Sleepingbag which one

Considering a Western Mountaineering Ultralight,or a Marmot Helium. Imay bite the bullet and spend the money? Which wouldyou choose?

There really isn't much to choose from-- both around the same price, weight and stuff size. The main differences that I can see are additional shoulder and hip room in the Helium and the extra 3oz of down.

However to be honest I would opt for the Ultralite simply because it is a couple of ounces lighter and it packs an inch smaller. The only reason why I would pick the Helium is if I needed the extra room in my bag. The Helium's hip and shoulder girth far exceeds the Ultralite.

However, if you really want to spend $400 on a sleeping bag then I would take a look at a Feathered Friend's Hummingbird or Swallow. I own their Swift and Peregrine and highly recommend their quality. Another option is a quilt-- Nunatak's Arc Alpinist--, a little over $400 though, but the hightest quality none-the-less.

Anyway I am rambling-- out of the two-- go with the Ultralite.

I got the Ultralite because it has a draft collar, which IMHO is worth at least another 5*F or more worth of insulation.

Before ordering any sleeping bag, measure your girth (measure shoulder girth over your arms and while wearing all your insulating clothing) and compare your measurements to the specs for the sleeping bag. The Ultralite is narrower than most bags. The Alpinlite is WM's wider version of the Ultralite, more comparable in girth to the Marmot Helium.

I was a bit hesitant about the Ultralite, since it's a "unisex" model and I have quite ample (!) hips. Before ordering, I emailed backcountrygear.com with my hip measurements and asked if it would work. They found an employee with similar measurements and she crawled inside the sleeping bag to check for me! And my Ultralite has worked just fine!

If price is a concern, you can probably find the Marmot Helium on sale somewhere.

I doubt you'd go wrong with either one. Before I was seduced by Western Mountaineering bags, I used a Marmot Helium and Hydrogen, and was quite pleased with both. However, after I bought my first WM bag, I never looked back. (I have a Megalite, Mitylite, and Alpinlite.) There is no difference in quality; both are well-made. However, I've found that Marmot bags tend to be pretty much dead on in the temperature ratings, while the WM bags tend to be about 5 degrees conservative. And, for some reason, they just "feel" better.

Beyond that, as others said, choose the bag that fits you the best. I was lucky; both the Marmot and Western Mountaineering fit me well. I looked at the Ultralight, but chose the Alpinlite because it was a bit larger in the chest and shoulders.

When deciding which bag fits, don't forget to consider whether you'll ever want to wear additional clothing inside the bag. A primary motivating factor in wanting the slightly larger bag was the ability to wear a down jacket and down pants inside the bag, to extend the range if I needed to; you may not be following a similar strategy.

But, in the end, get the one that fits you best. You'll like either one.

Well Thank you for your response. I have reveiwed your post and done some homework. The Wm UL. in reg length has a 59 inch girth. Exact same as my Sub Kilo from REI in Long length. Hench same issue with shoulder girth. Marmot Helium is 5 inch wider girth in reg length. However I dont like that it is made overseas! I am going to hold off a couple monthes till i try out sub kilo in my new hammock. Perhaps I will try a quilt. If not mabe the wider WM bag I willgo with. I am union employee ,so Made in USA means allot!

I have both the WM ultralight and a Marmot Pinnacle and the WM is my prefered bag. At 5'11" and 145, the Marmot just has too much space and I am colder even though the bag is rate 5 degrees colder.

I must second the recomendation for the Feathered Freinds bags. They are very well made and are available in an assortment of sizes.

They are also made in Seattle.

I have a WM Caribu (35*), FF Swift (20*),and a Marmot Hydrogen (30*). These are summer, fall/winter and inbetween bags respectivly. I definitely think the FF bag is the beter of the three, and it was more expensive.

Since I haven't used the Hydrogen since I got the FF Swift I may sell the Hydrogen now.

Good luck with your choice.

