Thermarest Hyperion Sleeping Bag Review

[Tango1]

Agreed on the upgraded pad. Sure seems that I'm more sensitive to the cold vs when I was 30, 40 etc.

 

[Cody_W]

I run the Hyperion 32° bag and uberlite pad and love them. I’m an extremely warm sleeper, 5’9” 180 athletic built and believe the fit to be just right. Tight enough to not allow draft but roomy enough to wiggle around without feeling like you’re in a web. I don’t move much sleeping so I may be a little biased. The zippers have yet to get caught, the hood is big enough to fit my Aeros pillow and the straps on the back do a great job of keeping the pad from slipping out if you decide to turn over. Looking forward to getting into some colder temps, but believe that this thing coupled with a xtherm for late season and a puffy (there is room to wear it inside) is the ticket for a late season ultralight setup. Especially when running a sleeping bag liner and/or a boxy sack.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I was able to get out to help my buddy fill his elk tag in Idaho this weekend. We had temps in the teens. The first night I used my Xtherm pad and also wore my Firstlite base layers. I stayed plenty warm but I did notice cold spots when I would move around. After I settled for a few minutes I would warm back up. I was definitely pushing the limits of this bag. The second night I added an ultralight silk sheet and was noticeably warmer. I never noticed any cold at all the 2nd night.

 

[R_burg]

Just came out of the Idaho backcountry after a week with the Hyperion 20 degree bag. We experienced everything from 75 degrees during the day to high winds and approx 30 degrees at night. Snow at 7500’ when I hiked out this morning. I’m 5’ 7”, 135, 50 yrs old, distance runner fit, and classify myself as sleeping cold. I used the bag with a NeoAir Xlite pad inside of an old (but great) Bibler mountaineering bivy. Shelter was a Go Lite Shangri La floorless. Overall, the bag was comfortable to about freezing, after that I had to put on my Kryptek Aquilo down jacket to stay warm in the Hyperion. The construction, compressibility, shoulder room, sleep pad straps, etc are all great, but I think the temp rating is optimistic (though within their “Comfort“/EN rating), at least for me. That’s in no way a criticism because the bag is a beautiful piece of kit, however 20 degrees is probably pushing it if you’re a colder sleeper. This confirmed my belief that there‘s only one way to really find what works for you. Shopping for an ultralight 0 degree bag now. PM if anyone’s interested in the bag. It’ll be properly cleaned and priced fairly.

Great review. I havent tried them all myself, but I seem to find that the hiking related companies that make quality stuff (REI, Big Agnes, Thermarest, etc) sleep about 5-7 degrees above their rating for me to be comfortable in them. Like you, I also sleep on the colder side.

WM and FF sleep at their ratings to me. And dont get me wrong I love their bags, but for the price it seems to make sense for me to just get a 10 degree warmer bag from one of the hiking companies. I want to try the Big Agnes -20 bag, but I dont have any hunts that will test it this year.

 

[DaveEarley]

Very impressive - thanks!

 

[Etson]

Thanks for the review. I was just looking at buying a Therm-a-Rest bag but haven't heard much about them.

 

[Tglover]

Good review

 

[Justin Crossley]

Thank you. The goal for all our reviews is to help people fully understand the pros and cons of a particular product and spend their money wisely.

 

[itshp76]

Hello,

I bought a Therm-a-rest Hyperion 20 partly based on your review. I purchased the sleeping bag in the middle of June for my thru-hike on the JMT. I was on-trail for 16 days (roughly July 17th to August 1st).

1.) I had a zipper snag on the first night that caused a puncture on the inside of the bag. I was able to get the sleeping bag material out of the zipper and then patch the bag with a piece of duct tape.

2.) Two nights later, the zipper snagged again in the middle of the might while I was zipping the bag up from the inside as the temperature dropped as the night progressed. This time, I wasn’t as lucky as I wasn’t able to get the zipper unstuck and the zipper actually came off of the bag and caused another hole in the bag.

3.) Since the bag is narrow, a zipper fail is essentially catastrophic as heat easily escapes and a viable seal using safety pins isn’t something that worked effectively enough to keep me warm when temperatures dipped into the low 40’s at higher elevations overnight.

4.) The other issue with the bag was the material on inside top of the bag, where the mummy bag fits over your head, was essentially worn out after sixteen nights of use!

I sent the bag back to Cascade Designs and explained to them what had happened and asked them if the bag could be repaired or replaced since the bag was less than 90 days old. Almost a month passed and I never heard back from them.

The stated policy on the website is they will evaluate the bag and reach out via email or phone to let the customer know whether or not the bag is repairable, repairable for a fee, replaceable under warranty, or not reparable at all under warranty.

