Help me choose a sleeping bag

“Have the money now! Need it to be as light as possible, (bad knees), while still fulfilling these qualifications.

Down, 750 fill or higher
at least -10

I sleep very cold. In fact I'm cold almost all the time. I live in long underwear fall to spring even when I'm not camping and I'm a SoCali girl. I guess cause there's not on ounce of fat on me. I will NOT be buying a woman's bag, already tried that, too short and narrow and constrictive feeling. Yes, I do use a thermarest under me, for those who might ask, and I do eat dinner right before bed, I know all the tricks.”

“She knows all the tricks.”

“Western Mountainering.......”

“Got Money.............Lots?”

“Maybe your temperature rating is too low Pamela? When you have a bag rated really warm you may get a bit sweaty, and then you have layers on,so the sweat stays close to your skin and makes you very cold.”

“Pamela...Are you expecting to be in temps around zero? I usually tell women to pick a bag thats at least 15°/20° warmer than they think they need.

The cold thing is about genetics. Although many are "colder" sleepers than others, women do have a few strikes against them.

Blood vessels are closer to the surface on hands and feet.

Less muscle mass.

Blood going to body parts we don't have.”

“Western Mountaineering
"Bristlecone SMF"”

“Maybe Pam is just a candy-ass.
last edited: 3/04/07 1:01:11 PM”

“I really like my Big Agnes. I like the fact that you can order them to fit you. They also have a bit more moving around room than others. I have also found that they seem to work in the range they are rated for, maybe a little bit lower temps than they are rated for, but I don't sleep really cold, just slightly cold.”

“I love mine too. They mostly run in the fill range you speciffied too, Pamela. They cost alittle less than most of the higher end sleeping bags, while still offering really nice features. The sleep system is the bomb for side sleepers.”

“worst case talk to the guy at nunatack.... he does custom.

the problem isnt always the bag. You may also be losing heat thru the ground. Insulation under you gets crushed and is useless so its all about what pad you use.

a hat can help too.
last edited: 3/04/07 1:48:27 PM”

“I sleep extremely cold too. I am a FL girl (21 years) originally from Pittsburgh. I love my WM and my Marmot Lithium. I got these bags for the exact same reason your looking for your bags, bad knees. I also sometimes use the hand warmer things in my bag with me. As a matter of fact I am sitting on the sofa now with my WM bag draped over my legs. Good luck; I feel your pain.
last edited: 3/04/07 2:12:57 PM”

“maybe MarkO, come and find out! LOL! ;O)

Nope, don't usually sweat, of course sometimes there's that menopause thing night sweats thing, G** I hate that!!! Taking black cohash and mostly avoiding it.

Yes, I do wear a fleece hat to sleep. Sometimes I'll use the handwarmers. Expecting to use this bag when the temps are 35 and lower. Yes, I know, I do sleep that freaking cold. I don't know why I feel it, I just do.”

“ "I don't know why I feel it, I just do."

Can I use that line in a song?

Ha ha, you can probably whoop your weight in wildcats, Pamela!

>8^}”

“go for it MarkO! write a song about ME! i can't wait to hear it. i haven't had a song written about me in 26 years i think.

very tiny wildcats, 100lbs worth of them, LOL!”

“Hmmmm, yeah!

It would been kinda country/rockabilly, more'n likely.

And ya know what they say...........if I play it backwards I might just get my motorcycle back.
The dog and the pickup truck are long gone.”

“you've pegged my style so far, obviously you've seen my myspace. :O)

wait, what do you mean my pickup's gone?!!!!
*goes outside to look*
didn't know i had a dog? oh, but if i had a house with a yard in the mtns, i sooooo would have a golden retriever, or maybe a lab. just dreaming here.”

“Whoa lady, I'm talkin' about MY pickup truck and dog being long gone.”

“1. Drink heavily

2. Have your Hypothalamus reset

3. sleep with somebody”

“drinking does two different things that make it difficult to sleep. vasodialation, (overdialation of your blood vessels), causing all of my blood to rise to the surface of my skin and feel overheated, then i uncover and cause myself to cool off too rapidly leading to hypothermia.

drinking more than a few drinks also disturbs the brain's sleeping patterns, making it near impossible to reach REM sleep, meaning i will constantly find myself waking up because of too light a sleep. and i'll probably be freezing when i do. . . forget that! LOL!

hypothalamus? this controls far tooooooo many things for me to mess with!

i don't want to sleep with someone, i never sleep if i do that.”

“WoW MarkO, that SUCKS! Where'd they go?”

“Bristlecone looks lovely warm, but I'm not going heavier than the 3 1/2 lb bag I'm carrying now. Gosh I wish I knew what temp rating this old bag of mine has.

