Which Sleeping Bag To Take to Philmont

[mt_goodrich]

I am trying to choose between two sleeping bags.

1. Alps Mountaineering Crescent Lake rated at 20 degrees. It is a WIDE model. I got it when I was about 45 pounds heavier. It weighs 4lbs. 6 oz. I have a compression sack and it is still somewhat bulky. I can get it into the bottom of my internal pack, but barely.

2. A Snugpak Merlin 3 rated at 32 degrees. It is a regular model. It was issued to me as part of my deployment gear for work. It weights 3lbs. 4 oz. When placed in its compression sack, it is over half the size of the Crescent Lake.

I am concerned about three nights on the trail that we will be above 10,000 feet. This will be in the second week in August.

I had thought that I could take the smaller Snugpak and supplement with a set of polypro underwear and perhaps a bag liner. It would save a lot of room, but wanted to see what everyone else thought. I tend to sleep a little warm.

What say you?

[FrankJ]

I would go with the lighter bag, liner, DRY, CLEAN wool socks & maybe a skull cap. If you find yourself cold, you can put a nalgene of warm water in the bag with you.

I am jealous already. Have fun at Philmont.

[alex gregory]

Lighter bag with warm underwear and a hat should be fine, especially with a quality pad. 2d week of August you can probably even gamble on not needing the bag liner. With a liner you will be in great shape.

You are probably going to want to conserve as much space as possible for food and crew gear, so go with the lighter and more compact bag.

If you have $200 you might want to check out the Big Agnes Lost Ranger (+15), nice down bag that only weighs 2 lb 12 oz. I like the Big Agnes design that eliminates fill on the bottom of the bag and relies instead on a sleeve for your pad. It compresses to the size of a football, which is great.

[mt_goodrich]

From the responses here and from others, I've decided on taking the lighter/smaller bag and a liner with me. It sure does free up a ton of space in the lower section of my backpack.

[topshot]

Def go with smaller and lighter option. Shouldn't have any issue with long underwear sleep clothes like Capilene 2, but make sure you have a pad that insulates decently.

Edit: Sorry, noticed this thread was really old. Not sure why it showed up as unread for me.

[Quailman]

Mt_goodrich should have followed up to let us know if he was comfortable.

I have a 26 year old down bag. It was rated at -5 when new. I don't do that stuff any more. It still has good loft and keeps me plenty warm, especially in Texas. May have to rethink for Philmont 2013.

[smtroop168]

Mt_goodrich should have followed up to let us know if he was comfortable.

He was eaten by a bear.

[mt_goodrich]

Been somewhat gone out of country with work for past year....but back.

I took the Merlin combined with the long underwear and was MISERABLE COLD!!!! I am a warm sleeper, but something about being in the climate at Philmont made me a cold sleeper. I am thinking it is because I was very tired each evening. I had the knit cap, socks,long underwear, liner and pad. Since I now have all the other gear and don't have to spend a ton of money on that, I am going to get a better sleeping bag....and maybe a better pad.

I go again July 1, 2012....and am contemplating accepting invitation of a Venturing Crew to go again in 2013.

[topshot]

That's interesting. Here are my thoughts:
1. I assume your clothing was really only used for sleeping and not baselayer while hiking. If the latter though, it would have been moist and sucked heat from your body.
2. You didn't eat a good supper with lots of fat and protein.
3. You're bag is nowhere near 32 F in reality.
4. Pad was insufficient. You don't specify what it was, but even a 1/2" CCF pad of R1.5 should be fine above freezing for most people.

What was your shelter system (protection from wind?) and nighttime lows?

[jr56]

I am envious. You can never have too many trips to Philmont.

[mt_goodrich]

I think the answer is #3. Bag was no where near what it was stated.

Sleeping bad was of good quality and I ate well (picked up a few extras from the "swap box").

Tent was of good quality too. My tent partner was fine. Temps during evening were in the low 40s to mid 30s. I expected to be freezing up on Mt. Phillips, but that was one of my best nights sleep. Temps didn't seem bother me that night.

I am already looking at bags to take this summer that are rated much better!

[topshot]

I expected to be freezing up on Mt. Phillips, but that was one of my best nights sleep. Temps didn't seem bother me that night.

That is certainly curious. Something must have been different that night.

FWIW, even good synthetic bags will lose about 30% of their max loft in a relatively short amount of time depending on the number of washings and compressions.

The paper I just did may be of benefit to you. NOTE: it does not account for at least one Philmont-specific rule though. A Betamid type shelter is OK but a tarp is not.

[mt_goodrich]

Other than being exhausted after coming up from Clear Creek, not sure what else was different than other nights.

I was dreading spending the night up on Mt. Phillips because of how cold I had been getting the several nights before. I guess I was so tired I didn't really feel cold.

I plan on reading your paper and will let you know what specific changes I made.

[Quailman]

How high up on Mt. Phillips do you camp? One of my worst nights sleeping on a backpacking trip was at the boulderfield campground on Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's about 13,000 ft. elevation, most of the way up a 14er, and the air was quite thin.

[mt_goodrich]

Mt. Phillips is at around 11,700.