What's your temp?

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Asolthane
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Re: 30 Degree bag sufficient for summer in High Sierra?

Post by Asolthane »

Well, of course I got two replies, and they are opposing opinions. As for elevation, I am training for the SHR and like to camp high.

The 15 deg. Marmot Pinnacle weighs 40 oz

20 deg WM Ultralight bag weighs 29 oz
30 deg WM Megalight weighs 24 oz
30 deg Marmot Hydrogen 23.7 oz
32 deg WM Summerlight weighs 19 oz.

I carry a Marmot Zeus jacket. I sleep in a tent (so far...considering this tarp thing). And I carry a Thermarest Neo Air xlight.

I guess I would rather carry heavy weight baselayer and be more comfortable around camp and get away with a lighter bag. And, I don't like being cold.
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rlown
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Re: What's your temp?

Post by rlown »

longri wrote:
I have a question:

Who takes the temperature? I mean, who bothers to accurately measure the temperature when they're in the Sierra?
If my water bottle freezes it's cold. If there is ice on my mustache, it's colder. As close as I get to temp measurement.
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Asolthane
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Re: 30 Degree bag sufficient for summer in High Sierra?

Post by Asolthane »

It looks like Maverick and I started the same thread a few minutes apart. Can a moderator combine them? Or, just reply here: http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... 15&t=14310
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RoguePhotonic
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Re: 30 Degree bag sufficient for summer in High Sierra?

Post by RoguePhotonic »

I use the Western Mountaineering Megalite bag which is 30F and it does just fine for me all summer. I have only pushed the limits on it with the rare storms like early July last year when I was just below 12,000 feet and it was in the 20's. I still was fine though.

I used to use a WM Summerlite which is 32F. I did ok with that most of the time also but it was too small which is why I got the Megalite.
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longri
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Re: 30 Degree bag sufficient for summer in High Sierra?

Post by longri »

People are different in how warm they sleep. And conditions vary. So there really isn't a definitive answer. You need to find out for yourself what works.

If there were one answer it would be "yes". But there isn't.
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AlmostThere
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Re: 30 Degree bag sufficient for summer in High Sierra?

Post by AlmostThere »

I'm prepared for 20F comfort, at all times, all summer. There have been times I have enjoyed that while others suffered....

I use a JRB Hudson River, 20-25F three season quilt that weighs 22 oz. Usually I wear a wool cap, clean dry socks, and a midweight base layer to bed. I make sure I have a nice warm pad too. At times I cowboy camp, and when I use a hammock I bring a second JRB Hudson River.

When I got my bf a down quilt, I picked up an Enlightened Equipment 20F extra large version with pad straps. Because he is a very, very big boy and the JRB quilts don't come in small-regular-large-extra large.
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Re: What's your temp?

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Light freeze when frost out the door and on the tent fly. Harder freeze when water bottle that sits under the tent vestibule is frozen.

If the ground itself is near freezing, you will need a sleeping pad with more R-value than typical summer pads. I suspect if I used a R-5 pad, my sleeping bag would be a lot warmer as the temperatures drop to freezing. Some now are putting a space blanket (heat reflective) under the sleeping pad and some sleeping pads are building reflective material into them.

It is hard to compare the temperature ratings between brands. Be sure it is an official certified rating (cannot remember the acronym for this).

Note that now, some brands make women specific bags. These are rated about 10-degrees different from men's. Women typically sleep colder and have narrower shoulders, so there is a little more down in the woman's version of a bag, less shoulder girth and the down is distributed slightly differently. Small built thin men may want to try the women's versions too.
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sheperd80
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Re: What's your temp?

Post by sheperd80 »

When i was younger i lugged around a 30° camping bag in all sorts of weather and was pretty warm most of the time, even in the high 20s. I cowboy camped through summer or brought a regular old green tarp which got rigged in a variety of ways when rain was a concern.

Now i generally take a tent on every trip. Just bought a Tarptent Notch to replace my REI Passage and look forward to testing it out.

A few years ago I bought a cheap Ozark Trail 32° mummy and it works ok, but pretty cold in the 30s without layering clothing. I sleep relatively warm id say but that bag has about 2 handfuls of down in it. Its also too tight on me.

Any day now my 20° Enlightened Equipment Revelation will arrive and we'll see how that goes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
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Re: What's your temp?

Post by fishmonger »

From June through August, it's 32F REI down bag for me. 90% of the time I use it like a blanket/quilt, fully unzipped (in a proper tent on Exped ground pad). I sleep in a t-shirt and wear a feece cap to make up for the lack of hair insulation :). For extreme situations, we have more clothing to wear, but I don't recall any nights I actually chose to wear more than a long sleeved lightweight merino shirt for the night.

Daytime during hail storms were different, although that's probably because the tent was floating on melt water and we knew the tent was being covered by wet white stuff. Also, once I was pretty sick from giardia and exhaustion, shivering uncontrollably and feeling quite cold when the conditions were clearly fine for the 32F bag. That time I wore a fleece jacket and long pants, socks etc just to get my core temp back up. It worked, we walked across Trail Crest the next morning.

My son uses a similar REI "Sub Kilo" that is rated about the same 32 F, although I think it's a little thinner than my later model of the same series. He does zip up almost every night, but sleeps warm. Both bags need to be washed before summer

Late winter into spring or fall, I prefer a 0F rated Mamot bag, warm enough in a 4 season tent and under a tarp setup, tested on Whitney in early April. I forgot what that bag is called, but it is a 3 pound 800 fill down bag I got on steep and cheap. Ripped a hole into it with crampons one winter, but otherwise no issues with it. Will be using it in October for a late season trip this year.

Once I brought my -20F Mountain Hardwear Wraith bag to Whitney in winter, but that was quite the overkill gear, even though we had bad weather. It probably is warm enough for a summit night in the middle of winter without a tent, but you pay for it with a massive 5 pound fluffy thing that needs to find room in your pack. Even in my big Gregory Denali 105 liter pack, this bag takes up serious volume. It is a down bag, but stuffs poorly due to the membrane fabric that makes it difficult/slow to compress. It is the perfect bag for Everest base camp, but in the Sierra, I probably won't be using it again.

Measure temperature? We bring a tiny thermometer. Have done so since the 1980s. I leave it out on the bear can and check it before making breakfast, usually the coldest time of the night. Few summer nights at 10-11k elevation have been below 32F in all those years, but there have been a few that dropped to 25. In September you'll see sub freezing more frequently, and in April it is quite cold at night, 20F for sure above 10k, sometimes 10F at 12k.
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longri
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Re: What's your temp?

Post by longri »

fishmonger wrote:From June through August, it's 32F REI down bag for me. 90% of the time I use it like a blanket/quilt, fully unzipped (in a proper tent on Exped ground pad).
That's my experience too. Usually summer nights are very mild and it can even be warmer up high at night than down in the valleys. People talk about it getting down to 20°F in the summer and I'm sure it has, but it must be pretty rare. I'd rather have a lighter bag all of those other days and maybe be a bit uncomfortable on that rare night.
fishmonger wrote:Measure temperature? We bring a tiny thermometer.
Is it accurate?
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