+1 on the Wiggys. Made like a brick ****house, and the fill never seems to wear out. Not something I would take summer backpacking (not exactly ultralight) but for airplane camping, car camping, hunting etc it is good stuff.

Wiggys are AWFUL to haul around (heavy in little cubs )............but absolutely glorious if you 'sleep cold' on a cold night. And if it is a several nighter where there is additional condensation in the bag insulation each night..... Wiggys is a life saver! On a real cold night, after several nights, other bags can get 'crunchy' in the outside layers at night from frozen condensation, each night the insulation value goes down with the moisture content going up.
If it is a 1 or 2 nighter there are lighter choices, but if it is lots of nights, beware.


Here we are back to life has trade offs. You get to choose yours, and ain't it grand, there are more choices all the time!

The ajunkliak bags by mammut are very nice and instead of a finite low temp they give ranges for both men and women. What i'm surprised I haven't seen anyone talk about is the Western Mountaineering bags. I would say that they are just the nicest sleeping bags in the world (of course the specialize in down) but I have to say if you're willing to spend the coin you will never be disappointed. All the professionals I work with (outdoor professionals) use them very rugged and packable, I haven't been able to convince myself I need one cause there even expensive at cost and my 40 degree kelty that's i've had forever still works.


Mike

Western Mountaineering is top shelf. My wife has their -20F Dryloft bag. Just doesn't seem to be what the original post was in the market for.

Skystrider wrote:My favorite is my Mountain Hardwear bag. It is synthetic and has accordian expansion built into it. When I turn on my side or curl up my legs, the bag automatically expands or contracts to fit my position. Most comfortable bag I have ever been in.

Did they get back into that, or do you have an older one? I have a -20F King Tut of theirs from about 12 years ago with the same feature. It was called "Crazy Legs" at the time. The baffles were constructed out of Lycra. They stopped that construction shortly after I got mine- word was that Sierra Designs held a patent on the design, and shut down Mountain Hardware even though Sierra Designs wasn't actively manufacturing any bags with that feature at the time. I agree with you, it's a great feature. It's great to be able to sit up, cross your legs, and play cards in your sleeping bag on day seven of a snow storm.

We have a couple of the Big Agnes bags, REI bags, North Face bags, and WIggly bags that we have accumulated over the years. I generally spend well over 30 nights a year sleeping outdoors in bags, and often spend many more than that depending on the fire season. We are rarely out in truly frigid weather, but often are often at altitude and without a tent in many cases.

The Big Agnes bag can use virtually any ground pad that will fit into the pad sleeve. I've used their inflatable pad, which was very comfortable, a Thermarest "camp-pad" which is not intended for backpacking that was also very comfortable, and a closed-cell fold-able pad (unknown brand) which wasn't so comfortable, but still warm. I am big, fitting into the large SC pilot category described in an earlier post, and like the extra room inside the Big Agnes bags. I am really never comfortable in mummy-style bags as I feel too restricted. I think they are really best suited to someone who sleeps all night on their back. I side-sleep and tend to flop around a lot, and when using the big agnes bag had no problems with the pad rolling up or ending up on the side of the bag. We have zipped two of the Big Agnes bags together using their inflatable pads, and that setup worked just fine, especially when compared to zipping two traditional bags together and trying to keep a couple of ground pads underneath them. The Big Agnes stuffs down nicely into the compression sack they provide and ends up being pretty compact.

Where the Big Agnes really shines is on any kind of a slope. If you wiggle around at all in a traditional bag you will slide right off your pad and onto the ground. With the Big Agnes setup you might slide out of the side of your tee-pee tent, but the pad will migrate with you. I don't think the Big Agnes bag compares with the Wiggly bag for real cold weather/survival situations. The WIggly is definitely sturdier and probably more wear-resistant (although our big agnes bags don't really seem to be showing any signs of wear either). If I knew it was going to be really cold, or damp, I would take the Wiggly bag with the outer bag and a thick ground pad, or maybe two ground pads.

The REI bags we have are OK for summer/warm weather camping, but come nowhere close to living up to their temp ratings. The North Face bags we have are just too small even though they are the extra-long models. Again, I think they are designed for someone who sleeps flat on their back and does not move around a lot.

