Down Sleeping Bag Choices
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Lightweight Sleeping Bags For Backpacking
When you're out backpacking, you want to be prepared in case the weather turns unexpectedly cold, but you also want to carry the lightest pack possible. A down sleeping bag offers the best warmth-to-weight ratio, as well as being ultra-compressible. A mummy-shaped bag cuts down on overall weight of the bag, and its closer fit means you'll sleep warmer without a lot of extra air space inside.
GoLite's Adrenaline mummy-shaped down sleeping bag is an ultra-light 3-season bag rated to 20 degrees. Its 800 goose down fill delivers superior warmth at just 1 pound, 14 ounces -- perhaps the lightest 3-season bag available. Vertical and horizontal baffles keep the 5" loft down evenly distributed so you don't get any cold spots. Part of the Adrenaline's light weight is due to the zipper being torso-length rather than full-length. Its position on top of the bag allows you to sleep on your side comfortably and makes it easier to ventilate the bag when temperatures go up.
Top and bottom, GoLite's attention to detail makes the Adrenaline top choice for many backpackers. The hood is pieced with five shaped panels to ensurse a close fit to keep out the cold. Likewise, the foot box is a trapezoidal shape; it gives you room where you need it with no extra space to steal your body heat. One thing you don't want is a wet down sleeping bag, so at both ends of the Adrenaline, a waterproof-breathable fabric guards against condensation. A waterproof stuff sack is included to keep the bag dry on the trail.
GoLite's Adrenaline mummy-shaped down sleeping bag is an ultra-light 3-season bag rated to 20 degrees. Its 800 goose down fill delivers superior warmth at just 1 pound, 14 ounces -- perhaps the lightest 3-season bag available. Vertical and horizontal baffles keep the 5" loft down evenly distributed so you don't get any cold spots. Part of the Adrenaline's light weight is due to the zipper being torso-length rather than full-length. Its position on top of the bag allows you to sleep on your side comfortably and makes it easier to ventilate the bag when temperatures go up.
Top and bottom, GoLite's attention to detail makes the Adrenaline top choice for many backpackers. The hood is pieced with five shaped panels to ensurse a close fit to keep out the cold. Likewise, the foot box is a trapezoidal shape; it gives you room where you need it with no extra space to steal your body heat. One thing you don't want is a wet down sleeping bag, so at both ends of the Adrenaline, a waterproof-breathable fabric guards against condensation. A waterproof stuff sack is included to keep the bag dry on the trail.
Best Lightweight Sleeping Bag
Ultralight down sleeping bag
~Winner of the 2010 Backpacker Magazine Editors Choice Award~
~100% Recycled Nylon Shell and Lining~
~Cotton Storage Sack Included~
How to Clean a Down Sleeping Bag
A clean bag is an efficient bag
Eventually you will need to clean your down sleeping bag. Dirt and body oils decrease the efficiency of the down insulation, leading to a decline in bag performance. A wet down bag is heavy, so handle it with care to avoid tearing threads and to protect your investment.
Hand-washing is the recommended method for cleaning a down sleeping bag. Place the bag in a bathtub of warm water and gentle soap. Woolite will work, but it's better to use a cleanser specially formulated for down. Soak the bag, then work the soapy water through the materials with your hands. Rinse repeatedly to get all the soap out. If you want to wash your bag in the machine, use a front-loader on the gentle cycle. Whichever method you use, it's important to rinse well; soap residue in the down hampers its insulating properties.
Tumble dry your down sleeping bag on low heat. Adding a clean tennis ball with the bag helps to fluff up the down as it dries. If you prefer to air-dry the bag, you will have to shake it occasionally as it dries so the down doesn't form clumps.
Hand-washing is the recommended method for cleaning a down sleeping bag. Place the bag in a bathtub of warm water and gentle soap. Woolite will work, but it's better to use a cleanser specially formulated for down. Soak the bag, then work the soapy water through the materials with your hands. Rinse repeatedly to get all the soap out. If you want to wash your bag in the machine, use a front-loader on the gentle cycle. Whichever method you use, it's important to rinse well; soap residue in the down hampers its insulating properties.
Tumble dry your down sleeping bag on low heat. Adding a clean tennis ball with the bag helps to fluff up the down as it dries. If you prefer to air-dry the bag, you will have to shake it occasionally as it dries so the down doesn't form clumps.
Marmot Sawtooth 15-Degree Sleeping Bag
Goose down sleeping bag
At 2 pounds, 14 ounces, the Marmot Sawtooth down sleeping bag isn't the lightest, nor is it the most compressible, but this bag gets rave reviews from users. Its 600+ fill down, along with certain construction details make the 15-degree rating right on the money. While temperature ratings usually refer to the limit where the bag can help keep you alive, users report actually staying warm at the lower temperatures.Stretch baffles between the nylon shell and lining let the Sawtooth down sleeping bag move with you at night, instead of pulling and tearing threads. Heat could sneak out through seams on top of a sleeping bag, so Marmot kept the side seams on this bag low to the ground to minimize heat loss. The trapezoidal foot box is shaped to fit your feet and keep them warm, and the fitted hood snuggles around your face. The best thing is there is no scratchy Velcro on the hood!