North Face,
Down
3 1/2 lbs
Dark Navy Blue, inside and out.
About 30 years old.

Any of you wanna take a guess?”

“Are Marmot bags any good? My oldest son is leaning pretty heavily into buy a Valandre, have you guys ever heard of them?

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=48014468&parent_category_rn=4500515
last edited: 3/05/07 2:41:35 AM”

“have you looked at the Feathered Friends sleeping bags? - there are a couple that appear to meet your specs - good quality custom work - can be a long lead time item - the bag I have from them is excellent.”

“yeah, i was there tonight, i KNOW that they are a doggone good company, i may get one of their jackets next year. i was looking at the eider, but it was 3.625lbs for only a -10. if i'm going to spend that kind of money, and it's -10 then I want it to be lighter than that. did you see the one my son wants, i've been checking out the bags on this company's website”

““WoW MarkO, that SUCKS! Where'd they go?”

Its country music. You lose your dog and your pickup truck, etc.
So if you play it backwards, do you get those things back?”

“so far i have my truck and ain't lost it, *knocks wood*

never had the dog

have a bit** of a marriage.

what happens if i play that backwards? mind you i intend to keep the freaking truck no matter what!!!

LOL mARKo! and why do you have your name inverted this time? what is this, 3 alter egos? i'm sooooooooooooooo confused. i thought i had one personality too many, ya'll are lucky i haven't really let her out yet.”

“I have used a lot of sleeping bags. Western Mountaineering makes the best bag I have ever used. The shell is like armor compared to other down bags.”

“well, the Puma Super MF is lighter than the Bristlecone Super MF, there is also the Lynx Super MF


interesting. of course there are no prices on their own website.”

“I was thinking of the other -10 FF bag - the Widgeon - 3.25 pounds - since you are a bit on the thin side I doubt you need the extra girth of the Eider”

“i don't know, the REI Woman's -5 Kilo felt soooo restrictive, every time i rolled over, all the warm air whoosed out and all the cold air whooosed in. i don't ever want anything woman's or narrow again.”

“Pamela, you can log in any way you like......pAmElA or PAmeLA or any combination of capitals and lower case.”

“AHEM....

i don't want to sleep with someone, i never sleep if i do that.”
Pamela

Strange most guys are asleep inside say 2 minutes, regardless (LOL).....

Pammie, I had the same problem with sleeping cold and I have tried it all. If I get too warm I was waking up shivering from cold down my back (sweat). I have also found that if you get the little heat packs (last 8 hours or something) and stick it up behind your neck (near the hypothalimus) it tricks the body into thinking it is warmer. Found that little trick the other weeknd when I was in 20F weather and took my 32 bag.....”

“I have two feathered friends bags. They are just wonderful. Make sure you get a bag that fits you - if it's too big you will be cold. That's the nice thing about feathered friends bags - they make them to fit. My bags are for women up to 5'3" tall (I'm 5'2").”

“...hey, what do you think of the valandre sleeping bags?

I have never heard of Valandre befor and just looked it up on the internet. It's a french brand. Never seen them sold at any of the outdoor shops here.
Most of my own equipment is from German, Swiss, US and British brands.”

“Euro, ever buy anthing from Telemark Pyrenees?

I bought a Vaude German rucksack from them when they were still dealing in Francs.”

“I don't think that Telemark Pyrenees has any shops here in Switzerland.
Vaude is one of the leading german brands for outdoor equipment, along with Jack Wolfskin, Deuter and Salewa.”

“I shopped Telemark Pyrenees online about five years ago.”

“This is a decent site for WM bags
http://www.backcountrygear.com/index.cfm

If you're sleeping in 30 deg temps I would be very surprised if you needed anything more than a 10 or 15 deg bag. I thought I was a cold sleeper until I got a high quality bag. My 25 deg WM bag will keep me warm at 20 deg easy. I used to use a cheap zero deg bag in the same conditions and would sometimes get cold.”

“I agree with garfum.

I just bought the Marmot Helium (15 deg) at REI for $287 with the 20% off coupon. I really wanted another WM bag, but I couldn't afford the price of a warmer WM bag. Turns out the Helium actually weighs less than the WM bag which is rated the same. Lots of people seem to like the Helium. I hope I do too.

The Helium is 1 lb. 13 oz. and has 850 fill.
last edited: 3/05/07 2:09:23 PM”

“My son has the Helium. I've seen him use it in minus temps (with two pads and down booties). It's been a great bag.”

“Wow, that's good to know!”

“Just be aware of the shorter, hip-length zipper on the Marmot Helium rather than a full lenght zip.
If Pamela can handle a short zip, looks like the Helium may be her best bet, IMHO.”