jfb
Active member
Finally got cold enough here in CT for a trial run on "stacking". It went pretty well. I wore my usual base layers and socks I'd have hiking, a heavyweight Minus 33 fleece zip up top, down booties, down pants, synthetic jacket, liner gloves and a fleece balaclava. I used my MH Lamina 21 deg F synthetic bag, an Exped Downmat HL inflatable pad inside of a Sierra Designs bivy bag, all on top of a Thermarest Ridgerest closed cell pad on my deck.
It was 15 deg F and pretty windy and I was very warm even without cinching the hood on the bag or my jacket. I even unzipped the sleeping bag a bit at first because it was too warm initially. I spent about 2 hours outside laying on my side, back, etc and was very comfortable the whole time. The only snafu I had was that I inflated everything inside at 70 deg F so my pillow and pad lost a lot of loft with the temperature change. I could sense a subtle cooling to everything as a result but it wasn't bad considering how much loft I lost. The incessant flapping of the cover on my grill and the barking of the neighbor's dog finally convinced me to head inside. But overall I was pleasantly surprised. I run very cold and I think this set up would be fine at 10 deg F and with some tweaks I could see it easily working to 0 deg F, especially in a tent versus just laying out in the open in the elements. Although there was certainly something to be said for staring up at the stars on a cold night.
I guess the next step is to see how this all fits in the pack and dig out my liquid fuel stove for some practice.
Looks good so far. Here's a website that has good deals on down bags: https://www.moontrail.com/home.php?cat=328
