Need Advice Choosing A Winter Sleeping Bag

[NewEnglandScout]

Hello Everyone!

 

I'm brand new so I hope I am posting this correctly and in the right place. I would be very grateful for your advice on choosing a sleeping bag for my new Scout. We are up in New England (CT, NY, MA) and he will be backpacking/tent camping year round, except February which will be the only month of cabin camping. Temperatures can go to zero or sometimes a little below, plus the wind.

 

I am wondering how low of a temperature rating I should get on the bag, and what you all think of the Mountain Hardware brand filled with Thermic Micro. Does anyone know if this brand is pretty accurate in their ratings?

 

I realize I will need to eventually get him a warm weather bag as well. We were pretty set on getting the Mountain Hardware Lamina 0 degree bag, but I'm not sure it will be warm enough. Would the Lamina -15 be overkill? We chose this brand because it is the one my son was comfortable in and happy with after trying on many bags.

 

I also purchased the Ridge Rest Deluxe closed cell pad, and the Thermarest Trail Pro air mattress for him. My priority is that he be safe, warm and comfortable, without making him sweat and then end up cold. I also learned a great deal such as changing all clothes and wearing a hat, gloves and socks thanks to this wonderful forum! Thank you so much!

 

By the way, would he put the Trail Pro mattress on the ground with the closed cell pad on top of it then the bag, or does the closed cell pad go on the ground with the Trail Pro on top? Where would an emergency blanket layer go in this "sleep system sandwich"?

 

What do you all think? Thank you in advance!

[GernBlansten]

I find sleeping bag ratings to be about 15 degrees too low for me. I have three bags,

Summer: a super light (~2 lbs) poly filled Coleman Exponent rated at 32. Good to about 50 for me.

Backpacking: Big Agnes LongRanger 15 degree down bag (~3 lbs). Good to about 30 for me. This is my standard bag and the one I've spent the most time in.

Winter: a Moonstone poly bag (4+ lbs) rated to -5. Good to about 10 for me.

 

I overbag. So I'll take the down and summer bag when the weather is expected in the teens. Or the summer and winter bag when temps dip below zero.

 

Check out Big Agnes sleep system. It uses an integrated inflatable pad pocket that keeps you from sliding off. They have all ranges of bags in both down and poly.

[CalicoPenn]

Welcome to the forum!!

 

To start, you've already answered one question in your search for a sleeping bag. You chose a Mountain Hardwear Lamina because its the one your son was comfortable in and happy with after trying many out - that's 9/10ths of the decision right there. Mountain Hardwear products are very good. And the bag you're choosing isn't cheap. I'd suggest that you take into account your son's current age and expected growth over the next few years - in other words, though the short bag may fit him best now, you'll want to think about what might fit him best about 4 years down the road. There is no reason that this bag can't serve him well when he becomes an adult. And definitely stick with the synthetic insulation.

 

In the US, sleeping bag ratings are not regulated as they are in France. In France, if the bag is rated to -10 degrees, it really is a -10 degree bag - and all manufacturers are required to use the exact same test to determine the rating. In the US, the ratings do vary by company, and the range can be as high as 15 degrees either way, mostly because there is no standardized test, but companies like North Face, Kelty, Mountain Hardwear, Big Agnes - those that really specialize in quality outdoor gear, tend to be pretty spot on. Given that, you can expect any one 0 degree bag from a quality manufacture to actually be a 5 or a -5 degree bag. I wouldn't worry about how accurate the rating is for a Mountain Hardwear bag.

 

For where you are, the 0 degree bag should be plenty comfortable - there really won't be that many nights he'll be camping in below zero temps. But, if you do expect him to see some below zero nights, my suggestion is rather than purchase a second bag, that you invest in (or make!) a fleece liner - which is basically a lightweight fleece blanket folded in half and sewed up at one end and along the long side - this gets stuffed into the bag and your son would just crawl into it. This combo will prove more than sufficient for a -15 degree night.

