[pct-l] sleeping bags

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

you are correct; this is a highly subjective issue and varies widely 
from person to person.  having said that, I would submit that the 
most commonly used bag in the high sierra in summer is a 20 degree 
bag (that is based ONLY on my own personal experience talking to 
hikers on the trail and other people I know who hike in the sierras. 
its absolutely NOT a colclusion drawn by any scientific or measurable 
method)

If you are gonna thru-hike, I would suggest that you go for the 15 
degree bag, especially if you sleep cold.  IMO, if you sleep cold a 
30 degree bag would probably be just a tad too cool in much of the 
High Sierra.

There are standardized methods for measuring a sleeping bag's warmth 
rating (I forget the exact procedure, but basically they measure the 
loft and every inch or centimeter of loft is equal to a certain 
number of degrees of rating).  However, I am not certain that every 
sleeping bag manufaturer uses that system when advertizing ratings 
for their bags.  Some bag manufacturers seem to be more conservative 
in their ratings than others.  For example, I have a western 
mountaineering bag that is supposedly a 20 degree bag; it is WAY 
warmer and has much more loft than my North Face 20 degree bag.

My recommendation would be to go and look at the bags in person.  
Measure the loft with a ruler if you can.  Get inside them and see 
how comfortable they are for you (especially if you are right on the 
cusp between a regular bag and a long bag in terms of your height.  
this is usually right around 6 ft tall).  Getting inside the bag 
before you buy it will really teach you some things; some bags are 
longer than others, some are wider than others, some have material 
near the zipper or around the opening for the head that may be 
irritatiing to you, some bags may have extra loft/stuffing in the 
foot area which you may or may not like, still others might offer 
interesting features that you may like.  One last consideration is 
the shell material.  Many of the newer shell materials that are being 
used are more water resistant than a regular nylon treated shell.  In 
addition, different shell materials are different weights.  Some of 
the shell materials available are:

1.1 rip-stop nylon (1.1 oz per sq. yd)
0.85 rip-stop nylon (0.85 oz per sq. yd)
EPIC by Nextec ( 1.9 oz per sq. yd)
Pertex Microlight Rip-Stop Nylon ( 1.3 oz per sq. yd)
Pertex Endurance (1.9 oz per sq. yd)

here is a decent overview on the various pros/cons of each material:
http://www.nunatakusa.com/Down_Jackets_Sleeping_Bags_Bibs_Fabrics.htm

HTH.

peace,
dude






> 
> I know this is kind of arbitrary and has probably been talked to
> death before, but I'm wondering about sleeping bag ratings.  I've
> been looking at the lightweight Marmots and Feathered Friends. 
> The Marmot bags seem to be a bit lighter so I'm leaning towards
> those.  Anyway, there's a 30 degree bag and then a 15 degree and I
> can't decide which to get.  I can't afford to have different
> sleeping bags for different sections of the trail and all the
> one's I own currently are not so lightweight.
> 
> So is 15 degrees overkill?  Or is 30 degree pushing it?  I tend to
> sleep on the cold side so I would lean towards a warmer bag.  But
> I'm not sure if 15 would be way too warm for much of the PCT. 
> Feathered friends has a 20 degree bag but its the same weight as
> the Marmot 15 so I'm considering them to be comaparable.
> 
> What do y'all think?  I know this varies from person to person but
> I'd like a general idea of what people have done in the past.
> 
> Steve
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> unsubscribe or change options:
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

_________________________________________________________________
    http://fastmail.ca/ - Fast Secure Web Email for Canadians