Re: [at-l] Sleeping Bag Selection

[ThatSloetoe <sloetoe@yahoo.com>]

--- Dan Shine <danshine@iconn.net> wrote:
> My sons (14 and 23) and I are section hikers on the A.T, and we camp
> year-round in New England.  It's now time to replace our ten year old
> bags, and I'd like some advice:
> 
> 1. Is down still superior to the synthetics that are available?
Superior? It's still a tradeoff of warmth/weight and warmth-when-wet
performance, so where down or synthetic would rank for you would depend on
the importance of those two factors for you.
It's easier out west, where you can assume dryer conditions for large parts
of the year everywhere (but the Pacific Northwest). Down is an easy choice to
make.
For the AT, eastern year-round rainfall is much more evenly spread -- so you
can expect "rainy" conditions throughout the year. Having myself been wetted
on more than one occasion, and been warm because I carried a PolarGuard bag,
I prefer to go with slightly heavier weight of synthetic, and deal with the
greater bulk (less compressibility than down), greater weight, and tremendous
"wet" performance.
One thing I downplay for myself is also that down has a longer functional
(lofting) lifetime than synthetics, although I recall the synthetics to be
"longer lasting" according to some measure somewhere.... So down products
last longer, and provide more service per dollar.

> and how would the down fill affect my sons' asthma?
Check the pillows in Target. One says "recommended for allergies." I forget
whether it's the synthetic or down. I know that (true) cotton futons are
recommended for allergy/asthma sufferers.
Either way, if you ever dry clean the down bag, the solvents used,
petroleum-based or not, are known to light up a number of asthma sufferers,
so vent that bag carefully.

> 2. We camp in temperatures as low as zero.  In the past, we've used
> Campmor synthetic zero degree bags with reasonable comfort.  What more
> should we expect from a more expensive bag (in other words, would we
> notice a difference if we spend twice the price?
Lightness in carry-weight: the "more expensive" bag will be made with
materials and techniques that will allow the same degree of function, but
with less materials. Increase in price should equal lightness in weight.

> 3. Are some synthetic fills better than others?  Are some brands better?
DK. PolarGuard 3d ("batted" synthetic, I think) reputed (*reputed*) to be
superior -- durability, compressibility, R-value, R-value-wet, but I've never
seen what that was based on. Marketing hype? But not everybody does it, so
maybe it's true. But "Prima-Loft" (used by Integral Designs, amongst
others)is a very different (being a "synthetic down"), and is in some great
products. My sons -- cold sleepers -- were warm below 20* in a ID Prima-Loft
bag that weighed *nothing* and was rated to 20 degrees.

Lastly, my own choice for a new bag was to search-out and find a discontinued
North Face bag called a Cornice. North Face makes two 20* bags that have been
industry standards for 20 years, being the synthetic Cat's Meow (3lbs) and
the down (550 fill) Blue Kazoo (2.5lbs). The Cornice, which was a project to
find is a PolarGuard 3d bag rated to 20* and weighing about the same as a
North Face Blue Kazoo. Were I to lose my new "hot rod" bag, I'd shop either
NF or ID as my default.

They're out there -- those synthetic bags with down weight. The trade-off
will come with the larger bulk, decreased(?) lifespan, and less-rugged
materials.


Let us know what you conclude!
Sloetoe
(who's 20yearold, 2000-miler
Cat's Meow still shines cozy)

=====
"The tragedy of man is not that a man dies,
     but what dies within a man while he's still alive."

               Mind your soul.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com/
* From the AT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

==============================================================================