But I can say this for sure: summer is when you're only willing to carry a 500 gram sleeping bag.
This year I've been sleeping better with an ultralight wrapped around me. It's the down Siren from Nemo Equipment. It's as pretty as a backless dress and designed like one too.
At 530 grams of 850-fill power down, it's rated below freezing if you cinch it up completely. The bag has a wide temperature range if you drape it loosely like a duvet and layer up or down underneath.I tested this versatility recently on the AT, on nights ushered in by warm winds, followed by cold storms that cleared 'round midnight. Near dawn, it started to rain again.
At bedtime I slipped my insulated Exped DownMat into the foot of the bag and drew in the drawstring beneath the sleeping pad to wrap it loosely around the sleeping pad. I snuggled into a Thermax liner and wiggled in, drawing my covers up loosely around my chest. During the night, there were always plenty of covers to burrow beneath.
The Siren is luxuriously quiet. Its wraparound design meant that I never once slid off the pad. The quilt concept offers near boudoir-quality freedom of movement. I drifted awake almost certain I was in a bed, not in a tent.
Western Mountaineering makes an even lighter summer quilt (411 grams), rated to 40F, that practically disappears in your pack or pannier bag and unzips fully for hostel use. It's not as pretty, not as soft and not as quiet as Nemo's Siren. What is? But the Western will be my low-elevation summer bedmate after May day.
 |
| Down insulation: still warmest for its weight. Still the most packable. Still the most comfortable. Pricey and high maintenance, but worth it. I wish all manufacturers certified their down like Patagonia does.... |
No comments:
Post a Comment