I sent another follow up email, didn’t receive a reply to that email, and then received an email about a week later (this was after almost a month after I sent the bag to them) that stated my repair had been completed along with a tracking number. When I received the sleeping bag, the box contained a note saying the bag couldn’t be repaired and listed an address of a company that provides repairs. Also, they placed a yellow patch on the bottom of the bag where it looks like they had punctured the bottom of the bag!! Keep in mind the issues with the bag were the zipper coming off, two internal punctures I had patched with duct tape, and the wear on the inside of the mummy hood. I was astonished to see the warranty department had damaged the bag!!

I followed up with the warranty/repair department via phone and spoke with a customer service representative who essentially said my warranty claim was being denied due “excessive use!”

I wanted to make you aware of my experience with this bag because I feel this sleeping bag isn’t designed or constructed with materials that ca withstand regular use over multi-day backpacking trips. Also, buyers should be prepared to be denied a warranty claim even if the timeframe is with 90 days.

Thank you,

Chris

 

[Justin Crossley]

Hello,

I bought a Therm-a-rest Hyperion 20 partly based on your review. I purchased the sleeping bag in the middle of June for my thru-hike on the JMT. I was on-trail for 16 days (roughly July 17th to August 1st).

1.) I had a zipper snag on the first night that caused a puncture on the inside of the bag. I was able to get the sleeping bag material out of the zipper and then patch the bag with a piece of duct tape.

2.) Two nights later, the zipper snagged again in the middle of the might while I was zipping the bag up from the inside as the temperature dropped as the night progressed. This time, I wasn’t as lucky as I wasn’t able to get the zipper unstuck and the zipper actually came off of the bag and caused another hole in the bag.

3.) Since the bag is narrow, a zipper fail is essentially catastrophic as heat easily escapes and a viable seal using safety pins isn’t something that worked effectively enough to keep me warm when temperatures dipped into the low 40’s at higher elevations overnight.

4.) The other issue with the bag was the material on inside top of the bag, where the mummy bag fits over your head, was essentially worn out after sixteen nights of use!

I sent the bag back to Cascade Designs and explained to them what had happened and asked them if the bag could be repaired or replaced since the bag was less than 90 days old. Almost a month passed and I never heard back from them.

The stated policy on the website is they will evaluate the bag and reach out via email or phone to let the customer know whether or not the bag is repairable, repairable for a fee, replaceable under warranty, or not reparable at all under warranty.

I sent another follow up email, didn’t receive a reply to that email, and then received an email about a week later (this was after almost a month after I sent the bag to them) that stated my repair had been completed along with a tracking number. When I received the sleeping bag, the box contained a note saying the bag couldn’t be repaired and listed an address of a company that provides repairs. Also, they placed a yellow patch on the bottom of the bag where it looks like they had punctured the bottom of the bag!! Keep in mind the issues with the bag were the zipper coming off, two internal punctures I had patched with duct tape, and the wear on the inside of the mummy hood. I was astonished to see the warranty department had damaged the bag!!

I followed up with the warranty/repair department via phone and spoke with a customer service representative who essentially said my warranty claim was being denied due “excessive use!”

I wanted to make you aware of my experience with this bag because I feel this sleeping bag isn’t designed or constructed with materials that ca withstand regular use over multi-day backpacking trips. Also, buyers should be prepared to be denied a warranty claim even if the timeframe is with 90 days.

Thank you,

Chris

Hey Chris, quite the first post. Bummer about your experience with Cascade Designs and your bag. It sounds like they didn't handle that right. Hopefully you can get them to cover any legit warranty issues.

I haven't had any issues at all with my Hyperion and still really like it. I'm not sure exactly how many nights I have used it now but quite a few. My wife and son have also used it quite a bit and like it.

 

[itshp76]

Hey Chris, quite the first post. Bummer about your experience with Cascade Designs and your bag. It sounds like they didn't handle that right. Hopefully you can get them to cover any legit warranty issues.

I haven't had any issues at all with my Hyperion and still really like it. I'm not sure exactly how many nights I have used it now but quite a few. My wife and son have also used it quite a bit and like it.

Hi Justin,

I had to make some noise to get the attention of management who ended up providing me with a replacement bag. In the end, they were very nice and professional.

I bought a Nemo Riff 15 and looking forward to trying it out on my next backpacking trip later this month. It’s going to be approximately the same number of days and miles. So we’ll see how it holds up in comparison to the Hyperion.

I think the biggest issue with the Hyperion is the zipper. It honestly looks like something you’d see on a woman’s dress. I question whether or not it’ll last more than a season or two with moderate use.

On a the John Muir Trail traveling south, you’re starting out at 4k ft and then immediately up to 8k ft and then bouncing from there up to 11k, down to 8k, up to 10k, down to 8, and then up to 12k, wash, rinse, repeat until you hit Mt Whitney at 14,505 ft. The weather is variable and you can go from sleeping half out of your bag to being fully clothed and totally zipped up. So I’m not sure a super ultra light bag was the best choice on that trip. I’m sure I’ll give it another go in the right environment.

Chris