[pct-l] Reality Inflation 2

[kkaplan@isher.com (Ken Kaplan)]

Feathered Friends may make some fine sleeping bags, but I doubt I'll do more business with them. I ordered a Winter Wren from them, expecting it to weigh in at about 33 oz., as per the description on their web site and my conversations with their customer service while deciding what to order. The first surprise was pleasant ... the bag arrived in 3 weeks, when they had promised it in 8 weeks. The next surprise wasn't as pleasant: the bag weighed in at 46 oz., over 25% heavier than advertised (dry, clean weight, minus the stuff sack).

Their initial response to this was to ignore my messages and emails. When I finally got them on the phone they asked me to ship it back to "evaluate" it. They promised that they would have it or a replacement bag back to me in time for my thru-hike attempt.

I called them after they'd had the bag for a week, and they confirmed the weight. They blamed the problem on miscommunication with their web person, although they had told me the same weight over the phone. It seems they had relied on the same misinformation. This isn't a very satisfying excuse, given that they were so far off on a crucial specification, and the web site still says 33 oz. for the bag.

Even the corrected weight should have been much lighter than the bag I received, so they agreed to make me a new bag. They finished the bag in just the nick of time, and told me it's just a few ounces lighter than the original bag. But I'd have it back in time anyway. Whoops. They accidentally shipped it to an old billing address 2,500 miles away ... not the address they had shipped to originally, and not the address I had confirmed with them.

So here I am trying to decide whether to delay my start by a few days (my old bag is about twice the volume & doesn't work well with my Breeze pack), or have the bag shipped to me in Warner Springs. And the bag is still around 10 oz. overweight. Oh well, at least I get to vent. Hopefully I'll at least be extra comfy with my extra down. Should have listened to Ray and made my own.

I can't wait to start the trail, where life is wonderful all of the time.