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[pct-l] Thru Hiker Sleeping Bags



Mike Saenz typed:
> Not too long ago, there was a web link to some REALLY light sleeping
> bags.
> Does anyone have those links? Or recommendations on bags vs quilts?

You're going to get almost as many answers to this question as there are
people to answer them.

Let me take my stab at it: For 2-3 season camping, I've gone exclusively
to quilts and blankets. I use a 32?F Nunatak down blanket for conditions
when it'll be mostly dry. I use home-made 35?F synthetic blanket for times
when continuous damp or moist conditions are more likely. For mild-weather
winter camping, I'm in the process of switching from a synthetic sleeping
bag to a synthetic blanket (depending on how confident I feel about
weather predictions for a particular trip). For very cold winter
conditions (continuously below 20?F) I'll continue to use a down sleeping
bag with a vapor-barrier liner.

Here are some sources for these things:

Fanatic Fringe synthetic quilt:
< http://www.fanaticfringe.com/page6.html >

Ray-Way synthetic quilt kit:
< http://www.ray-way.com/quilt/index.shtml >

Synthetic quilt do-it-yourself instructions:
< http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/make-quilt/index.html >

Big Agnes makes some bottomless synthetic sleeping bags:
< http://www.bigagnes.com/str-bags-cla.shtml >

Rab (UK) makes a "top bag":
< http://www.rab.uk.com/pages/sleeping/sleep_products/intro_quantum.html >

Nunatak Down Quilts (they call them sleeping bags):
< http://nunatakusa.com/down_outerwear_sleeping_bags.htm >

Jack'-R-Better down quilts:
< http://www.jacksrbetter.com/ >

Western Mountaineering makes a quilt/sleeping bag hybrid called a "pod":
< http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/bagdetail.cfm/WE2810 >
Specs are here:
< http://www.westernmountaineering.com/specchart.htm >

I may get a chance to post my own synthetic quilt design somewhere in the
next few weeks.

The lightest down sleeping bags I know of come from these manufacturers:

Western Mountaineering:
< http://www.westernmountaineering.com/specchart.htm >

Mountainsmith:
< http://www.mountainsmith.com/ >

Feathered Friends:
< http://www.featheredfriends.com/ >

I'll be interested t see if anybody else posts some options better than
the ones I've posted here.