Re: sleeping bag question

Not sure what he's going to be able to get in that price range, but he might want to start by looking at Campmor and REI house brands, then move to the sales at Campmor and REI Outlet. Kelty might also have a bag around that price. He's probably not going to get down for what he's willing to spend, and I haven't priced synthetics in a while, so I don't really know what's out there.

“however, my friend wants to get a sleeping bag, and not spend more than 60 bucks on a bag. any suggestions on what he should get? it'd be for fair-weather camping, down here in tennessee, during the fall/spring. temperatures between 40-70 degrees.
thanks!”

Hmmm. I think you can get a “0” degree bag at walmart (really a 35 degree) for that price. But plan on carrying 7 lbs of bag vs 1lb total for a 800+ fp down bag.

Glenn has good ideas for bag savings; and try Sierra Trading Post.

You’ll see this here a lot:

You can only pick 2 out of the 3:
Warm
Low weight
Low cost


-Barry

What's out there for the price range you quote are a lot of heavy, inaccurately rated bags that compress as well as bricks.

Campmor brand down bags are a better deal - they will be heavier and less compressible than the really nice, really expensive down bags, and may be a shade optimistically rated, but they are relatively inexpensive and a good buy at around $120.

If you want something reasonably light, without a lot of money to spend, forego the sleeping bag. Go to wal-mart and buy a single bed size down comforter. get a waterproof bag (turkey bag or garbage bag) to put it in in your pack.

It's not the best, but it's light, and practical. you do need to keep it dry.

If you do the research, so you know what you are looking at, I'd look for a bag on Craigslist or eBay. I like Craigslist better because prices tend to be lower and you aren't bidding against someone who just has to have whatever you are bidding on.

A down bag for $100? Don't know about that. Look through the Sponsor ads on the site here which have a lot of bags listed.

A reasonable choice for a casual user like your friend, in my opinion, would be something like a North Face Cats Meow. I have an old one. Not $60 new, but used ones should be fairly common since it is a popular bag.

Problem with the comforter approach is that most comforters made for in-home use have cotton shells. This will just soak up moisture in the damp SW environments. I think if you look around you can find a fair synthetic sleeping bag on sale in the $60-80 range. With warm temps, you do not need much so should be able to find a 40-degree bag that is under 3 pounds. When I was broke and needed a bag I bought a cheap dacron fill 0-degree Slumberjack bag and it kept me warm- made me really appreciate my down bag when I could finally afford it - how nice to go from a 4 pound bag to a 2.5 pound bag! I also had an external frame pack - in this case just buy a bigger stuff sack for the sleeping bag! No problem.

I met a number of happy backpackers between Harpers Ferry and Waynesboro VA this last summer who were carrying very compact Lafuma synthetic bags. They liked how small a ball the stuff/compression sac provided worked out. They liked the price, and they liked the idea that enough Lafuma dealers were up and down the trail that they could get warranty replacement.

I don't know if these are just the 2009 bags by Lafuma. I bought a real inexpensive Steep and Cheap . com Lafuma as a guest bag, last year, and it was unimpressive. Except it was probably worth the $38 or so cost I paid for it.

TheOutfitterAtHarpersFerry.com carried Lafuma 2009 bags and so did some place down in Damascus VA.

Back in about 1978, one of the lab technicians joined a couple of us Heavy backpackers in a discussion. He described doing weekend backpacking in the Californai Sierra Mountains using only a daypack. No sleeping bag. He and his wife would sleep under a store bought down quilt.

At that time, we REAL backpackers simply thought he was crazy.

Now I often sleep under a quilt, a backpacking one, and am pleased that I got out of the sleeping bag for summer backpacking.

Some things take a long time to learn -- or unlearn.

I picked up a Sierra Designs Arrow Rock 30 for $129 about a month ago from Steep and Cheap. It's not as nice as the Montbell that Lori recommended to me in another thread but I'm not $200 worth of dissatisfied with it.

Last week I saw an Arrow Rock 45 for $99 so if you've got time before you have to buy, you can install a Mozilla or IE plugin from their website and shop while you should be working.

http://www.steepandcheap.com/steepcheap/fuel_your_addiction.html

First of all, I do not really think that you will find a decent down bag for a $100.00... It really all depends on where you are hiking and what type of weather that you might encounter. If you plan to trek in wet or rainy conditions, there is no way that I would get caught out in the back country with a down bag. The reason is that if it ever gets wet, it loses 95% of it's insulating power, and it is rather difficult to get dried again..A synthetic bag, I realize, you do not want wet, but if it does get wet it will still retain it's insulating powers. I use both and it greatly depends on what type of weather that you are going to be trekking in...hope that helps...sabre11004...

I have been in wet, rainy, snowy, miserable, blizzardy, sopping, darn near hurricane, and other such conditions more than I care to think about in the backcountry. For many many days. With a down bag - repeatedly.

Don't get it wet.

If you can handle that, there's nothing at all wrong with it,
if you can keep them mostly dry, they work better than synthetic and are lighter.

If you do believe it might get totally soaked, go synthetic.

Many people here will patronize newbies and say "I don't belive you will keep it dry so I'll reccomend you take synthetic until you gain experience" - it's a safe bet, but I believe is something that if you are careful, you can mitigate by other factors. (like not getting it wet, having a bailout plan, etc.)

Most (not all) experienced people here will probably admit they usually use a down bag for most of their trips.

Ray Jardine's basic quilt kit is $75. It needs some simple sewing but is relatively light and uses good quality materials.

In May I did a trip where we swam the packs several times. I carried a down quilt. A trash compactor bag rolled carefully and compressed inside the pack makes an excellent dry bag.

The technique is knowing what to leave outside the dry bag. Rain gear and shelter are no brainers, but the tough things for me are maps, my GORP bag and toliet paper. I can keep my sleeping bag dry, thank you, but I do have problems with other things.

Earlier in the summer, Dick's had Marmot 40 degree synthetic, regular length, bags that weighed about 2lbs for about $70.

I own a Kelty Minstral 0 degree bag. It's a little heavy but it keeps you comfortable spring to fall for about $70.

As for a Cheap sleeping bags, REI Scratch & Dent sale!!

I was able to get a REI Kilo Plus 0 deg for $30 in May and just pickup a Marmot Helium 15 deg for $100 both are Down bags. They also had 25 deg Halo bags for $75

Just need to know what to look for, helps to be the one of the first 5-7 people in line.

January and March are the best times for a REI Used gear Sale.....March / April has all of the tagged Photo shoot product which mean that its been taken out to photograph for the catalog.

If you don't mind synthetic, there is always this option...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dsporting&field-keywords=pureland&x=0&y=0

They are synthetic and bulky, but cheap.

I went cheap on my first "lightweight" bag, and honestly think I did pretty well. For $70, I picked up a 30 degree Slumberjack bag and am still using it today. Compared to the 6 pound behemoth I used to lug around, the 2.5 pound Slumberjack was a welcome addition to my gear list. However, the 30 degree rating is WAY off. I need to wear a fleece and warm socks for anything under 45 degrees.

I'm saving up for a Golite Ultra 20 right now.

I am not sure where it is but was just posted today about inexpensive fairly good quality sleeping bags...Again it was posted today around 3:00 P.M. I think...sabre11004

P.S. Just do not rely on the temp. ratings. They are incorrect I am sure...sabre11004