Anyone have any experience with their Goose Down Bags

Yah I know, thinkin' about breakin' one of my cardinal rules and movin over to down for the weight saving attributes.

5'6" 800 fill 30-40f w/ DWR that wont break the bank is what I am looking for...

I keep thinking about upgrading my bag to. Last 2 trips I have been up in the middle of the night adding fleece and socks and knit hats etc. Brrrrr....... After 20 years in FL I went from someone who cleaned the ice out of their auger hole with their hand to the old people I used to make fun of in their coats when the temp hit the 50's.

I spent a few hours looking around. Most all the down bags seem to be the mummy style which is great for climbing but not so great for moving around in. I read all the reviews for the Cabelas bag that happy jack likes and most like them. There were some notable exceptions concerning "claminess" but since I wear a set of long underwear to crash in I don't guess it would be much of an issue. One of the few rectangular down bags out there that I came across. Evidently other people like them to as there is a 6 or 7 week backorder wait. Oh well, just throw some more fleece on I guess for this year.

I have had my Golite 40 degree bag for 6 years. It did cost a little more, but the warm and the weight sold me.  I hate being cold.  When you are warm the extra dollars are well spent

Tom

MT,

Along those lines, here's what I use for a bag:

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The main advantage over the traditional down bag is that you don't have any insulation on the bottom of the bag, saving space and weight.  Whatever sleeping pad you use provides the lower insulation since any down on the bottom of the bag gets crushed by your body and provides virtually no insulating power anyway.

I've used this bag for several years and it's the best, lightest, warmest system I've ever used.

LONGEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE
On the subject of bags some of you might get a kick out of this; When I lived and worked at Mt. Rainier National Park (Washington) I did a pretty extensive array of outdoor activities, hiking, a lot of snowshoeing etc. I lived there 3 years and had housing and meals provided............now THAT'S a base camp. As a result I had little or no actual camping experience. Clever me I decide to hike into a remote off-trail valley and spend the night and hike back out the next day. It was in the fall and it gets dark pretty early. The high country is nice in the day but gets downright freezin at night. Well, about 6 pm I turn in for the night, it being dark and I'm tired and all.


Trouble was, all I had was a cheap little bag but worst of all I had NO mat of any kind. I thought I was tough but old mother nature humbled me plenty that L-O-N-G night. Freezing and uncomfortable I stuck my face in my bag and almost done myself in. I awoke in a panic and struggling to try and get out of my bag. I had to restrain myself to stay put or sacrifice what tiny bit of warmth I had. Talk about a headache!! Tough climb out the next day with my head splitting. Oh man!!

Ah I know 15 F is simply to warm for the soft H20 season. The Golite was actually a 40 F women's sack, 'o9 womens.

Ordered a Western Mountaineering summerlite today. The Golite traveled to far from China for my taste. And the developing hole in one of my Mountain Hardware bags kept my away from the righteous deal on the woman's short Phantom I saw today.

Hopefully, lifetime bags come in part from the land of fruit's -n- nuts.


I have seen many a person struggle at night, trips cut short, and amended. Sleep is indeed very important. Socking caps, birthday suits/perfectly dry change of clothing, and keeping one's face outside of the sleeping bag are just as important as the bag. I am getting to old to sleep on the ground mat free; I least I think I am. And then there is the issue of a well venting tent or some other shelter whether it be tarp or hammock.

It is at least American made, and european feathers, and 19 0z. If it blows I will let yah know.

Yup, you'd need a new mattress.  I use the aircore mat Big Agnes sells to use with the bag. 

Big plus:  There's no foam inside the mattress so it packs incredibly small.

Big minus:  There's no foam inside the mattress so it takes longer to inflate and deflate.

No effect:  There's no foam inside the mattress which seems to have no bearing on the insulative properties of the mattress.

I think it's like 2 or 2.5" thick when inflated.  Mighty comfy, whatever it is.

I have only been here since february. In that short amount of time I have been talked into buying all sorts of stuff. It started out innocently enough with Prouboy recommending the "silky saw" (Big boy/folding,,awesome). Then Mad Matt convinced me to get the Abyss Boots. Solus followed with the "moka pot". Marlin with the "base camp"........ And now Snow Dog and Kingfisher gang up and push me over the edge on Big Agnes (and what the heck kind of name is that.........sounds like the kind of stuff nightmares are made of). And I still have to pick up the venison jerky that Solotripper likes.

Arrrrg.......I'm so weak..........AND so broke!

Oh well, at least I'll be able to ditch the big therm-a-rest. It was big and bulky and heavy. I might even be able to eliminate a dry bag. That would be sweet!

I scanned Feather Friends electronic catalog too...before the order was placed...to many fill questions though before I pulled the wallet out, and then there was the mass of the decision.

