Lightweight summer sleeping bags
By Cam Burns |
| Jesse Crock Illustration |
Clearly, with any bag, the most important considerations are not the gimmicks (although we’ll describe a few). Rather, dimension/shape, weight and comfort are the big three. These days, sleeping bags come in multiple versions, made for men and women, regular-height folks and longies, so it’s important to try one on as you would a pair of shoes or a rentable swimsuit.
After dimension and shape, weight and comfort, think about price, construction and warranty.
Additionally, don’t think of a sleeping bag as an isolated product. Sleeping bags are only one part of a greater nighttime system that might or might not include your clothing, your sleeping pad, a tent, a voluminous pet or relative, even body hair — you get the idea.
And, sleeping bag decisions (ahem, systems decisions) are no longer about the traditional trade-off between down and synthetic fiber. Synthetic fibers have been revolutionized in the last few years (the struggle being to match down’s remarkable surface-area-to-volume — and hence heat retention — ratio) so that today there are many respectable synthetic bags available.
Finally, think about what you’re going to do with the bag: You gonna sleep in a canyon bottom or pass a cushy night after removal from the matrimonial bed? And remember that ratings are just a guide—surveys have shown they’re not particularly accurate
In this installment of the Schmear, we gathered up a few of the latest lightweight sacks that would be appropriate for a summer night in the hills (indoors and out) and let them put us to sleep. Zzzzzzz ...
Sierra Designs Wicked Fastbag ($210) and Sierra Designs Spark ($310)
Sierra Designs Wicked Fastbag (30 degrees) is one of the new breed — an extremely lightweight bag that has no bottomside insulation whatsoever; the underneath of the bag is just a thin layer of nylon. Designed to partner with a now-necessary sleeping pad, the cozy 800-fill Wicked Fastbag (at 1 lb., 2 oz., and compressible to 6-by-8 inches) is definitely a leader in fastpacking’s evolution, but a piece of progression that, by default, requires serious attention (and likely some shekels) to your pad. Also, are you going to wriggle off the pad in ways that seem inconceivable while lying on the floor of your local gear shop? I’m a thrasher, but the two very light straps designed to secure the bag to the pad seemed to work just fine — a top-notch bag for those willing to really plan ahead. If you’re not ready for the full-blown commitment of the bottomless Fastbag, check out SD’s more conventional 800-fill Spark (15 degrees; 2 lbs.; stuff size 7-by-17 inches), which also comes with pad retainer straps and is a snug, well-proportioned snooze. www.sierradesigns.com
Mountain Hardwear Phantom ($245)
The Old Ball & Chain (Frusilla) checked out the Women’s Phantom (32 degrees)—a sturdy lightweight 800-fill down bag. The most obvious thing about the Phantom is the cut (I woulda named it the Cleopatra or the Marilyn.) MH’s designers trimmed and trimmed, reducing girth at shoulder and foot, until they reached the Phantom’s sleek shape. They also added extra fill in key areas (according to the MH propaganda): in the hood, around the torso and around the “footbox.” The two-directional zip is a nice feature — these haven’t quite caught on across the board yet, but some bagmakers are starting to see the light — meaning you can do some pretty handy things (like cool your midriff while keeping the neck and shoulders warm). Weighing a mere 1 lb., 5 ounces and stuffing down to 7-by-10 inches, it is a very worthy entry in the race and a nice choice for picky bag ladies. www.mountainhardwear.com
Marmot Hydrogen ($309)
The most noticeable thing about Marmot’s 900-fill-down Hydrogen (30 degrees) is the use of a very supple nylon for the shell fabric, called Pertex Quantum (by Perseverance Mills, a UK company). In the Hydrogen’s case, it is specifically N-090 Ripstop Pertex Quantum. Pertex Quantum is so luxuriant it makes you stop and stroke the fabric for a minute before you examine the bag’s other characteristics (appropriate place, I guess, for stroking). The main selling point to Pertex Quantum is its 50 percent lower weight and smaller volume when compared to standard fabrics, and it’s one of the strongest “downproof-by-construction” fabrics available. On the downside (pun intended), the N-090 fabric does have a kind of slightly, well, sticky feel to it. Still, the Hydrogen boasts 900-fill as an average fill power, not minimum fill power, so it’s a warm bugger. No doubt, at 1 pound, 5 ounces, a great choice for fast and light. www.marmot.com
Eastern Mountain Sports Velocity 35 ($169)
