Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Sleeping bags and pads.

A friend of mine dropped round to ask about what bag to get for an upcoming Algonquin trip, he wanted to know the pro`s and con`s of down over synthetic etc, and what pad to get.
To get to the chase, its a common belief that the insulation on the bottom of the bag is useless because its compressed, and as far as im aware, there are only 2 companies making bags that only have insulation on the top, relying on the pad to keep you "warm", if this situation is to be believed, why doesnt Western Mountaineering (believed to be THE company to compare bags to) make a bag as described above?.

Do a search on backpacking quilts and you'll find lots of options for bags without insulation on the bottom. They're made ultra light for backpacking and usually are pretty pricey.

I toss and turn a lot. In my WM bag I'm never without insulation. In a quilt I have to be careful to tuck it in to avoid drafts.

I think this explains why. hard to always tell beforehand which side will be the "bottom". Big Agnes' pad sleeve eliminates that.

They specialize in lightweight down bags, which means mummy bags.

For the attached pad system to work, you need to be able to roll over inside the bag and not move the pad off the ground. That doesn't work very well in a mummy bag.

Also, the pad needs to be manufactured to work with the bag and WM does not make pads like BA does.

WM's 2 and 3 season bags have continuous baffles so you can shift the down from top to bottom depending on temps. Put it on top during cold nights, move it to the bottom on warm nights.

I just can't see sleeping well with no insulation in the bag bottom, even with a pad, unless it was 60 degrees. But it would have been better when I was younger ...

Smooshed insulation doesn't do much anyway.



Travis

I've had a BA Storm King for seven years (0 deg F). No down on bottom with pad sleeve, and used the insulated BA pad with it. It gets used around 10 times a year.

I've never been impressed with the warmth of the bag. The lack of down underneath seems colder to me. Sure, it gets compressed by your body, but your body isn't a sheet of plywood. You still have loft in all the places you aren't laying on, plus backs of knees, small of back, neck, etc (when sleeping on back).

It will get replaced once I'm brave enough to drop money on a new bag.

Interesting. Not discounting your experience, just pointing out that mine has been different. I have a Lost Ranger (15� bag) and use an uninsulated air core. I've used it down to about 0� with little problems by wearing some base layers in the bag. Mine's lost enough loft that it'll become a summer bag and I'll be getting another BA bag. The pad+sleeve works great for me as I"m a restless sleeper.

Insulation underneath you does get squished and compromised...but if you were to compare two nearly identical bags, one having the normal insulation underneath you and one having half the insulation underneath you...the bag with more insulation underneath will be warmer.

Think of it this way. In the transition from squished to uncompressed insulation around the perimeter of where your body contacts the pad...the bag with more insulation will do a better job of sealing things and keeping the cold out.

Really? I thought that was the entire point of this website!