Sleeping Bag

[Rich.]

The plan right now is to hunt in CO next year. Elevation will be around 10,000' and season will either be 1st or 2nd rifle. Am I better off going with a 0 or 15 degree bag?

 

[Stid2677]

I will just say this,, sleeping bag ratings, bullet BCs, you can keep your insurance... take it all with a grain of salt. My experience is if you want to sleep warm, pick a bag rated for 20 degrees colder than you expect...

Steve

 

[8Crow]

Short answer: for those seasons, get a 0 deg AND an appropriate pad.

Long answer: If you can find a bag/company that EN rates their bags you'll get a better picture of what you're working with. If not, Stid's advice is spot on, IMO.

Hunting CO 1st rifle season this past year, I was in a Marmot Couloir 0 deg (down), EN rated at -3F or somewhere in that neighborhood and I slept most of the night with it partly unzipped. When I did zip it, I didn't have to cinch down around my face much at all. Conversely, on the trip before that I was in a North Face Elkhorn 0 deg synthetic and I had that thing zipped up and cinched down as tight as I could, still couldn't get a good night's sleep. The difference? Not so much the bag above me as the pad under me. The first time all I had was a Thermarest Ridge Rest and the second time I had an Exped Downmat 9. Not even comparable for heat or comfort. The Exped is a lot heavier but I'll suck it up every time for the quality of sleep I get with that thing.

 

[Buckman]

^^^^^ these guys speak the truth. Go with a 0 deg. I have that Marmot Couloir Bag also. Nice bag but big to pack.

 

[Browtine]

I'd get the 0 if you're a cold sleeper or don't like sleeping in much besides your base layer. If you're a warm sleeper or don't mind sleeping in your puffy's if the temps drop, the 15 will suit you fine (as long as it's a top quality 15 degree bag!). I've hunted 1st or 2nd season in CO for the last 7 years or so and I use a 5 ,with a 2oz overfill so closer to a 0, and my buddy uses a 15. Both WM bags.

 

[jmez]

This one is personal preference. If I took Stid's advice I would have the bag unzipped and thrown back. I'd be sweating and not able to sleep.

 

[justinspicher]

I got lucky and found a Mountainsmith 0* bag for $25 off of Craigslist. It's the bomb. I just stick my pad under it with my super woobie and I am good to go. The coldest I've been in though is only about twenty degrees.

 

[Darren Best]

It's far easier to cool off a bag that is too warm than it is to warm up one that is too cold.

 

[Stid2677]

It's far easier to cool off a bag that is too warm than it is to warm up one that is too cold.

I agree, not much worst than shivering all night unable to sleep because you are shivering too hard to go to sleep. Hard to get up to be even colder, only takes about 2 nights of that before you throw in the towel... Ask Shrek,,, he ended up in a motel for that very reason.

My bag is my happy place, where I can go to be warm and rest to get up and face the day rested and ready to get at it.

But to each there own. That is just my experience from spending 20 years while in the Army sleeping in a cheap bag, and then buying a good one to use when I got out. I now spend on average of 45 to 60 nights a year in a bag in Alaska and have done so for the last 10 years.

 

[Huntr]

Stid,
I would be interested to know what bag you use.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Stid2677]

I have a stable of probably 10 different bags... Depending on the hunt dictates which bag I use.

For backpacking hunts with temps down to 35 or so, I use The Big Agnes Zirkel SL +20°F mummy sleeping bag and either the Big Agnes Insulated Aircore or Ther-A-Rest Women's NeoAir™ XLite, this bag has NO insulation on the bottom and uses the pad which fits into a sleeve on the bottom. I'm a rodeo/side sleeper and this combo works well for me. By the bag being held in the sleeve I always wake up on the pad. I also always keep my bag in a TI Goat Raven Bivy, extra warmth and it keeps my bag dry and crawlies out.

I bought a Zpacks 20 degree waterproof down bag this fall for the wife with extra fill, we set it up with the Women's NeoAir XLite and Raven Bivy combo, she used it on our sheep hunt and I used it for several other hunts. It was as warm or warmer than the Zirkel and quite a bit lighter.

For winter and motorized hunts a tend to use the Wigg'y bags, have several, but mostly use the Overbag with either the Glacier Hunter inside or my Zirkel inside the over bag.

For backpacking hunts, I will wear either merino base layers in the bag if needed or my puffy gear with the hood up or a fleece hat to hold the heat in my head.

Steve