Layering Up In Down Bag

[CiK01]

How much layering is too much layering in a down bag? Is there such a thing? I might be generalizing here, but see a lot of people post where they wear their clothes to bed in a synthetic bag and only wear base layers in a down bag. Can you wear clothes in a down bag to help stretch the warmth ratio?

Thanks!

 

[Kevin_t]

Yes

It’s important to have a little extra room in the bag


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[CBreeze]

The main reason I don’t want outer layers in my down bag is the dirt and debris that they bring in with them which is a lot harder on down that it is synthetics, but I absolutely will use layers and an ultralight synthetic quilt to plus up as needed. Another thing to consider is the often Damp nature of you clothes and how that can impact a down bag over the course of a week- some
Shells breathe better than others and allow more vapor to pass through but you will have condensate in and thereby affecting your insulation on A decent length trip

 

[MuleyFever]

If you are compressing the down its not able to do its job.

 

[CiK01]

Yes

It’s important to have a little extra room in the bag


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Should I go with a 6’6” wide bag if I am 6’ and wanting to push the warmth down with clothing?

I guess a liner protects the inside of the bag a bit too from the dirt, etc, etc...



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[BluMtn]

Rather than wear your clothing in your bag try using one of these.

seatosummitusa.com/collections/sleeping-bag-liners

 

[CBreeze]

I know you asked Kevin but for what it’s worth I’ll put This out there. Sleeping bag roominess is a delicate balance if you buy a bag with too much room planning to use layers to take it further you can end up with a bag that’s too roomy and you add stuff just to get to the rating. I’d surely get a 6.6” if you are 6’ but I won’t speculate on the amount of girth you’ll prefer

 

[Kevin_t]

Should I go with a 6’6” wide bag if I am 6’ and wanting to push the warmth down with clothing?

I guess a liner protects the inside of the bag a bit too from the dirt, etc, etc...



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It's more about girth than length as long as it is long enough. Yes, there is a balance. Too little, and you compress the sides, too much and it's more room to heat with your body (which is the primary heat source unless you use bottles or hand warmers etc).

For me, I err on too big vs too little. Too big , I can work around and it is comfortable. Too little and not much I can do. I really like bags that are 64 at the shoulders BUT I can get by in 60-62 .. I just do not find them as comfortable.

Personally, I really like the bigger bags for a little extra comfort. I go from the quilt to larger bags and don't really mess around with small bags. It depends on what it is worth to you really . For reference I am 6'1 or so and 200 ish lbs.

Currently I use the quilt, the Terralite and the Alpinlite and likely will add a Kodiak / Badger or Antelope ... ( I have not yet done so because I can't make up my mind on the weight, size, comfort ). FWIW , my thinking is the Antelope is the best combo BUT .. it's a little small for the cold. A Badger is the same weight and comfortably sized but not much warmer than my Alpinlite , the Kodiak looks like the ticket but is overkill for most stuff. Currently, my real cold weather solution is to take the quilt and put inside one of the other bags (this solution has kept me warm below 0). The other bags (Alpinlite / Terralite) are large enough for that to work well. The advantage of the single bag solution in microfiber is it will be more breathable , comfortable.

 

[CiK01]

Rather than wear your clothing in your bag try using one of these.

seatosummitusa.com/collections/sleeping-bag-liners

Any experience with them? Seems to be a good alternative to a dedicated low temperature bag.

I know you asked Kevin but for what it’s worth I’ll put This out there. Sleeping bag roominess is a delicate balance if you buy a bag with too much room planning to use layers to take it further you can end up with a bag that’s too roomy and you add stuff just to get to the rating. I’d surely get a 6.6” if you are 6’ but I won’t speculate on the amount of girth you’ll prefer

Agreed. Too big and it gets colder. I have a little girth....but my wife loves me.

Currently, my real cold weather solution is to take the quilt and put inside one of the other bags (this solution has kept me warm below 0). The other bags (Alpinlite / Terralite) are large enough for that to work well. The advantage of the single bag solution in microfiber is it will be more breathable , comfortable.

I have a 20deg quilt. Froze my butt with it at high 20deg temps on a bad September night. Would a Terralight and a quilt be safe enough for Colorado 4th season?


All,
The reason I ask is because I have my eye on a better low temperature bag, but here in Indiana we don't get that low all the time. Not sure I want to spend the coin on something I might use every once in a while (4th season / late season hunting) and instead trying to combine things to get me through. Thanks everybody for the tips/suggestions. Keep them coming. I really appreciate it.

 

[bridgermgmt]

Any experience with them? Seems to be a good alternative to a dedicated low temperature bag.



Agreed. Too big and it gets colder. I have a little girth....but my wife loves me.



I have a 20deg quilt. Froze my butt with it at high 20deg temps on a bad September night. Would a Terralight and a quilt be safe enough for Colorado 4th season?


All,
The reason I ask is because I have my eye on a better low temperature bag, but here in Indiana we don't get that low all the time. Not sure I want to spend the coin on something I might use every once in a while (4th season / late season hunting) and instead trying to combine things to get me through. Thanks everybody for the tips/suggestions. Keep them coming. I really appreciate it.

1. for girth, I’d recommend to measure yourself laying on the ground with your hands palm up next to your hips. Get the measurement of your shoulders, your outside of your hands, and your feet comfortably resting. That will give you your desired size. Some companies go with just that or some go with the circumference ie 2x your measurement. for length, I’d suggest 3-4” of extra as it allows some flexibility on pillow choices or space to warm / dry clothing.