“The lightest and most compactible 35-degree bag on the market,” according to EMS’s literature — filled with Primaloft and shelled with incredibly supple, you guessed it, Pertex Quantum. Indeed, this bag and the Hydrogen would suffice as a pair to satisfy one’s wet-climate/dry-climate cool-summer-night desires. This is a terrific bag. Like most bags in this review, it has half-a-zip (does anyone really get into a sleeping bag sideways anyway?), it's toasty as promised, and in terms of squashability, it’s comparable to a size rivaling its down brethren — small enough to cram in a coat pocket. (I thought the stuffsack EMS sent was the wrong one; the bag squashes nicely to a tiny 5-by-9 inches.) The Velocity 35 also comes with a two-directional zip and weighs a mere 1 pound 8 ounces. At $169, though, you're saving heavily over the waterfowl regime. Again, it's Primaloft, so you can swim with them, not try to beat them. www.ems.com
Big Agnes Zirkel ($229)
As with the SD Wicked Fastbag, Big Agnes’ bags require a pad — the bottom of the bag is just a thin piece of nylon. However, Big Agnes bags have an entire nylon sleeve built into the undercarriage, meaning that pads — shaped specially to fit the sleeves, and available in rectangular and mummy — are held completely secure. In fact, once the pad is inflated and inserted in the sleeve, the entire sleeping compartment is held semi-rigid, making it easier to get in and out of, but more importantly, maximizing the interior space (picture sliding into a wadded up sleeping-bag ball versus getting into one holding the shape you see in the promo pics). The 2-pound Zirkel (20 degrees) is a classic 725-fill-power-down mummy bag perfect for colder summer trips. The long version of the Zirkel was so roomy I could do a deep knee-bend inside the sack — something I’ve wanted to do all my life. (The shoulder girth is 67.5 inches and the waist runs 64 inches.) The Zirkel crunches down to a stuffed size of 7.5 inches by 15 inches, and, like the Wicked Fastbag, includes a nifty pillow pocket built into the hood. A great all-arounder, especially if size matters. www.bigagnes.com
Eureka! Criterium ($70)
The Eureka Criterium (45 degrees) Travel Bag doesn’t have quite the same latitude of the other bags in this review (clearly, as it says in its name), but it’s a really sturdy option should you be looking for an affordable bag for hosteling through Europe or trekking in Australia. It’s a durable, comfortable sleeper, measuring 84-by-34-by-18 inches and weighing 1 lb., 11 ounces. With a durable polyester taffeta shell, 3M Thinsulate insulation and a full-length draft tube (some “more-affordable” bags don't include draft tubes), it’s well worth the price. I mentioned gimmicks: just inside the bag — at about chest height when you’re in it — is a “stash pocket,” for storing valuables (i.e., your passport). Certainly it’s a great idea for a passport, but one of Eureka's PR folks suggested a CD player (resting on your chest all night?). Hmmm ... Even though the MSRP is $70, most stores are selling them for less.
Wenzel Windy Pass ($30)
We can’t all afford to break the bank over a night’s sleep. Certainly, the Windy Pass, rated to 0°, is another very affordable option. Measuring 23-by-84 inches, this mummy-style bag has the standard features of most modern sleeping bags and comes with a 10-year warranty. The insulation is kept even by offset quilting (one of the two common ways of offsetting joins in the insulation). Its lone gimmick is a shoulder drawstring about a foot down into the bag, which ain’t quite as useful as it might seem. The Windy Pass is quite a bit heavier (3 lbs., 8 ounces) than most of the other bags we’ve detailed, but for thirty small ones, you can’t knock it for price. www.wenzelco.com
Lafuma GR Junior ($30)
Kids’ sleeping bags (just like dog sleeping bags and the likely-soon-to-appear cat and hamster sleeping bags) are becoming more and more common. The GR Junior is a synthetic bag weighing 35 ounces measuring 69-by-28 inches, meaning — unless your kid is a real Amazon — this can remain a kid’s summer bag until the early teen years.
The inside of the bag boasts a combo polyester/cotton lining for you fans of natural fiber and the MSRP is certainly affordable. Interestingly, Lafuma (a French company) puts on its bags’ stuffsacks suggestions as to “confort” “limité confort” and “extreme” — in my limitéed view, this is a much better way to gauge an evening’s survival. In the case of the GR Junior, those numbers come in at 50 degrees, 42 degrees and 17.6 degrees, respectively, though I’m not sure too many parents would want to experiment with the “extreme” end of the scale. It weighs in at 2 lbs., 2 ounces and stuffed runs 12-by-7 inches; comes with a 2-year warranty. www.lafuma.com
Cam Burns recently spent 25 days trudging around East Africa's peaks using — of all things — his 1991 Wiggy’s bag.