I am a junkie, there I made the first step, I acknowledge it! Gear is my friend, enemie, a fact of my life

Smartwool socks, 3 Platypus bags and two frying pans. Anyone want a nearly full set of BWJ's? I'd GLADLY part with them for the cover price and I'll pay shipping..

db wrote on Apr 26^th, 2010 at 7:31am:


Db, You sly dog. Oh ye tempter!! I love the BWJ's. I like everything about them. Informative, opinionated and yes I even like the ads. I EVEN like (and admire) Stu and his self promotion. He's running a business with products and services he wholly believes in. Of course he's going to toot his horn. What could be more American than that?

If you still have them in the fall I would be interested.

Al

mastertangler wrote on Apr 26^th, 2010 at 11:41am:

The magic words ... "ON SALE."  At least that got my attention, but I did do a little research.   The tent (Twilight 2P) is usually priced in the $250 range, but I picked it up for about 1/2 that.

My current tent (REI Half Dome 2 Plus) is perfect for my use, but is showing a bit of wear (maybe that could be related to the 80+ nights of use) and has developed a SMALL annoying leak (which I can't seem to plug).  Now I'm talking SMALL (perhaps a tablespoon of rain gets through after an all-night downpour).

These are the features of my REI that I was looking to replicate (some of which REI have chosen to engineer-out of the current version of that tent).

Two-person tent (which I use to sleep solo)
Light weight:  in the 5 pound class (packed weight)
Two-doors/two vestibules (love the extra dry storage area of two vestibules)
Center line height ~ 40 inches (allows you to sit up inside the tent)
Length: ~ 90 inches (provides head/foot buffer room so tent is not against tent wall)
Aluminum pole(s): REI uses 2, Marmot uses 1 with a multi-hub system (more later)
Adjustable vents: both have 2; Marmot is adjustable from inside the rain fly
Window (quick weather check before departing tent)
Tub floor (4 inches or more)
Extra tie-down points for stormy conditions
Color coded tent poles/anchor points (no question about which direction your tent will be pointed when erected)
Ground cloth specifically designed for tent
Gear loft and mesh pockets: This is the one deficit for the Marmot ... it has a gear loft but sets too low for practical use, but it has more mesh pockets than the REI.

Marmot additional comment:  

As mentioned above, this tent comes with a single pole with multiple (3) hubs.  The two end hubs form a "Y" shape which makes the ends (head/foot) of the tent much more vertical.  Most tents (including my REI) simply continue the pole arc to the ground, which tends to make the end-points much less useful because of the "slant."  The middle hub provides a middle hoop which put the ends of the door zipper loops closer to a pole for less shape distortion when opening/closing doors.  

Since the ground cloth was designed for the tent, it provides a "quick pitch" option where only the ground cloth and rain fly are use.  (Some of my other tents have this feature.)  This could be a useful option to throwing up a tarp for mid-day rain squalls.  I think I might be able to take the tent down while covered by the fly so at least part of my tent can be packed away dry when its raining.  But the real use of this feature is during "low bug" season, where then actual tent can be left behind to save space/weight (a bit more common situation when hiking the Rockies).

dd

BTW:  4 more pair of smart wool socks are on order and I CARRY 2 fry pans (but I HAVE at least 4).

marlin55388 wrote on Apr 26^th, 2010 at 6:01pm:

Window units (one upstairs/one down)

I do have a hammock strung up for testing purposes.

Only 1 canoe in it at the moment (I gave one away to a friend of mine to make room for the next acquisition.)

dd

A big hearty thanks to Snow Dog and Kingfisher for pointing me in the right direction on a sleep system I probably would of never even known existed.

I went for the Big Agnes "Fish hawk" bag (30 degree) and insulated mat. A few things struck me right off the bat. As per S_D's comments you can roll around all you want and everything stays in place. This is especially important with a bag that is so light. I can also now understand how S_D could get the 15 degree bag and not feel overheated. I'm so glad I didn't get the 40 degree bag. For $20 more the 30 degree bag has much more in the way of features.........fold away hood, draft chest collar etc.

While I liked the self inflating aspect of the therm-a-rest I'm certainly not going to miss the 4lb chunky bundle. That is going to be super to leave that at home and to be honest I didn't really notice any difference in comfort levels. The Big Agnes mat is at least 1/3 the size and likely only a 1/4 of the therm. I got the insulated mat partly because I think the addition of the exterior insulation would help to make it less prone to puncture both when in use and in the storing process. I also like the versatility of the insulation being one-sided so you have the option of using its insulating properties in accordance with conditions.

I'm tickled about the whole set-up (Tickled....see/ southern slang words....meaning mighty pleased). If I ever meet S_D or KF on a portage I will be glad to take a load across