really helps.

If you are still cold, my big cheat for super cold winter nights is  
to bring a Jacks R Better 45 degree wearable down quilt. Yeah, that's  
right, TWO sleeping bags! I can wear it sitting around a campfire and  
I can also drape it cross-wise over my sleeping bag so that there are  
absolutely no drafts at all, plus it provides an extra large pile of  
down on top of me. I can sleep as warm as at home on a winter  
backpack with this thing and it weighs as much as a jacket, which I  
can leave at home.

On Aug 20, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> From: Ben Ulsh <ulshbdbd at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Sleeping bag advice
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<CANOHRQWnH4XD5g=GRVs1NqcJ1P=ebyb8WLxvXmjjfNZaBfVz1Q at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I am in dire need of sleeping bag advice.  I recently purchased a  
> Feathered
> Friends Swallow that is rated to 20 degrees and slept cold in it on a
> summer night that was probably around 40 - 45 degrees.  I am 5'9"  
> 120 lbs.
> with 0% body fat (X-country runner).  Now I am considering a Western
> Mountaineering Apache which is rated to 15 degrees, has 19 oz. of  
> down in
> it, a draft collar, and weighs exactly 2 lbs. OR......A Feathered  
> Friends
> Humming Bird overstuffed from 14 oz. to 19 oz. of down that would  
> come in
> at under 2 lbs.    The FF doesn't have a draft collar but is  
> slimmer cut
> and is just $30 more.  Both the Apache and the Hummingbird are  
> slimmer cut
> than the swallow.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.  I am a little
> embarrassed to be swimming in these details but need some expert  
> advice.
>  Much thanks!
> -Ben