Hey Roksliders,
Long-time sponsor Stone Glacier has now expanded their business into sleeping bags with their new Chilkoot bag, among other backcountry products. I successfully ran their EVO 3300 pack since last May (video review here) and can see why these guys are at top choice for the backcountry crowd.
They asked me to give their new sleeping bag a test run and post up my experiences here. All the bag features and specs are here
They sent me a pre-production prototype model, so the first thing you’ll note is the color is blue. The production bag is offered in the gray shown at that link above.
They also sent me an email about this bag with this note: "That is a hand sewn prototype. The production bags will be much tighter."
I decided to test the temperature rating first. So Friday afternoon on 2/1, I set up my Cimarron tent in my backyard in 20-something degree temps. Although there is 6” of hard-packed snow back there, the afternoon sun had melted off some bare grass under my Colorado Blue Spruce trees, so I was able to set up on dry ground.
Although I have the Stone Glacier Skysraper (that mulit-author review is here), I wanted to test the bag in a floorless tent as that is what I’d likely be running in weather where I’d use a 15-degree bag, i.e. when the bugs are gone. I’ll run it in the Skyscraper at a later date, and post it up on here.
The ground was frozen solid, so I only pounded the tent stakes in a few inches (that will play right into this test later on as you’ll see).
I set up my E-Kot and a thermarest-knock-off pad inside and laid the bag out.
Temps were forecasted to be in the low 20’s.
At 10:30 PM, the outside temp was 25-degrees. I kissed the wife goodnight and headed outside. She shivered at the thought of me sleeping out there but those are mild temps compared to late October in the high country, so I wasn’t worried.
I wanted to test the bag in what I’d typically be wearing when I knew the forecast called for temps in the mid-teens. I donned my First Lite Fuse LS top, the Furnace Long John on bottom, and the new First Lite Sweater prototype (it’s a light weight down jacket with hood) and a pair of Smart Wool socks. I also wore the First Lite prototype work glove, and a fleece beanie.
I crawled in the bag for the very first time and zipped in. I found there was plenty of room around my shoulders (I’m 5’9”, 180lbs). I could clasp my hands together across my chest and spread my elbows out fully, just touching the sides of the bag.
The 2/3 zip formed a foot box around my feet with some wiggle room for movement but not too big so my feet could get cold.
I had a light down pillow in the hood of the bag that didn’t quite allow me to zip the hood completely closed, but the collar inside the bag kept any drafts from sinking into the bag (there is a magnet closure on the collar, but I didn’t use it). I fell asleep to the sound of the horses eating from a hay bale a few yards away.
I woke up around 1:00AM. Outside temp was still in the mid-20’s as it had clouded over a bit, keeping the temps up longer than I expected. I hadn’t gotten cold at all and only woke up because I had to take a leak. Back in the bag, I was asleep in minutes.
I had the alarm set for 6AM and heard it go off, but laid in the bag for a bit longer. I was still warm but had woken up in a semi-fetal position on my side (bag is roomy enough to allow a guy my size to roll around—nice!). I wasn’t as warm as I had been earlier in the night, but never got chilled. I headed in the house and checked the outside temp: 21-degrees.
Pretty close to the rated 15-degrees.
The forecast said the next few nights were only going to get down into the high twenties as a snowstorm was rolling in with some warmer temps. I decided to just leave the bag out there until the temps dropped again in a few nights. This is where the real test was about to begin and I didn’t even know it!
3/7/19 Update. Looks like Stone Glacier just released this Chilkoot to the public and is taking orders. Got this email this morning: https://mailchi.mp/stoneglacier/new-chilkoot-sleeping-bags-are-in-stock-shipping?e=f329aad5c8
Long-time sponsor Stone Glacier has now expanded their business into sleeping bags with their new Chilkoot bag, among other backcountry products. I successfully ran their EVO 3300 pack since last May (video review here) and can see why these guys are at top choice for the backcountry crowd.
They asked me to give their new sleeping bag a test run and post up my experiences here. All the bag features and specs are here
They sent me a pre-production prototype model, so the first thing you’ll note is the color is blue. The production bag is offered in the gray shown at that link above.
They also sent me an email about this bag with this note: "That is a hand sewn prototype. The production bags will be much tighter."
I decided to test the temperature rating first. So Friday afternoon on 2/1, I set up my Cimarron tent in my backyard in 20-something degree temps. Although there is 6” of hard-packed snow back there, the afternoon sun had melted off some bare grass under my Colorado Blue Spruce trees, so I was able to set up on dry ground.
Although I have the Stone Glacier Skysraper (that mulit-author review is here), I wanted to test the bag in a floorless tent as that is what I’d likely be running in weather where I’d use a 15-degree bag, i.e. when the bugs are gone. I’ll run it in the Skyscraper at a later date, and post it up on here.
The ground was frozen solid, so I only pounded the tent stakes in a few inches (that will play right into this test later on as you’ll see).
I set up my E-Kot and a thermarest-knock-off pad inside and laid the bag out.
Temps were forecasted to be in the low 20’s.
At 10:30 PM, the outside temp was 25-degrees. I kissed the wife goodnight and headed outside. She shivered at the thought of me sleeping out there but those are mild temps compared to late October in the high country, so I wasn’t worried.
I wanted to test the bag in what I’d typically be wearing when I knew the forecast called for temps in the mid-teens. I donned my First Lite Fuse LS top, the Furnace Long John on bottom, and the new First Lite Sweater prototype (it’s a light weight down jacket with hood) and a pair of Smart Wool socks. I also wore the First Lite prototype work glove, and a fleece beanie.
I crawled in the bag for the very first time and zipped in. I found there was plenty of room around my shoulders (I’m 5’9”, 180lbs). I could clasp my hands together across my chest and spread my elbows out fully, just touching the sides of the bag.
The 2/3 zip formed a foot box around my feet with some wiggle room for movement but not too big so my feet could get cold.
I had a light down pillow in the hood of the bag that didn’t quite allow me to zip the hood completely closed, but the collar inside the bag kept any drafts from sinking into the bag (there is a magnet closure on the collar, but I didn’t use it). I fell asleep to the sound of the horses eating from a hay bale a few yards away.
I woke up around 1:00AM. Outside temp was still in the mid-20’s as it had clouded over a bit, keeping the temps up longer than I expected. I hadn’t gotten cold at all and only woke up because I had to take a leak. Back in the bag, I was asleep in minutes.
I had the alarm set for 6AM and heard it go off, but laid in the bag for a bit longer. I was still warm but had woken up in a semi-fetal position on my side (bag is roomy enough to allow a guy my size to roll around—nice!). I wasn’t as warm as I had been earlier in the night, but never got chilled. I headed in the house and checked the outside temp: 21-degrees.
The forecast said the next few nights were only going to get down into the high twenties as a snowstorm was rolling in with some warmer temps. I decided to just leave the bag out there until the temps dropped again in a few nights. This is where the real test was about to begin and I didn’t even know it!
3/7/19 Update. Looks like Stone Glacier just released this Chilkoot to the public and is taking orders. Got this email this morning: https://mailchi.mp/stoneglacier/new-chilkoot-sleeping-bags-are-in-stock-shipping?e=f329aad5c8
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but it doesn't get much better as far as field simulation for a true circumstantial test of the product. Come to find out it shed most the water anyway. Looking forward to the next update. 
