Sythetic bag search

I am considering a synth bag for my BMT trip this spring. It may be awfully wet at that time of year.

I have been looking and might have made a decsion- (we will discuss this later)

My question is: What is the lightest 30 degree synthetic bag out there.
All I care about is 30 degree rating and weight.

I did search the boards some time ago and took what knowledge I gained to do my bag search - now all I want to do is be sure I have not overlooked something.

my choice http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores...mberId=12500226

You guessed it. I am either gonna get one of these, or get a 40 and do something with insulative clothing to complement. I just don't want to spoil a good trip with wet feathers.

Does that make me crazy?

http://www.gnarlsbarkley.com/crazy_video.html

I did a pretty thorough search of synthetic bags last year and considered the Pounder Plus.

Marmot may say that the Pounder Plus is a 25F bag but independent tests give it a EN13537 rating of 36F.

You'll get more warmth for the weight with a Montbell UL Alpine Burrow bag #3. Most folks who have tried Montbell bags will attest that the ratings are accurate. This bag is no exception. I've brought this bag down to 23F while wearing a synthetic jacket. The weight of my size long is 2 lb.,1oz, .just under spec.

If you go this route, choose the regular size only if you are small. I'm 5'9", 150 lb. and the long size fits me much better.

Dondo-
Montbell clothing has the same problem. Go up a size if you need to move in it, otherwise the fit will be too restrictive.

I just took my Marmot Pounder Plus down to 27 degrees in a tent in my front yard last night here in Oregon . I got a little chilled at 2 am , put a synthetic Primaloft jacket on and slept like a baby the rest of the night. I was on concrete with a Big Agnes insulated aircore full length pad, fleece pants and down booties. The Pounder is a great bag. REI Outlet has it on sale for around $129.00 !

Hooty,

I'd look closely at Mountain Gear's summer synthetic bags of Lamilite ( I think) This is the replacement for Polarguard Delta and supposedly is better. After my bad experience losing loft with Primaloft in my summer bag I'd never buy a bag with it again.

Eric

Thanks for the good input. Nothing like first hand experience.

Last summer in the Selway Wilderness I had my new Pounder Plus in sub freezing weather. Not sure how cold it got, but we woke up with thick frost, thick ice on the tents, and bladder drink tubes frozen solid. I had on capaline and I was chilly at times, but not so cold I couldn't sleep.

That night sold me on the pounder plus. I could probably go lighter with down, but I like the easy care of synthetic.

For those not familiar with the EN rating, it is based on a standardized test for bags sold in the EU. Not sure if the test is mandatory, but it may be in some countries.
Explanation- EN test explanation

Thaks Scrubby- that is what I am after. A post or two had me doubtful.

Thanks for including that link, Tom. I was being a bit lazy last night. Anyone wanting to check out the EN13537 ratings for Marmot bags can go to Marmot's European site:

http://marmot.de/index.en.php?id=2&cat=31&col=6

The temperature rating you are looking for is the one between the yellow and the blue. To convert into Fahrenheit this site in handy:

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/convert.html

I found it interesting that Marmot's stated rating for it's down bags is congruent with the independent ratings (the Hydrogen gets a EN 13537 rating of 31F) but is way off on the ratings for synthetic bags. Marmot says that the Pounder Plus is a 25F bag; the independent rating is 36F. The Pounder's rating is even worse. Marmot says it's a 40F bag:; the independent rating is 54F!