If you have an issue with shoulder girth in the WM Ultralite, you should get the WM Alpinlite instead.

Kent,
Considering the cost of this purchase and its importance to your future, I would not buy either until I could lay them side by side, examine them and crawl into them. Fit is everything and far more important than ratings as a drafty bag is cold. Little things like do you roll over inside your bag or with your bag make a difference thats hard to figure out theoretically how each bag will work for you. Nothing has been said about how the hood fits etc, like how easy is it to get out of each when you are fully in and tightened up?

Get a good draft tube, preferably a double draft tube.
Jim

Well, made in USA, WM makes stuff in Canada now, check it out to see if they make it all there. Some things just are not made in the USA, many tents are overseas.

I can live with made in Canada. Jim I do need to compare closer. I am 5ft 11inches tall and 57 inch shoulder girth. That is pulling tape rather snug around. Hence my current bag is little to tight a fit. Ideal situation would be if I could rent a bag to try at a local shop in say Gatlinburg TN, Then I could actually see how it works out for a couple days and buy if I like it. I doubt I could get that lucky. I do need to find a store that carrys the bags and at least crawl in one,.
Bad thing is closest place is REI in toward Chicago! I hate the city!
I have also read a reveiw on WM ultralight, that fabric was to thin , and bag was loseing down? I find hard to beleive. WM users have you experienced this?

Kent you sound kinda like me. As JimShaw said you really will want to try them on if at all possible.

I decided I wanted to buy a new bag sometime last summer, and spent until a couple of weeks ago trying on.

It's not always posisble but when it is, do it.

Now FWIW, I did end up going with a western mountaineering bag, after much trying on.... - it just fit and felt better than the others - however my purchase was a versalite - all bags are different.

WM test - regarding a WM super kodiak goretex bag rated at -5F.

I camped out in the lava flow behind the house last night and I see my goretex bag has lots of little delamination spots. I bought it about 1987 at the Western Mountaineering store in San Jose and somewhere I have the original receipt. So anyway I may also be looking for a new WM bag, a free one. The bag is still perfect, but what the heck, maybe I can get a new lighter one that compresses more.

I've ben looking at the WM guarantee and catalog and it seems that I am in the ratjher enviable position of returning a very expensive old 700 down goretex Kodiak bag for a new 850 down windstopper kodiak bag. I will definitely get the 6' model this time, not the 6'6" model.

I want to add that my very expensive deep winter coat from Marmot also has delamination, but there is no replacement equal to the model 40 coat except for an 8,000 meter parka. Marmot offered me a whole set of replacement coats, but none are the equivalent of what I have and frankly goretex delamiation does not affect function, so I decided to keep the coat. Besides its purple/violet and teal, where can you get those colors today? Actually one of the guys I camped with said they were "gay colors".
Jim

When you pay the price for a expensive item with liftime warrenty it should be lifetime. Cabelas recently replaced a down coat I had with a gift card . But card was worth what I paid for coat over ten years ago!
I had a zipper issue with my Mt. Smith pack Last year it snaged and broke. I sent it back to Mt. Smith and they repaired the zipper and gave me a 25.00toward next purchase!
Thanks for all advice I am going to take my time and try different bags on for size!

Can't speak directly to the Ultralite, but I've not lost any down from my 3, all of which are in that "lite" series (4, actually - I also got a Mitylite for my wife when she went car camping with me one spring; she now uses it for camping out on the sofa bed when both kids, their spouses, and our granddaughters come see us.)

There's been the occasional feather work its way out, but never more than one, maybe two, during a whole trip. I think that's pretty normal for any down bag; my buddy's Megalite did the same thing for him, and I've lost 2 or 3 feathers from a down jacket I've had for several years.

Glen That is kindawhat I figured. I have heard nothing but rave reveiws about WM. bags, period! Except for 1 he sold his because it was supposedly loseing down? I know one fact for certain. We can never please everyone!