The sleep system, sleeping pad and bag play a big role in the day-to-day success of a backcountry trip. The body requires food, water, and rest to function at its peak. Rest is the most often overlooked, but a good night’s sleep makes it far easier to push hard through the days. There are several routes to take in both pads and bags.
Offerings for good sleeping bags run into three basic shapes: square toe, semi square toe, and mummy. Square toes are good for base camp bags, but there are only a handful of legit backcountry offerings in this shape, and they are generally for warm weather. The reason for this is the amount of material and insulation required to make a bag of this shape function- so they tend to weigh more than the other shapes. Semi square toe bags are hybrids that offer a little more room in the foot box for restless sleepers or big guys. Mummy bags tend to offer the lightest weight, and every real backcountry sleeping bag maker makes a pile of them in temperature ranges from arctic cold to around 40 degrees.
The temperature rating is important to pay attention to, as does how the temperature rating is established. I see most people making their initial sleeping bag purchases in the 0-20 degree range, which may not be the right choice. Match the temperature rating of the bag to the coldest temperature you can expect where you are going, and remember, the addition of a down sweater and down booties can make a bag comfortable to temperatures lower than the bag is rated. For most early season hunts a 32 to 35 degree bag is about perfect, and they can be found in the one-pound range pretty easily. As fall progresses towards late season hunts, step to a bag in the 0-20 degree range.
While we are talking about temperatures, it is crucial to know that those ratings are established with a closed cell foam pad between the bag and the ground. When in a bag, the insulation on the bottom is compressed, and doesn’t really offer any help fighting the cold; so a pad must be used.
There are quite a few pad offerings out there, from manual inflatables, down filled, to self-inflating. Most regular inflatable pads offer little insulation, but lots of comfort, the shining star in this croud is the ThermaRest Neo Air, which offers a little insulation, 2.5 inches of padding, and sub 16 ounce weights on most models. This unit is great for most trips, but when the mercury falls on those colder weather hunts, the new Neo Air All Season or ProLite plus, also from Thermarest or aan insulation filled pad like those offered from Big Agnes offer more insulation and comparable comfort, just with the addition of a little weight. (Extremely little with the All Season Neo)
The temperature rating of the bag itself can be altered with the type of pad used, the lower the R-value of the pad, the cooler the bag will sleep, and the more insulated the pad, the closer it gets to its actual rating.
On to construction…There are a variety of synthetic fillers out there and different qualities of down. Both have their place, and should be matched to the circumstances you expect. Synthetic, while not as compressible as down, insulates when wet. If you happen to be in the northwest, or just expect lost of moisture then synthetic filled bags are the route to take. If the weather is sans moisture, then down is a great option- nothing is as light or packable - but when wet, it doesn’t function.
I really like the bags from Wiggy’s and Western Mountaineering, first because they are well made, and second because they both have a no bs policy, they provide the facts, without smoke and mirrors. Wiggy’s bags are synthetic only, and Western Mountaineering down only. The Synthetic filled Wiggy’s bag weighs about twice the Western Mountaineering down, but when you get in the tent soaking wet and cold, the Wiggy’s bag can stave of hypothermia. Western also addresses the moisture issue with their GWS (Gore Wind Stopper) series, which are wrapped in the tough, wind and water resistant material (it’s nearly water-proof).
There is no substitute for a high quality sleep system that matches the environment you are in. This is primarily because the body and mind rely on food, water, and rest to recuperate from the effort that backcountry hunting requires. Many times, full nutrition and light-weight don’t cohabitate, or we simply don’t manage to pack enough. By adding a good night’s rest to the equation, it is easier to hunt harder, longer – which tends to produce more results.
