[pct-l] Winter vs Summer Bag?

[Timothy Nye]

This really depends on how accurate the temperature ratings on your bags are, how used they are as use does, over time, compromise the loft and what type supplemental insulation, if any, you are considering. The best answer that I can provide is that you should be prepared while traveling through the desert in spring to encounter temperatures down to twenty degrees.  Additionally, i have seen sustained winds of up to 50 MPH at thirty two degrees.

If you have a tent, and you should have, that adds ten degrees to your insulation values, but it should be able to withstand the wind. Not all do. If you question the tent's reliability an option which I favor is an ultra lite bivy, such as the one from MLD. I believe it's around six ounces and I like it when I cowboy camp since it stands in for a ground sheet. That's just me, though.

Remember, you can, and most likely will, sleep in your clothing and puffy at times.  Most find a genuine twenty degree bag adequate for the whole trail. In my opinion, ten degrees for a bag is overkill, while thirty degrees, if you sleep cold, will likely leave you unhappy at times. Neither of the two options you currently have sounds ideal, at least to me.

The problem I've encountered in switching out gear is the changeability of the weather which makes any attempt to predict where you will need what, problematic.  This is especially true if you're unfamiliar with the trail, but even if you know it, it really is a different trail each year in many respects. It really sucks to feel the possibility of being vulnerable to the weather, while at the same time any feeling of confidence purchased at the cost of carrying an extra couple of pounds is a relief that is bought dear. 

Complicating my inability to forecast the weather is that even when i have someone shipping me something is that there is at least a delay of several days before it will arrive where I can pick it up. I've found, again in my opinion, that its best to be as self sufficient with just what you're carrying as is possible. 

I don't know if this necessarily helps, just my two cents.

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 14, 2013, at 3:59 PM, Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Julie,
> 
> I would go with the 30 degree bag for your entire hike.  I always also bring a Cocoon silk sleeping bag liner (it is good for about 9 degrees of added warmth and keeps the inside of my bag clean as well). On a warm night I sleep in the liner on top of the bag - if it turns cooler during the night, I just slip into the bag. I also sleep cold. If it is cold I also wear my long johns and some of my clothes as well - you will have them along anyway.  Layers work very well. I use a 48'' long Thermarest self-inflating air mattress. It is 1.5" thick when inflated. You can adjust that, determined by how much air you puff inside after it self-inflates  I am careful that there is nothing sharp under. I have never had a puncture during over six months on the PCT. I usually sleep in a Hubba  tent without the rain fly on. The insect netting keeps the critters out. 
> 
> Have a great hike.
> 
> MendoRider-Hiker
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: julie windsor <windsor.jj at gmail.com>
> To: Pct-L at backcountry.net 
> Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2013 1:55 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] Winter vs Summer Bag?
> 
> 
> Hey y'all.  We're finalizing gear for our 26April start and have a couple
> of outstanding questions.  On the AT, we switched bags and clothes as we
> moved through the seasons.  On the PCT, do folks change gear or do the high
> altitides keep you in a summer/winter gray area pretty much the entire time?
> 
> I have a 10 degree and a 30 degree bag; Silver has a 10 and 40.  Would love
> to dump the extra pound, but I sleep cold!  Thanks for any insight you can
> provide.
> 
> -- 
> *- TurtleHawk*
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