Have you ever rolled around in a sleeping bag and had the zipper unzip itself, letting in a rush of cold air? That won't happen with the Sawtooth down sleeping bag. The two-way zipper has locking sliders that stay put until you want them to move. Cold drafts are kept at bay by the draft tube along the zipper and the down-filled drawcord-cinched collar around the neck. Another way the Sawtooth sleeping bag keeps you warm at night: there's a stash pocket to hold small items like a watch or mini-light so you don't have to crawl out of the bag into the cold.
Keep Your Down Sleeping Bag Dry
Wet = cold; Dry = warm
For all its outstanding qualities for lightweight and compressible insulation in sleeping bags, down has one downfall. It has no insulating value when it's wet. Always take care to keep your down sleeping bag dry. In your pack, carry your bag in a waterproof stuff sack. Guard against condensation while in the tent. Hang the bag to air out whenever you can. And before you hit the trail, treat the outside of the bag with a breathable water-resistant solution.
Big Agnes Lost Ranger Down Sleeping Bag
15-degree backpack sleeping bag
Any insulation works because of the minute air spaces within and between the fibers. But what happens when the insulation in your down sleeping bag is compressed? Then the air spaces are no longer there, and the insulating value of the material disappears. That means the down on the bottom of your sleeping bag gets compressed by your body and does you no good at all!Big Agnes addresses this compression issue in their Lost Ranger down sleeping bag. The 650 down fill extends around two-thirds of the bag, but the bottom is left uninsulated. Instead, they have incorporated a sleeve for a sleeping pad -- something that you'll be carrying anyway. This system allows the sleeping bag to be lighter in weight (just 2 pounds, 12 ounces for the regular size) while still providing sufficient warmth. The sleeping pad provides more insulation from the cold ground than crushed down would, and you won't ever roll or slide off the pad.
The nylon microfiber shell and lining of the Lost Ranger sleeping bag minimize the escape of stray down. The pad sleeve is tough nylon rip-stop for long-lasting wear. All outer surfaces are coated with breathable water-resistant treatment to repel water. While this Big Agnes bag incorporates the same cold-defeating details of most sleeping bags, the unique system of using a sleeping pad as part of the insulation makes it one of the most innovative down sleeping bags on the trail.
Big Agnes Sleeping Pads
Use with Big Agnes Lost Ranger down sleeping bag
The Lost Ranger down sleeping bag will accommodate a 20-inch wide sleeping pad in its bottom sleeve. Sleep warm and comfortable with a cushiony layer of insulating air beneath you and the loft of the Big Agnes down bag above.
Easily Inflate Your Big Agnes Sleeping Pad
Multi-purpose bag
Big Agnes The Pumphouse - Multi-use Dry Sack and Pad Pump
Amazon Price: (as of 05/30/2012)
Backpackers are all about multiple-purpose gear. In the interest of efficiency and weight savings, every item in the pack should serve at least two purposes. This item of Cordura fabric serves as a dry bag, stuff sack, water carrier, portable shower.....and it helps to inflate your Big Agnes sleeping pad. At just 1.5 ounces, that's worth carrying!
Kelty Light Year Down Sleeping Bag
Women's 20-degree backpacking sleeping bag
A sleeping bag needs to provide just the right amount of space inside. You want a little bit of room to provide a layer of insulating air space, but not so much that it takes all your body's energy to heat dead air. Kelty's Light Year down sleeping bag is sized for a woman's proportions. Available in regular and long, and contoured to a female shape, it eliminates dead air space that can leave you cold.Besides being the right size and proportion, the Light Year sleeping bag for women puts more insulation where a woman needs it. Women's bodies lose heat differently than men's, so this down sleeping bag puts more down fill in the hood, chest, and foot areas of the bag. The bag also retains heat with a snuggly hood, a baffle collar, and a snag-free draft tube along the hip-length zipper.
The polyester shell and lining of the Light Year bag will hold up to years of use. The 650+ down fill is held in place by mesh baffles -- a unique construction detail that allows warm air to circulate throughout the insulation while still keeping the down from shifting. A foot vent zips open for ventilation when the weather heats up.
You'll always stay warmer if you sleep on a sleeping pad, and the Kelty Light Year has loops to hold a pad in place securely. No more sliding off onto the cold ground! You can also extend the functionality of this down sleeping bag by using it as a liner; snap loops provide points to attach to an outer bag.
Women's Down Sleeping Bags
Compact sleeping bags to keep you warm
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What is the most important feature in a down sleeping bag?
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SayGuddaycom
Jan 25, 2012 @ 7:58 pm | delete
- Thanks for sharing.
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by MysticTurtle
I had a normal childhood, but somewhere along the way I took off on my own path. I backpacked the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail in 2001 and the 700-mile... more »
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