ems -40 bag- i need opinion

[KevCon223]

I am comfortable with My EMS Mountain Light 0 Degree bag. I thought about going for the -40 degree, but as they say, maybe overkill. But it is sure would be nice to be toasty on those really cold nights and it is not much more weight to carry on those not so cold nights.

 

[DougPaul]

i couldnt agree more about making sure you are warm enough rather than chancing it. . i remember the ems dhaulugiri in the early 80's, 40 below bag. 5 pounds 12 oz. 550 fill. they stopped making it, and when i asked why, they said everybody who wanted a bag that good had bought one, and they lasted forever so the demand was gone. its interesting to see ems selling a -40 bag again. i also saw a -20 'mt washington' bag at beans...regularly 200 on sale for 150. im browsing more sites as we speak

I had a dhaulugiri. Duck down. No draft collar. Nylon taffeta shell. Might still have it if it hadn't been stolen.

The new bag stuffs smaller, is lighter, a better design, and has a Pertex shell.

If you can wait long enough, EMS usually holds their next 20% off sale in April.

Doug

 

[hikerfast]

wiggys bags

anyone heard anything about wiggys bags? they have the military contract i believe. they have -60 bag for 380 bucks...

 

[Rick]

Google Lamilite
You'll find plenty of good and bad.

 

[hikerfast]

so far im only reading good about lamilite

 

[DougPaul]

There seems to be a Wiggys cult. As far as I can tell, it only has small number of members...

IIRC Lamilite is similar to an old technology polyester.

Doug

 

[giggy]

I hike hot and sleep pretty cold myself - When below zero I use the north face darkstar which claims to be a minus 40 - but is synthetic and in reality - think it might be more like a minus 25-30 - just a guess. I am typically pretty comfortable in that. It Might be a bit overkill and is heavy - but worth it to get warm.

I have a freind just ike guineess in where he typically uses a minus 5 bag and sweats hi arse off in minus 20 temps. so it varies by person.

I think EMS generally makes decent stuff. if anything - it will probably just be a bit heavier and bulkier than a marmot, mountain hardware, etc..

 

[Ken999]

anyone heard anything about wiggys bags? they have the military contract i believe. they have -60 bag for 380 bucks...

I have a Wiggy's 'limited edition' Mountain Hunter. It has a lighter shell and a thinner bottom insulation layer than his normal 20 deg. Ultralight.

So far no complaints other than the hood closure system takes some getting used to. I have not had mine long enough to tell if the insulation will last or not, but I know people who have had there Wiggys for 3-4 years and so far so good.

As far as the -60 Antarctic, I notice that it only has 10" of loft. Most down bags rated for -40 have the same loft, which makes me wonder... . I believe there were a couple of Ultima Thule owners here on the forum and they were fairly satisfied with the bags.

 

[hikerfast]

ems -40

well i did it. i walked into ems friday and saw they had 30 percent off sleeping bags. then i had a coupon from about 3 years ago when they messed up an order that allowed 10 percent off. so i got the -40 bag for 250 bucks instead of 400 bucks. when i got home the thing only seemed to have about 5 inches of loft in the middle in places. i hung it up by its top like they do in the store, and it seems to be fluffed up to about 10 inches of loft. im looking forward to trying it out. at that price maybe i should get two of them. i have another one of those 10 percent off sale item coupons. lot of nice sales this weekend, at llbeans also, and they were loaded with stuff which was nice. shouldnt be TOO long till they have another outrageous sale i wouldnt think.
so, after dreaming about western mountaineering bags, I guess ill go with what i got. one think i noticed was, ems bags for awhile had a sleeve to put your thermarest in under the bag. this didnt have it. i guess ill live if i slide off the thermarest during sleep.

 

[Lawn Sale]

Would a synthetic 0F bag be a good choice for winter backpacking in NH, and just bring a bag liner for the nights when it gets below 10F??

0°F is the coldest bag I have, so at very cold temps I nest the bags. I have had no problem using it with 80% of the nights I've spent in the Whites, but the other nights I was glad I brought something else after I watched the weather.

I use a synthetic 0° and a Down 15° with a bivy sack over everything and it sleeps toasty at -35°, which is the coldest I've been camping.