[heysmithy]

Ive got a square Coleman sleeping bag, its down, and rated at 5 degrees. Ive got to say, even though this thing is enormous and heavy, I'm VERY happy with it. I stay toasty warm and comfortable. Its actually more warm and comfortable than the feather filled comforter that I have on my bed. And best of all, I got in on clearance at the Coleman outlet store for $30!

[gkckak]

i think it weights 4 maybe 5 lbs.

[Democracyman]

Get down if you plan to have a good quality tent or bivi system that
will keep you dry. Though in time in a downpoor down will get wet.

Frankly most of the time you don't go out in wet weather, IF you plan
to go out in wet weather and don't have a good quality tent or bivy
system get synthetic.

Down has a lot of advantage in weight and long lasting and it packs down
much smaller.

I will carry no down gear, but for my sleeping bag, I always carry a down
sleeping bag. I tried the synthetics and decided I prefer the down bag
myself.

You have to be Anal about keeping your down bag dry in your tent, especially
in wet weather, a sleeping pad that is up off the floor helps, some sort
of inflatable pad, a inflatable air mattress(best in leaky tent, you float above the water)
with down is pretty good or a light thermorest. If you have a water bottle or a pee bottle or whatever in your tent be really careful.

I have heard of a story where a climber lost his legs when his water bottle
whetted the bottom part of his sleeping bag, that is the real danger.
If your bag gets wet in the rain, you will get cold but usually the temp
is above freezing so not that serious for most cases.

It is not good to get wet even in a synthetic bag, so think of a good quality
shelter as well.

I personally think down sleeping bag is well worth the extra expense and
care in usage.

The items that add the most weight to your back, is the pack weight, the
sleeping bag weight, the shelter weight and the sleeping pad weight.

You should take great care to make these items as light as possible.

The smaller pack size of down is also a great advantage.

I personally don't like down mitts, I don't like using a down jacket unless
it is only for camp and sleeping usage.



Dan

[ozarks dave]

sleeping bag i use is an old skool brown flannel lined. got it for 5 bucks. best bag i ever owned. its not one of the synthetic shells, all cotton i believe, little heavy for backpacking, but i like it and its warm as can be and big. ill post a pic of it when i dig it out of the tote.

[Mephistopheles]

Synthetic bags are not light weight....light weight synthetic bags are.....
Down is by far the lightest weight bags....nothing comes close.

I prefer synthetic insulation since it is user friendly and can be washed in the field and dried in one day or less open air. And when it's wet it still insulates you.

You want a great bag get the military 4pc sets off ebay....very versatile and only paid $68 and $12 shipping. I spend many subzero days...wind chill was -30 sometimes and was warm the entire nights except for one with no socks on as they were wet, the next time I kept them on and they were 90% dry by the morning and was warmer. I was also in my Ecotat shelter. I used this system on a 2 month 48 state motorcycle trip I took, everything from 99F in Mojave to -30 in Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Minn. It has two mummy bags, one light and one med and together they make for subzero bag.

Of all the other bags I have I only use my Elephants foot for basic snow time hiking along with my down coat. The Efoot is 3#s and I can wear my boots in it..nice when you have to take a dump in the middle of the night or stuck in biv sack.

[Chris Kavanaugh]

I think after knives sleeping systems are about the most personal purchase and the one most discussed.
I came home from the service and Alaska and entered college. We went on a field trip down to Anza-Borrega. I had a cheap car bag and spent a MISERABLE night freezing in spite of wearing all my clothing and a G.I. bag sommewhere with UPS from Alaska. The first G.I. Bill check I went to my local backpacking store. They had the popular TRAILWISE of Berkeley 3 season down bags in the popular cobalt blue and red. I was hesitating at the price when the salesman mentioned two 4 season bags. They were in a sort of pea soup green nobody wanted. I still hesitated and he dropped the price BELOW the 3 season versions. I can't tell what colour my bag is with my eyes closed and grabbed it.
The next trip back to A-B we had a rare snowfall. I was under a tarp and just rolled over while people ran for uncomfortable nights in cars. I woke up with a buzzworm taking refuge and after my initial shock just moved it under a juniper bush.That bag lasted 20 years with 5 professional cleanings. It finally gave out and I tossed the down outside that spring for bird nests.
Down is the warmest because of LOFT and DRAPE. It does have a slow recovery rate to regain loft after compression, @ 80% after two hours.
My next choice was controversial. I bought a Lamilite WIGGY'S bag on Chris Janowsky's advice ( Ben's backwooods is selling them too.). This material drapes like down, is washable and regains full loft almost immediately. The bags do wiegh a tonne. Even if you don't buy one, the site is full of valuable information about synthetics.
Temperature ratings are very subjective. They use a laboratory test dummy with heat sensors. This is a poor substitute for different body masses ( men and women especially) age, sleeping habits etc. And ALL bag ratings are for INSIDE AN ENCLOSED TENT.

[Dang]

I got a Mountain Hardwear Lamina 20 (20 degree) synthetic fill and love it. There are many aspects to consider as you can see from all the posts, but for me this one fits the bill for what I am asking it to do. It did help that I got it for $100 as opposed to $170

I chose synthetic because you just can't realistically control keeping down dry. The Lamina's fill really has a down quality to it and is a very popular bag. I compared it to the TFN Cat's Meow, also very popular, and the Lamina was levels above it in just about every way in my estimation.

As I think has been mentioned, bags are like knives, guns, women... many to choose from and no one is the right answer for all. All you can do is do your best to make sure the one you choose will make you happy.