They already provided their wish for a limit temp, why would they have to provide any environmental conditions? They're considering Unisex bags and one of the most expensive bags on the market, probably not too strict on the budget
X-Lites are really great. I would recommend customizing it zipperless unless you're the kind of person that can truly be comfortable using a bag 25c above the limit just by keeping it partially on top of you
A suggestion for the X Lite specifically would be to get a #5 zipper in place of the #3. The #3 is very snaggy and it sounds like you will be using the bag a lot. You don't want to be cursing your zipper every night. You might also consider a full zip so you can use it like a quilt. 34 extra grams well spent. The more durable 29g pertex for the outer shell would be my choice as well for it's extra protection.
The Cumulus Panyam is decent but fairly wide so if you're skinny it might be drafty and not feel warm. Since this is r/ultralight I would suggest you look at the Cumulus X-Lite which is considerably narrower and starts with 900 fill down. The customizations to the bag that I would recommend should give you a 664 gram bag with a legit comfort rated to -3 C. If you are less than 170cm tall then choose size S. Get rid of the horrible #3 zipper and trade it for a #5 at 2/3 length. Max out the down--so for size S that is 450g. If I was buying the bag for myself I would switch to the more durable 29g Pertex outer fabric and pick a nicer color. You are basically getting a Western Mountaineering Ultralite clone for less weight and money plus you can choose your color. If you're taller than 170cm then size up but still max out the down fill. I don't think you could find a warmer bag that's as light without going to a quilt. Use some of the weight savings to bring a thin foam pad to supplement your Xlite. You mention wearing additional pants and a sweater but you make no mention of a buff, hat or sleep socks. Those help a lot too.
Hm, sounds like a pretty awesome project!
Neither of those bags are going to be remotely enough for above 2000m in the winter. Especially with that pad. The combination is great, just mountains in winter can still reach -20°C easily.
If you only want to go with one bag, you'll have to carefully plan around the mountainous stretches or avoid hitting them during winter. (And you'll want to avoid hitting Apulia when it's 40°C).
A classic lightweight solution would be getting a overbag for winter. Basically you get a 0°C bag for most of the year and then add a 10° (synthetic) quilt over that and a foam pad when it gets really cold. That would be a tad cheaper than two high quality bags for two temperature ratings. You could also only use the overbag when it's really hot.
Yes, being a woman does change it a bit. If you were a man I'd advice you to treat Cumulus limit temps as if they were comfort ratings. Men tend to sleep just a tiny bit warmer and their ratings are pretty generous so you can get away with carrying a little less insulation.
Sounds like a good plan overall. Just don't underestimate the Apennines, they extend to noticeably beyond 2000m in elevation and do see quite a bit of snow during winter.
Considering you get cold easily I would pick a sleeping bag based on the comfort temperature, not the limit temperature. Then again you have a warm pad and you can definitely push the rating quite a bit with clothing.
Most sleeping bag ratings assume a R4.8 pad, long baselayers and a toque.
You really won't do anything wrong with the Cumulus bag, it's a good choice and fairly flexible.
Where are you planning to sleep during winter? -7C would be quite optimistic for Winter above 2000m in any region in Italy.
Cumulus X-Lite 400 is a great choice for 3 season temperatures: I made 2 of my friends buy it and they are very happy about it.
Which thru-hike are you planning in Italy? Sentiero Italia? I have quite extensive trekking/mountaineering experience in Italy, so feel free to reach me in DM if you look for planning or other specific hints.
I had a similar discussion with myself and compared a few from s2s, cumulus and wm. ended up with a WM Megalite, if it wasn’t for the fact I needed to customize I would have probably chosen the xlite 400, with added width and a 5mm zip.
I had three of those bags in my house at the same time along with a panyam 450. The s2s was the -1 version.
I was disappointed with my quilt for shoulder season temps so decided I wanted a bag.
Comparing the loft side by side the WM was the winner and I liked the extra width being a bit bigger.
If you are ok with the standard size of the xlite and the standard 3mm zip the xlite is a great buy.
Ps as you eluded too the Sea to summit ratings are T lower limit ratings, the comfort rating of their -1C bag is 4C, the comfort of the -9 is -2C, #marketing
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