As a figurative packhorse on and off the trail in my earlier outdoor years I am slowly coming to the conclusion that, even though I like "my stuff," I had better ease up a bit on the weight of my gear.

With that thought in mind I decided a down bag was required. ( That thought initially put there my Marlin and re-enforced by SD and KF) A Go-Light bag was soon in the mail. But wait, what was this.....SD was trumpeting his Big Agnes bag and when KF seconded it the Go-Light  was soon happily traveling back home.

I settled on the 30 degree Fish hawk and the insulated pad. This seems to be a perfect set-up for june -sept. The bag Itself has quite a few additional features which makes it a good value. The neat thing was how the pad slides into the rear of a specially designed slot underneath the bag. This keeps the bag continually centered over the pad. Like to twist and turn at night?........You won't be in a knot in the morning struggling to find the zipper.

That is especially important with a bag that seems to be comprised of mostly air. Man is it light. And coupled with a compression stuff sack I  save a lot of space.

I picked up the insulated pad mostly because I liked the thougt of some additional protection while I was folding it up. Spring a leak with this pad and you will for all intents and purposes be sleeping on the ground. The pad itself packs up to the size of a large grapefruit and I think is about a pound. That is huge weight and space savings over my luxury edition therm-a-rest.

Negatives? The 30 degree rating is a bit generous. I'm not sure I would be excited about sleeping in the low 40s with it. But I'm always prepared, however, with additional long underwear and fleece hat and fleece "wading socks" for nippy weather. The pad takes a bit of lung power to inflate. Yes it's a bit additional work compared to the therm but with the space and weight saving for a comparable good sleep it's no contest in my book. The pad doesn't break down as fast either. One trick I have found is to release the valve and go and have breakfast. She will be well on her way to seeing things your way.

I strongly suggest you house your bag while on the trail in a waterproof stuff sack. I use a waterproof compression sack which I snug only gently. This of course helps to insure your bag won't get soaked. If it does it's useless and could put you in trouble. So, make sure your tent zipper is shut while your out fishing.
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Yo Ben,
I think some of the Quiet Journey community has the Lost Ranger bag (15 degree). I didn't think the price was out of line for a down bag at $220 considering all the features. The Pad will run a bit as well.

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I have the Lost Ranger bag and the Air Core insulated mattress but I have never slept in it. My wife uses it all summer long. With this system I/she would highly recommend an insulated mattress.
When we camp together she sleeps comfortably inside her Big Agnes setup while I use a 40 degree synthetic bag on top of an uninsulated Air Core and rarely get inside the bag. Go figure. I do spend most nights chasing my mattress around the tent, she never does.

Our 5 year old mattress has failed. It developed multiple seepage type leaks all on one end. We returned it to Big Agnes and are awaiting their evaluation and decision.

nctry_Ben wrote on Aug 15^th, 2010 at 5:55pm:

I don't know what the warranty is but when I reported the failure to Big Agnes they agreed to have a look at the mattress and then decide if it qualified for replacement.

Glad to hear it when a manufacturer actually stands by the product and is willing to learn from failures rather than accusing the customer of maltreatment.