Gear Review: REI Travel Down 45F Sleepin g Bag

“This weekend, I went on a trip with some friends and tried out my new REI Travel Down 45F sleeping bag.

Weight: 1 lb 8 oz.

Type: Mummy.

Cost: Typically $100. I got it for $85 because I used a 15%-off coupon code.

Rating: 45F (Duh)

Insulating Material: 600-fill goose down (duh again)

General Observations:

Nice, light, down sleeping bag. Stuffs into a pocket at the foot of the bag. In order to save weight, it has a half zipper. It only comes in a right-zip model (at least that's all the REI website shows right now) so couples who like to zip their bags together will need to consider something else. The zipper does come apart at the bottom like it would if you could mate it, which was annoying. If there's no mating bag, why have the zipper come apart? Possibly so you could add one of those expander panels, but the annoyance of having to deal with the parting zipper overrides the "convenience" of being able to zip in an expander.

It has a hood and cinch cords, which definitely came in handy this weekend. The foot of this bag is particularly roomy.

Comfort:

Test conditions were one night at about 48F and another at about 43F. Test subject (me) is a cold sleeper. On the first night, I wore polypro longjohn bottoms and a long-sleeved poly shirt. I was a little cold until I pulled my rain gear jacket (mercifully dry) over the top of the bag (but not covering my head), which then warmed me up just enough so I could sleep. I didn't have my head in the hood, and had no other head covering on, so that may have played a part in my being a little cold.

Second night, I wore a polypro teeshirt with the long-sleeved shirt over it, and the polypro longjohn bottoms. I also tucked my head into the hood and cinched the hood tight over my face, and pulled my rain jacket over my shoulders again. This was the windy night, and it seemed like I could feel the drafts through the bag until I put the jacket over my shoulders. I slept much warmer the second night, even though it was the colder of the two nights.

Fit:

I am 5'11", and the bag just fit my length. A taller person would want to choose another bag. There is no long version of this bag. As far as girth goes, it also just fit me, but I am a fat pig, so a thinner person would have more room.

Overall:

This bag's 45F comfort rating just barely holds. On future trips, I probably will not take this bag if overnight temps are forecast to be below 50F. Above that, however, this bag would perform to just about anyone's satisfaction. If you are a warm sleeper, this bag would likely perform well for you at 45F.

Other observations:

The down filling did leak a little from this bag. It was not a significant amount, but use of the bag over time will probably cause it to lose enough down to degrade its performance.”

“Great review!!

I have a Campmor 45F down bag and I like it a lot. It's comfortable down to 45-50F...and that's with shorts and t-shirt on. It has plenty of room for me too.”

“bit - is that 1 lb 8 oz the catalog weight or the real weight?
Nice review, thank you for taking the time to post it.”

“Catalog weight. I don't have an accurate scale for that weight range. It seems to be about that weight though, it's very light.”

“If y'all are really that much into reviews, scroll down to the review of my new tent...the SD Light Year.

And I enjoy typing up the reviews, it's no problem.”

“dang, you are a gear-reviewin' fool today, bit!”

“Don't tempt me, I will write a review of the new socks I tried out this weekend too...”

“go for it!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

;-P”

“I put my socks into the washer using a stick after my last mult-day backpack. No way was I going to touch that toxic material.”

“I'll spare you...besides, I don't have the specs for the socks right here in front of me.

I will say, however, that starting your trip at an outfitter's can be a good thing. When I went to put my hiking socks on at the beginning of this trip, I found that I had mistakenly grabbed a pair of my wife's hiking socks. Oops. The outfitter was having a "buy two, get one free" sale, so I ended up getting three new pairs of socks.”

“I'm testing some Body Sensor Briefs at the moment if anyone's interested in a review.”

“oohhh, oohhh, me, me!

should i be frightened?
;-)”

“Probably.”

“Yes, I'm doing lunges.”

“are these anything like HyperColor? LMAO!! now that's a hilarious picture.”

“Let's see, Heather Gray, breathable, don't bind; yup we like 'em.”

“Here, I'll post a picture!”

“Noooooooooo! My thread!”

“poor bitpusher, LOL!

now THAT's hot!”

“I thought you'd be posting a picture of yourself aero, not bitpusher.”

“You know, I hesitated before posting that.

I know it isn't funny - to the point of being a thread killer.

Please ignore it and carry on. I will email matt and ask him to delete it and ban me.

Sorry.”

“LMAO!!! you're a nut. :-) don't worry, i tried to think of something to say for a good 5 minutes. i think it's a slow day for the ol' brainwaves!”

“I'm not offended.

It's sadly too close to reality. Fortunately, I still have my hair.”

“Oh - your potential offense is of no concern. There was just nothing humorous about my post.

I await banishment matt, the webmaster.”

“Way to "take one for the team", bitpusher!”

“mmmmmm, beer.....”

“OK, as a personal favor to bitpusher and an effort to drag this thread from the bowels of thread-degradation, I bought an REI Travel Sack a couple years ago. It's a 45-50 degree bag and weighs about 25 oz. It's a fiber-filled bag and I've used it when the weather is a little warmer. The bottom has a cinch so if you get really hot you can stick your feet out. It sounds like the Travel Down is a step up from that one.”

“You can't put your feet out the bottom of the Travel Down, but because it's for colder weather, maybe that's a plus....”

“The Travel Sack is really made for hostels or crashing on someone's floor, but it works on backpacking trips. If you have long underwear on it's comfortable down into the 30's.”

“Excellent review, bitpusher.

I just happen to have started shopping around to replace my really old bag (REI) and this helps with incentive.

I appreciate your effort to share and your seemingly optimism about keeping a thread wholesome around here.

mmmm....beer...aaarrghghhghg!!”

“Thanks for the review, bitpusher. Picked up two of these at the Scratch & Dent sale a few days ago for my son and I as the warm-weather synth bags we have are a bit bulky. (both REI bags needed minor mending, total ~20 minutes)

We'll get a chance to check them out next week.”

“Bitpusher you must be made of ice! Where is you hail from? Alabama? FLA? lol

Birch and I both have the traveldown45. We tested them at RRG this spring. The night time temps dropped to 23° one night and we stayed warm enough in those bags w/ 200 weight fleece clothes, to sleep well. I thought they performed exceptionally.

My review is: this is a great little bag for $99. If you can afford to spend more on something fancier you should, if not this is a good alternative.”

“I'd have been toasty with 200 weight fleece on, but I wasn't expecting cold temps, so I didn't bring any!

As it was, the bag performed to approximately its rating, so I'm pleased. It's going to be my summer bag (I was using my 20F bag) from now on.”

“Aha! You are from the South. You all are thin blooded, lol.”

“Yep, lol...”

“I love this bag, for $78 (20% discount coupon at rei) it weighs in at 1lb 7 oz's on my scale. I took it out last night and it got down to 34F I woke up once in the night to put on my fleece pants, so with fleece pants and shirt I stayed plenty warm. That's only one night, but so far I would reccomend this bag to anyone.”

“It's a great summer bag, no doubt. I love mine too. Glad you're satisfied, simer.”