Looking for summer sleeping bag..

[Lawn Sale]

Even though it's true that down will lose all it's insulation when wet you still need to get the bag very wet in order hurt the insulation. Most modern bags have shells that are water resistant and will shed water pretty efficiently. Also, minimal precautions can be taken to not get your bag wet.
Down bags are not the deathtraps they are sometimes portrayed to be.

No, they are not the deathtraps, and in summer there is more of a chance of just being uncomfortable. But, when it's been raining heavily for 3+ days and/or it's been sitting in a puddle inside your tent, it's going to get wet and heavy.

How many of us remember last May, where it rained for 23 days out of the month, and Ivy's rainy trip on the hundred mile? How many people sweat profusely during the summer? I spent a night at the Frye Notch shelter with a guy in the Marines, it was 80° and he didn't have a bug net. The mosquitoes were so bad his only escape was burrowing in his sleeping bag, and the next morning both he and his bag were completely drenched. I slept on top of mine all night and was comfortable. The next night it was 86° at night (Hall Mountain), but the following one it was back into the 50's.

Sure, you can dry the sleeping bag during the day, but the covering you mention also makes them harder to dry.

My point is that with a sleeping bag of that rating, you're not going to save a ton of weight by staying with down and it will much more likely get wet in the summer than in winter, but it's also not life threatening.

 

[coldfeet]

I repeat again...thx for the help...I should have mentioned that I think I'm going through mid life crisis and I won't be backpacking that much... It seems that I'm a dayhiker and a car camper...but I want to be ready when the time comes......sorry for to much talk..

If and when I go it won't be like Ivy's trip, (but I did hike with her on my first snow shoe hike at the winter gathering in NH last year, it was the Cabot death march!...)

I think the Big Agnes is probably my best way due to cost and shoulder size...will look for a store near me...thx ...now it's off to soccer!

 

[trailbiscuit]

Definitely "try on" a sleeping bag before you buy it. If you're worried about shoulder space, etc., you need to do that. If your at a store that isn't thrilled about you climbing into a couple bags...go elsewhere. It's not good enough to just look at 'em hanging in the rack.

P.S. I like down.

 

[Chip]

I've got a $10 fleece bag and 30 year old North Face light nylon bivy.
This combo is definately good down to 50, especially on a decent mat. If it'll be cooler than 50, some of the other bags mentioned would certainly be nice to have.

okay, I weighed that fleece bag and bivy and they were almost 3 pounds !
SO, I "HAD" to get one of these at 2lb 3oz.

So when's it going to stop raining ?