Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

I'm looking for the best value (for the price) cold weather sleeping bag. Any ideas? Mil Surp is just fine with me as long as its good. Thx for your suggestions!

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

I'm a big fan of USGI bags myself, these are good, be even better if you can find an old one that is down filled...

http://www.majorsurplus.com/US-Extre...4013C1969.aspx

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

Wiggys.

Almost too hot if you retain central heat, and you will end up fighting your smarter pets for possession of them.

Very washable and very warm. Dries easily from any washing, or damp.

Strange sleeping bags ,with a clingey sort of lining too, you get used to that. But if down ever gets wet . . . I am a great fan on down. The cats' choice here is a Wiggys. I use one every night and can hardly get near it for cats. It reflects heat back very well and they sussed that fast. Cats can be trusted in such an assessment. I have one cat, a fat one, who will not leave it all night.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

I have been the biggest fan, and still am, of both down and sheep skin for bedding materials. But I now have to think in TSHTF both are hard to dry. While I agree with you no end that a good ex mil down bag is excellent.

Wet down, though, is useless and heavy. Sheepskin rots if it gets wet much.

I never thought I would speak in favour of synthetics, Wiggy bags, but I do, in the circumstances. Not as comfy, but very easy to clean and light.

But for 'homesteading' no doubt, down or sheep skin, on the bed.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

Probably the best value is shopping your local garage sales, moving sales, local craigslist or ebay for a better quality used one...a North Face, REI, etc...

The best down sleeping bags (imo), i.e. western mountaineering or feathered friends retain their value on ebay and its impossible to get a good deal on them...

Military surplus down bags are a good way to go...its hard to beat the price for the product but the feathers are coarse and not fine...

Sleeping bags typically come in 3 lengths...Long, Regular and Short...be sure you fit the bag you order...

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/arti...ckpacking.html#
Down

Down is the fluffy plumage that forms the undercoat of geese and ducks. This natural fiber is an extraordinary insulator. Premium down usually comes from geese, as their plumes offer a higher fill power. Fill power (or loftiness) refers to the number of cubic inches 1 ounce of down will displace. The higher the down's fill power, the less down is needed to achieve a given temperature rating. For example, a +10�F bag using 800-fill-power down will weigh less than a +10�F bag using 600-fill-power down. Because high-fill-power down is less plentiful, it usually comes with a higher price tag.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

Have a WWII era "down" mountain mummy bag; excellent sleeping if you don't mind the occasional feather that pokes through the cotton. Have heard that the best USGI bags are the cold weather evac bags for takeing out the wounded, about ten pounds of "down" in those rare babys.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

I'm Seriously thinking of getting one of these babies:
http://www.majorsurplus.com/Assets/P...2-6695-All.jpg
http://www.majorsurplus.com/Complete...4009C1969.aspx
They can be used in all type of weather as they are three parts

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

Lucy225,

Synthetic is the way to go, period. Twenty-plus years field experience in the military and backpacking on my off time have afforded me a lot of hard knock lessons.

Until about 9-10 years ago we had the old sleeping bags that DesertJack recommended and they were absolutely miserable for field use in bad weather. If it got wet in the field it stayed wet until you got out of the field which meant that you could spend weeks with a wet bag. Those old bags, when wet, would not do anything to keep you warm; they were also like a sponge soaking up the water which greatly increased the weight.

On many occasions I have crawled into a wet synthetic bag and was still able to stay warm (still a little miserable but warm). On each of these occasions I also woke up the next morning with a dry (or almost completely dry bag depending on how wet it was) bag because my body heat was able to dry it out.

Synthetic bags are also about 60-70% lighter and pack / compress down to 50%, or smaller, of the size of the old military bags and other older designed bags.

Hope this helps.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

The double bag you showed looks good, just like what we have in the military except we also have an outer Gor-Tex bivy bag.

I have several different bags and if the wife did not have the garge junked up I could go out and see the exact manufacturers.

Northface, Sierra Designs, Wiggies, Marmot, REI, Jack Wolfskin, or LL Bean, it really doesn't matter they are all good. More important is the temp / season rating - summer, three season, four season. Thats why I like the double bag system, more flexibility.

Also, go with a mummy bag design. They help retain body heat when needed. I've slept out in -45 degree weather for weeks on end up at Fort Drum, NY in the double military bag (three if you count the Gor-Tex bivy bag) system and was completely comfortable while in the bag.

Believe it or not what is really important for comfort, especially in really cold weather, is to strip down while in the bag. This keeps your body from sweating and keeps you from getting cold. In -45 degree weather the only thing I had on was boxer shorts and I slept like a baby. Before I learned this trick I would have a pair of socks and lightweight (t-shirt weight) poly-pro tops and bottoms and I was sweaty and miserable and my feet were constantly freezing.

Whatever bag you decideon I would highly recommend that you also spring for a Gor-Tex bivy bag, they are worth their weight in gold.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

A lot of the choice between down and synthetic comes down to personal style. I have done guiding in several places, including North Georgia, which is nasty wet and cold, as well as done personal trips in NY and AK. I mention these three because they are the most challenging to work with staying dry. Because of care and practice, down works for me. I only use tarps and occasionally a bivy. I did spring to the bag with the waterproof breathable shell which not only will repel a bit of wind spray, but will protect the bag in a bivy, where there will always be a bit of condensation.

With that said, if you don't care to be so worried about it, synthetic is no fuss, no muss. I have been in a SOAKED synthetic bag, and slept ok. I woke up feeling like I had been steamed, but at least I slept. Weight and compressibility are the main reasons against synthetic. They just don't get as small in your pack. For kids or people that don't spend years in the outdoors, synthetic bags are relatively fail safe. Weight and space wise, down wins. Anecdotally, most people I know who have used both extensively say there is a difference in the quality of warm between the two with the edge going to down. I tend to agree, but as I can't describe it more specifically, I'll leave that to you.

As for brands, in the past I would have said Sierra Designs in a heart beat was best bang for the FRN, but I had one of their top of the line down bags blow out on me, and they don't seem to be too concerned about fixing the situation. So at the moment I would say steer clear. Another point in down's favor is that the bags generally last two or three times as long at the very least, as long as they are properly cared for and stored. So, if you go that route, spending the extra money for a high end bag, will be recouped in the long run.

A note on Wiggy's: one of the programs I worked for used these for the kids. I am not a fan. I don't want to bash them, so if you want specifics let me know so I can expand, otherwise I'll leave it at that.

Bivy's are nice, make sure you read up though as there are many styles and philosophies to their construction. I personally use a Bibler hoop bivy. Spendy but has keep me dry in a down pour, in my down bag, with no other protection from the elements.

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

I LOVE THIS THING... After 6 months in a tent you get to love pretty much anything if your willing to work with what you've got

:36_3_13:

I think I might get one

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag
 

an alternative to a bivy is a single skin tent (no rainfly, sometimes no floor) and the one i'm currently using in the field is a Six Moons Wild Oasis and if you're willing to sacrifice some dampness for a whole lot less carrying weight it might be something you're interested in...13 ounces, 35 square feet...

when i first became acquainted with single skin tents some years ago i started with an integral designs sola at 2.75 pounds, then a sierra designs divine lightning at 2.2 pounds...i have an OR bivy, but never took to bivys much, and with a 13 ounce tent its a wash on the weight...

http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=48

.........

Re: Best Value Sleeping Bag