2. I always run a silk or thermaliner in my bags. It keeps them clean and they weigh very very little most the time. Plus they do add a very small amount of heat. But don’t bank on that.
3. I wear all but my outer layers in my bag. This is because I hate waking up and freezing when I get out of my bag. I put my outer layers in a dry bag and usually use that as a pillow.
4. in Nevada we have very weird weather. In summer I use a 45* quilt and in winter I use either a 15* bag or a 0* bag. If you want extra flexibility get a 15* bag and bring a puffy. If you need more bring puffy down booties. And if you need even more bring puffy pants.

if your going quilt for weight consider your shelter and it’s actual temp vs no shelter. In a small tent I can sleep with a higher rated bag than I can in a large tent.

 

[bridgermgmt]

also Consider multi use options. Bags that zipper open to lay flat can become quilts, but quilts can’t become bags usually. A quilt with a puffy is darn close to a bag. And down tends to be warmer for most body types, if you have not sized the bag or quilt to be overly large or incredibly tight.

imo a good starting point is always from really cold up. A 30* set up with the right clothing can get you down to 10-20* but may nit be consistent and may have to many weight trade offs to get there. Where as a 0-15* set up can a,ways be zipped open to let heat out, and will also likely save weight in the long run. I can get my 15* bag comfortable to 0 and zip open up to 35-40*. After that it becomes to heavy or not enough.

 

[Kevin_t]

Any experience with them? Seems to be a good alternative to a dedicated low temperature bag.



Agreed. Too big and it gets colder. I have a little girth....but my wife loves me.



I have a 20deg quilt. Froze my butt with it at high 20deg temps on a bad September night. Would a Terralight and a quilt be safe enough for Colorado 4th season?


All,
The reason I ask is because I have my eye on a better low temperature bag, but here in Indiana we don't get that low all the time. Not sure I want to spend the coin on something I might use every once in a while (4th season / late season hunting) and instead trying to combine things to get me through. Thanks everybody for the tips/suggestions. Keep them coming. I really appreciate it.

It depends on how accurate the ratings are. Is your 20 degree quilt a synthetic or down ? I can take a Terralight and the WM quilt probably to zero or below without much issue. I've taken a similar combo to -8 F and was comfy .. If the 20 degree is synthetic, I'd use it as an overquilt and that combined with a Terralite should go to 0. Down I'd put inside.

Generally with over bags, take the inner or similar and take it's rating say 25 and subtract if from 70 and cut it in half . So in this example 45 /2 = 22.5 subtract that from the rating in the bag and that should be a conservative rating.

Another way to do it is as follows using loft as down quilts. take the loft of the quilt say 2 inches. Add that to half the loft of the Terralite whic his a 5 inch loft so 2.5 (half the loft is on the bottom. Now you will have a total loft of 4.5 inches on top. Go find a WM bag with 9 inches of loft and that would be the limit (Puma is a 9 inch bag and rated -25 F). This would assume a really good pad.

So using those two methods, you really have about 0 and -25F depending on which. I would say the -25F would be perfect conditions , meaning no loss of loft due to size or anything. The 0 is probably pretty easy.

 

[CiK01]

1. for girth, I’d recommend to measure yourself laying on the ground with your hands palm up next to your hips. Get the measurement of your shoulders, your outside of your hands, and your feet comfortably resting. That will give you your desired size. Some companies go with just that or some go with the circumference ie 2x your measurement. for length, I’d suggest 3-4” of extra as it allows some flexibility on pillow choices or space to warm / dry clothing.

I will do this tonight and report back. Because I toss and turn and am somewhat a contortionist when I sleep I was leaning towards a wider bag anyway.

It depends on how accurate the ratings are. Is your 20 degree quilt a synthetic or down ?

Its a down EE 20deg Revelation. I got it before they started putting additional overfill in their quilts. 20deg is a stretch, IMO. This quilt makes me scared to try any others.......it just didn't work for me that night. I was miserable.

Another way to do it is as follows using loft as down quilts. take the loft of the quilt say 2 inches. Add that to half the loft of the Terralite whic his a 5 inch loft so 2.5 (half the loft is on the bottom. Now you will have a total loft of 4.5 inches on top. Go find a WM bag with 9 inches of loft and that would be the limit (Puma is a 9 inch bag and rated -25 F). This would assume a really good pad.

Good to know this. Thanks!

 

[CiK01]

Laying flat and comfortable it came to be 54 - 50 - 37.

 

[bridgermgmt]

Laying flat and comfortable it came to be 54 - 50 - 37.

If it was me I’d probably go with a wider bag from western mountaineering , but not the more extreme size like the ponderosa. or a more square bag like you see with big Agnes.

I have a badger and a kodiak and before that had a sequoia. And ALL of those were a good fit. And I’m roughly the same size.

 

[bridgermgmt]

I think seek outside is having a sale today but I’m not sure if they give any discounts on the bags. You may want to check.

 

[gfreidy]

I know you asked Kevin but for what it’s worth I’ll put This out there. Sleeping bag roominess is a delicate balance if you buy a bag with too much room planning to use layers to take it further you can end up with a bag that’s too roomy and you add stuff just to get to the rating. I’d surely get a 6.6” if you are 6’ but I won’t speculate on the amount of girth you’ll prefer

Appreciate your advice...always seems spot on with my preferences/expectations.

 

[Winters Kamp]

Definitely get a vapor barrier between you and the down. You don’t want to create condensation inside the bag. After the down gets a little wet it’s useless.

 

[BluMtn]

Yes I run this liner, because of the temp rating and also it is long enough for me.

https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/sleeping-bag-liners/products/thermolite-reactor-extreme-liner

 

[bridgermgmt]

Yes I run this liner, because of the temp rating and also it is long enough for me.

https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/sleeping-bag-liners/products/thermolite-reactor-extreme-liner

This is the same I run. Or I run their silk version. Both have been awesome.