Bicycle Travel > Gear Talk

sleeping bags

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zonesystempro:
Hi everyone,
Just looking to purchase a 3 season synthetic sleeping bag. Cost is not an issue. I'm wondering who is using what brand and if you are happy with it? My only concern is to keep it as small as possible for travelling on my bike. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your responses. Have a great day!

Michael

paddleboy17:
There are lots of good vendors out there making good sleeping bags.  I think you need to go to your local REI or other outdoor outfitter and start crawling into bags and developing opinions.  You might want to narrow down your criteria if you are ever going to pick a bag. 

I do most of my trips with a light weight bag rated to 45F made by Mountain Hardware.  It will scrunch up small enough to go into a cook pot (that is where my friend sticks his).  I just bought a bag for colder weather, and settled on one made by Big Agnes that is rated down to 15F.  I have really broad shoulders, and don't fit all that well in a lot of sleeping bags.  In a cold weather bag, fit is much more important, and not being able to zip the bag up all the way is not a problem during the summer months.  Big Agnes also has this feature where they make a pocket that you can shove your mattress into.  It looks really good for making sure that you don't slide off the mattress, but that really has not been a problem for me either.

I do short trips of a week or less and can match my sleeping bag to the weather I expect to encounter.  Your situation is probably different.

RussSeaton:
Three season synthetic?  Synthetic are great when you have unlimited space and a motor to carry your gear.  Car camping for instance.  When you have to carry the gear with your own muscles and have limited space like panniers or a backpack, DOWN sleeping bags are the choice.  Small and traveling on your bike with a synthetic sleeping bag?  Good luck.

staehpj1:
Lots of room for different choices here.

I used a cheapie Slumberjack Superguide on the Trans America and was fine, but I put out heat like a furnace.

I later bought a North Face Cat's Meow and it is much nicer.  A very good synthetic bag good for quite cold weather.  It is light for a synthetic bag.

More recently I have been really happy with my Mountain Hardware Phantom 45 down bag.  I have been OK down to 18F in it and it weighs about a pound and packs the size of a grapefruit.  If you sleep cold you may find it not warm enough, but I think it is a lot warmer than the 32F Superguide.

pdlamb:

--- Quote from: RussSeaton on November 16, 2012, 12:28:28 pm ---When you have to carry the gear with your own muscles and have limited space like panniers or a backpack, DOWN sleeping bags are the choice.  Small and traveling on your bike with a synthetic sleeping bag?  Good luck.
--- End quote ---

Depends on circumstances, of course.  I missed one stinkin' stake last summer and got a puddle half the size of my tent after an overnight rain.  With a synthetic bag, only my toes were cold.  I'd have spent the night looking for a warm restroom if I'd had down.

That said, I'm eagerly waiting to hear from somebody who's tried one of the new "coated down" bags to see (a) if they live up to the waterproof hype, and (b) how long the super-duper-water-repellent coating lasts in the field.

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