If I am headed out in moderate conditions (not likely to be under 10 degrees or so) I would probably take the Big Agnes bag and a Thermarest camp pad because that setup is so comfortable. If unsure of the conditions, or knowing that it would be colder I'd take the Wiggly bag combo with a couple of pads. In his original post John indicated that he was interested in a 3-season bag mostly for fly-ins. I think the Big Agnes would be a good choice for that mission. The Wiggly could easily be uncomfortably warm and bulky.

Mark

denalipilot wrote:

Skystrider wrote:My favorite is my Mountain Hardwear bag. It is synthetic and has accordian expansion built into it. When I turn on my side or curl up my legs, the bag automatically expands or contracts to fit my position. Most comfortable bag I have ever been in.

Did they get back into that, or do you have an older one? I have a -20F King Tut of theirs from about 12 years ago with the same feature. It was called "Crazy Legs" at the time. The baffles were constructed out of Lycra. They stopped that construction shortly after I got mine- word was that Sierra Designs held a patent on the design, and shut down Mountain Hardware even though Sierra Designs wasn't actively manufacturing any bags with that feature at the time. I agree with you, it's a great feature. It's great to be able to sit up, cross your legs, and play cards in your sleeping bag on day seven of a snow storm.

We have the same bags. At the time they offered a longer version which I got because I could stuff my next day's clothes at the bottom so they were warm the next morning. My bag still looks new after a fair amount of use. Mountain Hardware really seems to make some nice gear!

Skystrider wrote:

denalipilot wrote:

Skystrider wrote:My favorite is my Mountain Hardwear bag. It is synthetic and has accordian expansion built into it. When I turn on my side or curl up my legs, the bag automatically expands or contracts to fit my position. Most comfortable bag I have ever been in.

Did they get back into that, or do you have an older one? I have a -20F King Tut of theirs from about 12 years ago with the same feature. It was called "Crazy Legs" at the time. The baffles were constructed out of Lycra. They stopped that construction shortly after I got mine- word was that Sierra Designs held a patent on the design, and shut down Mountain Hardware even though Sierra Designs wasn't actively manufacturing any bags with that feature at the time. I agree with you, it's a great feature. It's great to be able to sit up, cross your legs, and play cards in your sleeping bag on day seven of a snow storm.

We have the same bags. At the time they offered a longer version which I got because I could stuff my next day's clothes at the bottom so they were warm the next morning. My bag still looks new after a fair amount of use. Mountain Hardware really seems to make some nice gear!

Mine is down, but it's holding up equally well. Plus, the orange color of the Dryloft shell just exudes warmth

Mine is down, but it's holding up equally well. Plus, the orange color of the Dryloft shell just exudes warmth

I forgot they offered both synthetic and down. Great bags either way.

Sometimes I think this would be nice to wear around:

Zane- This sort of gets you the same functionality without the mummy appearance:

Feathered Friends Rock Wren

I've used these- they're pretty nice around camp in the morning, or getting up to pee in the night.

-DP

Good lord, DP. Couldn't you just picture a bunch of guys doing the "bunny hop" around the camp fire in those things -- the Rock Wren?

Nizina

the mtn hardware bag works well. i find the older i get, with the back seat out of the 182 and the seats full forward, it make a great "tent"! with that much room, u can do an airmattress big like sky-chicks set-up, or just a few pads
and extra down comforter, makes for a nice way to camp. any colder i usually head for sulphur and one of the cabins with the electric blankets...i must be getting soft at the ripe old age of 50!

Anyone every try one of the "Switch" bags by Mountain Hard? They have a accordian panel you can unzip and increase the girth by about 6 inches or so. My North Face bag is nice and light, but being 6-2 it feels like I am shrink wrapped, so I am looking at alternatives

Nizina wrote:Good lord, DP. Couldn't you just picture a bunch of guys doing the "bunny hop" around the camp fire in those things -- the Rock Wren?

Nizina

I figured most of these guys would see the obvious benefit- ease of drawing and firing