Kifaru 20 Degree Slick Bag, Regular/Wide:
Down or Synthetic, that is the question. Well, after a few years of using a Western Mountaineering Alpinlite down sleeping bag, I decided to research and hopefully find a suitable synthetic bag replacement. While the Alpinlite has been a great bag, I have always been a little leery of the pitfalls that may come when a down bag gets wet. Sometimes in the sheep hills, no matter what you do all of your gear is going to get wet. Whether it was rain, snow, condensation, unexpected swims in rivers, there is always the possibility that you sleeping bag is going to get wet and I had somewhat tired of worrying and being meticulous in care of not getting my down bag wet. I also missed the ability to crawl into my sleeping bag completely soaked after a long day in the woods and wake up with dry clothes. Prior to my Western Mountaineering down bag, I used a Wiggy's Glacier Hunter 15 degree bag. While it was a great bag and I still have it, I knew Wiggy's wouldn't be an option this time due to the weight and bulk that comes along with their bags. I had been spoiled with the compressibility and light weight of the down bag, so I knew finding a suitable replacement in a synthetic bag was going to be tough and that I would have to sacrifice a little in both of those categories.
A few things I look for in a bag, a quality zipper that doesn't have a propensity to snag, length suitable for me to fully cocoon myself inside the bag, and a proper cut that is wide enough for me to roll around a bit and spread out, as I tend to toss and turn. After researching synthetic bags it became apparent that there is a limited selection in bags on the market that would meet the requirements. My research led my to the Kifaru slick bag and I decided to give it a try. Barney's received a big shipment of Kifaru stuff, so I ran down there and tried out both the regular length and long version of their 20 degree slick bag, wide cut. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the regular length was going to be plenty long enough for my 6 foot frame and I wouldn't be needing the long version. Both my previous bags, the WM and Wiggy's were both the long models so I was very pleased that the Kifaru regular was plenty long enough. I picked up the 20 degree in Regular/Wide from Barney's and I was off to the sheep hills.
This is the first Kifaru product I have owned and while I have always heard good things about their stuff, the slick bag didn't disappoint. It was apparent it was of quality construction and would hopefully hold up to the rigors of mountain hunting. I wasn't sure how I would like the center cut zipper, but it didn't cause any issues at all. The bag was suitably compressible and the weight penalty for leaving down wasn't that bad, maybe 1/2 a pound or so. I used a Large Sea to Summit compression stuff sack which worked very well keeping the bag dry while I had it tied to my pack during rainy hikes.
Sheep season was very wet this year so I was glad I went back to synthetic. On a couple of occasions, I crawled into the bag for the night completely soaked and just slept in my clothes with the intention of drying them out. The bag worked great, dry socks and pants in the morning. We also had some extremely cold, clear nights that got down into the low 20's. The bag performed great in relation to temperature rating. Even on those cold nights I didn't need long johns and just slept in my skivvies. I am very happy that I went back to synthetic and for anybody looking for a new sleeping bag, I'd highly recommend the Kifaru slick bag.
Hilleberg Niak 2p Tent:
This may be the perfect sheep hunting tent, if there is such a thing. I am a devoted Hilleberg disciple and while they aren't the lightest tents on the market, I have found them to be the right combination of weight, quality, and ability to weather the harsh storms that Alaska will throw at you. For the last 5 or 6 years, I've been using two "one" man tents on my sheep hunts, one for me and one for the hunter. The last few years I have been using the Unna and Soulo for my sheep hunts, and have also owned the Akto in the past which I sold. This year I decided to pick up the Niak in an attempt to save a few pounds. The Niak falls into the Hilleberg Yellow Label category, which classifies them as a 3 season tent. These are their lighter weight tents, with lighter weight material and smaller diameter poles. On my first hunt, the Niak would be replacing my Soulo, while the hunter used the Unna. It was a very wet hunt, but the tent performed great. While it is classified as a two man tent, it is actually a one man palace. The vestibule had plenty of room to tuck my pack in at night and the inside of tent spoiled me with enough room for all my gear and then some.
I didn't have any condensation issues on a very wet hunt and was quite pleased with the simplicity of design. Nothing is worse than breaking down a wet tent and packing it up while moving, which is another reason I prefer Hilleberg tents. If wet, you can crawl under the fly and detach the inner tent while still dry and pack it separately. When setting up at your next camp site you simply set up the wet outer fly first, crawl inside, re-attach the inner tent and there you go, dry tent at your new camp site.
On my second hunt of the season, my first camp site only had enough room for one tent. I set up the Niak and me and the hunter tested the two man ability of the Niak. This had been the first time I stayed in the same tent as my hunter in about 5 years or so. While it was cozy, the Niak is a few inches wider than the Stone Glacier 2p tent and we had no issues getting a good nights rest. Just remember your ear plugs when your partner snores.
My third hunt of the season was a late season hunt which I knew would put the Niak to the test. We had rain and wind, lots of wind. Our campsite ended up being in a river bottom which was unprotected from the wind and the shape of the drainage we were in served as a wind funnel. The first few days this was fine, but when I received a weather report that said we would be getting 70mph gusts in the Alaska Range, I knew the Niak was going to get a proper test. I had planned to move our tents into the alders to provide some protection, but as often happens on sheep hunts our plans quickly changed. An old ram turned our campsite move into a long, long day on the mountain, and by the time we got back to camp at 12:30 in the morning, the storm had hit and moving camp was not an option. We were busheled from the long day and crawled into our tents to crash for the night as the storm hit, skipping dinner and hoping the tents would still be upright in the morning.
After a long night of strong gusts, I woke up to the Niak still on its feet. I crawled out of the tent to check on things and all of the guy lines had pulled their stakes throughout the night, which had the Niak bending pretty far with the gusts, but it held strong. I re-staked the guy lines and piled boulders on top, then went over to my hunters Enan that he had brought and did the same for his tent. The storm was roughly 24 hours and brought all sorts of nasty wind and rain. The Niak did well and has quickly become my favorite tent. While I would probably opt for my Soulo on the late season hunts from here on out, simply for the potential of snow load, I think the Niak could be quite possibly be the perfect early season sheep tent.
I love the thing.