 

As an added bonus - a fleece insert can double as a warm (summer) weather bag all on its own. As you start to think about a more spring, summer and fall like bag, I'd like to make a radical suggestion and say stick with the Mountain Hardwear mummy you're buying - it looks to me like it will zip open, at least to the foot, if not around the bottom of the foot. There is nothing that says one must sleep IN a sleeping bag. I rarely do, even in winter - I tend to open my sleeping bag and use it as a blanket, with a fleece liner or blanket on top of my sleeping pad. I use a bag I purchased from North Face so long ago (alomst 20 years now) that I can't remember its name or its rating. Better to buy one very good bag that you can use all 4 seasons (or even one good bag), than to buy two very good and expensive bags - or two really mediocre bags.

 

As for the sleeping pads, if, and that's a big IF, your son is going to carry both pads with him, then he'll want to put the Ridge Rest closed cell pad on the bottom and the Trail Pro on the top. The reason is simple. The Ridge Rest is pretty much non-slip on both sides. The Trail Pro is non-slip only on the bottom. If you put the Ridge Rest on top of the Trail Pro's top side, it is much more likely that the two pads will slip around over night. That's not to say the Trail Pro's top side is slippery - it's just not a non-slip surface.

 

Now to the big IF. This is one of the cases where two of something isn't necessarily better than one of something. The Trail Pro should be more than sufficient insulation and provide plenty of comfort all on its own. Same with the Ridge Rest - though my personal preference is a Thermarest air mattress - I find the air mattress, which is NOT a typical air mattress but is instead an open cell pad with thousands of very small cells, to be more comfortable as it has a little more "give" to it. By this I mean that the air mattress is less likely to "transmit" the shape of a twig or rock to the top of the pad than a closed cell pad will. In other words, you're more likely to feel the twigs, stones and bumps in the ground under a closed cell pad, even the Ridge Rest, than under the air mattress. The added advantage to the air mattress is that you add additional air beyond the capacity of the self inflation to personalize your comfort zone.

 

At some point, your son is more likely to gravitate to carrying one or the other. Don't despair about buying both, though - they each have advantages over the other. When winter camping, I generally take both the closed cell and the air mattress. The closed cell is much more useful as a camp seat when not sleeping, than the air mattress is. It can also make a fine temporary camp table (I wouldn't cook on it, or set hot pans on it, but I would use it as a prep table, or an eating table).

 

I see no need for any emergency blanket for a sleep system. An emergency blanket is just that, something to toss into a car or day pack just in case one gets stuck away from the shelter of a tent or away from a sleeping bag/blankets.

 

Hope this helps - and have a great time with your son in Scouts!

 

Calico

[GernBlansten]

I agree that you can't go wrong with Mountain Hardware stuff if you can afford it. I have a couple of their tents and they are top shelf.

However, I would beware of getting too warm of bag. If you get a bag that can handle the coldest of temps you might ever sleep in, it will be too hot and heavy for most of your trips. That will make you keep the bag unzipped on most nights and you will be carrying extra weight than you really need.

My recommendation is get a good mid range bag and a cheap/light overbag for those really cold nights. You can use the overbag for hot summer nights alone.

[Gunny2862]

I had a lot to say but it's largely been covered already.

 

If cheap is a priority in the equation you can also usually make a fleece or even sweatshirt material liner (just don't use a full zipper that can eat up the whole $20) for less than 20 bucks if you can find enough material in a remnant sale.

This as mentioned above is often all one needs for a summer bag and will easily add 10 - 20 degrees to your regular bags rating for winter use.

[NewEnglandScout]

Thank you for all the advice!

 

I ended up choosing the Mountain Hardwear Lamina 0 Bag. I thought if I went to the -15 it might make its usefulness too limited, and the 0 bag might be more versatile with a fleece liner, as suggested. I was also concerned about the extra weight and size on the -15 bag. Since my son is already 5'1'' at ten years old, I went with the long, which in Mountain Hardwear I found was not as long as other brands' long.

 

If the temperature rating on the bag is pretty accurate, I think we should be OK. I realize the only way to know is to actually go camping! So, wish us the best and an unseasonably cold night next month for the sake of testing it out!! I just hope it does work out well since I am now a lot poorer than before we hit the camping store to gear up! Mr. Bush couldn't have sent the check at a better time!

 

I really appreciate all the help and wish you all the best out there! Camp well and thanks again!

 

 

[GernBlansten]

You got a good quality bag that should last him for many years. Make sure you follow the manufacturers guidelines on cleaning and storage. You certainly don't want to store it compressed.