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Sleeping Bag Review - No 215 - September 2002
The Test Results Big Agnes Zirkel, $279 Summary: Are you a restless sleeper who always slips off your pad or feels annoyingly confined by the cut of most mummy bags? Well, the folks at Big Agnes feel your pain and design their line of top-notch bags with comfort in mind. Unless you’re a buffed out body builder, the Zirkel’s whopping 67.5 inches of shoulder girth provides all the room you’ll need. To keep you from rolling off your mat during a deep REM cycle, the Zirkel sports an innovative sleeve into which an inflatable pad can be inserted. Not only does this feature keep you and the pad connected, it also eliminates the need for wrap-around insulation. The system is foolproof, but does require using one of Big Agnes’ four mummy-shaped pads (an added expense ranging from $65 to $75) or cutting an ensolite pad to the proper dimensions. The full-length zipper was snag-proof, an insulated neck flap kept cold drafts at bay, the hood cinched down with ease, and the Pertex microfiber shell kept everything moisture-free. The Zirkel even has a pillow pocket built into the inside of the hood. It comes with a standard stuff sack. Pros: Widest bag tested. Unique sleeve keeps you on the pad. Sewn-in pillow pouch. Cons: Only Big Agnes pads or modified ensolite pad will fit in the bag’s sleeve. Overall grade: A- Feathered Friends Hummingbird, $305 Pros: Epic shell, open baffles, lightest bag tested. Cons: Three-quarter-length zipper limits versatility. No neck collar. Expensive. Overall grade: A- Moonstone 800 Lucid, $260 Summary: As the name implies, Moonstone’s 800 Lucid is almost transparent, thanks to the colorless Pertex X-Ray 1.1 fabric that allows you to literally look in and see the insulation. Apart from the fashion statement, the X-Ray fabric did a great job of reducing the bag’s weight and keeping moisture on the outside of the bag. The 800 Lucid also has open baffles for an extended temperature range and an anatomic hood, but doesn’t come with a neck collar. The 800 Lucid did suffer from a draft tube that kept getting caught under the zipper. Also, the stuff sack is too small, making it needlessly difficult to pack away the bag. Pros: Open baffles. Nice hood. Trick shell fabric. Cons: Zipper gets caught on outside of draft tube. Stuff sack barely big enough for bag. Overall grade: B- Mountainsmith Vision, $300 Summary: Making a bag both light and warm is not an easy combination. Yet, Mountainsmith has accomplished exactly that with their Vision, stuffing it with 22 ounces of downy goodness — the most in the review — while still keeping the bag’s total weight in the two-pound range. Two secrets to the Vision’s great warmth-to-weight ratio are its super-light Dimension Polyant Airnet fabric and the use of a full-length, lightweight zipper. Open baffles and a lightweight stuff sack round out the package. The Vision’s sole downside is that the zipper tends to snag on the edge of the neck collar when completely sealing the bag. Pros: Light compared to its fill weight. Open baffles. Cons: Zipper snags on neck collar. Expensive. Overall grade: A- REI Sub Kilo+20, $209 Summary: If you’re on a budget, look no further than REI’s Sub Kilo+20. It’s far and away the most affordable sleeping bag in this review, and an above average performer. The bottom half of the hood has an extra roll of down sewn into it and rests against your chin when the bag is sealed up. The Sub Kilo+20 comes with a compression sack — a surprising freebie considering the bag’s great price — and the Pertex nylon shell was a sound performer. Unfortunately, the Sub Kilo+20 was the only bag in the review with closed baffles, reducing the bag’s usable comfort range. Also, the zipper had an annoying tendency to snag on the inside of the draft tube, which lacked adequately stiff zipper guards. Pros: Great price. Comfy hood opening. Comes with compression bag. Cons: Closed baffles. Zipper gets caught on draft tube stiffeners. Overall grade: C+ Western Mountaineering Apache Super MF, $335 Summary: Western Mountaineering has been making down bags for 30 years and it shows. The Apache’s full-length zipper (which never got hung up on the draft tube) and open baffles allowed for easy temperature regulation. The hood design was the most comfortable one we tested. Even when the hood was cinched up tight and only my nose was sticking out, I could still wiggle my head back and forth, and didn’t feel suffocated. The generous insulation in the hood and neck collar helps make this bag cozy and warm. Western Mountaineering’s proprietary microfiber did a great job of keeping condensation from affecting the down. A standard stuff sack is included. The only drawback to the Apache is its stiff price, which at $335 was the highest in the review. Pros: Impeccable workmanship. Most comfortable hood of review. Open baffles. Cons: Expensive. Overall grade: A More information Big Agnes: Feathered Friends: Moonstone: Mountainsmith: REI: Western Mountaineering:
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