Penguin YF

Single bags that zip together are what my wife and I use. Very versatile and easier to store and to backpack with. They are available at all price points from Naturehike/Aegismax to Feathered Friends.

Single bags that zip together are what my wife and I use. Very versatile and easier to store and to backpack with. They are available at all price points from Naturehike/Aegismax to Feathered Friends.

The ratings are not always reliable so you are right to be uncomfortable with them. One good baseline is ounces of down at the same fill power. Comparing bags that way gives you a better comparison point. Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends are generally reliable in their ratings. That should give you an excellent place to start.

Feathered Friends will customize bags. They did it for me.

Feathered Friends has short bags for women. Temp ratings are spot on. The YF bags save $ over the UL for very slight weight increase. They also have a kids Flicker; 5ft hoodless bag that can unzip to quilt. I have a regular YF 30 that I love. Worth a phone call. 

I'd been using a Marmot for 30 yrs, what they called a 10-20 30. Don't remember the price but it was the most expensive thing I bought for a very long time and glad I did. There were not as many choices back then and I don't think they are the same now. Point is it was annoying when it was warm. Couple of years ago I got a Feathered Friends Flicker 40. It's a hoodless sleeping bag that can also open all the way to a quilt. (no it doesn't attach to a pad) Had that down to mid 30's cowboy camping in the desert and was fine with a puffy on. I had wanted a 30 but out of stock. This year sold the 40 and got a 30 for a trip to Iceland in July. I'm very happy with it; works well across temps. Combined with the Marmot gets me down to 0. Since it is a bag when I want it's less fuss than a lot of the quilts out there. (love the draft collar and the foot closing completely). You can rent one and they will credit up to 2 nights rental cost toward a similar purchase. May help but likely incur some extra shipping costs unless you're in their area.

I have a 10 degree FF bag and I loveeeeeee it. I took it on the JMT during a verrryyy hot year and ended up just draping it over me most nights rather than zipping it up. To me, the peace of mind of having the 10 degree is more than worth it. I used to feel anxious about being cold on basically every backpacking trip and now I never stress about it, I know I will be cozy. And it serves me well for other adventures including snow camping and shoulder season trips.

Before you buy, I'd read through Dan Timmerman's blog: [https://timmermade.com/blog/](https://timmermade.com/blog/) He says it better than I will. But it comes down to wrapping yourself with the right thickness of insulation for the least amount of weight and money, which means you need a bag that fits your body and sleeping position, and uses the right amounts of top-notch materials. **Keep in mind insulation is a complete system**. It includes sleeping pads and shelters. \-A thin CCF pad under an air pad boosts R-value for cheap. Decathlon's foam roll is 210g and 9 Euro. GG thinlite is half the weight and double the price, which is still cheap. \-A bivy bag can easily add 5C to your warmth because it prevents wind from stealing your warmth. You can find them on aliexpress for \~30 Euro in the 250g gram range, or from cottage makers in US for more $ and less g. Keep in mind, you do still want good ventilation to prevent condensation. Feathered Friends is gold standard. Quality is top. The price reflects that. Any of the FF 10F (-12C) or 0F (-18C) bags could work. Don't get confused by names. Just look at the girth specs, and fit to height. **Maybe** in your price range with the USD being cheap right now. I think the Cumulus Panyam and Teneqa series check all the boxes at a fair price. Choose the weight you need, add an extra 60g of down, and size it to fit yourself. Good options on website. You'll come in right around 400-500 Euro. Cheaper than that is Aegismax. \-G is the 850 FP goose down UL winter series, Choose your weight and length. Is it totally dialed in? No, but it's a really solid choice. \-D is the 650 FP duck down budget series. Adequate, not ideal but worth mentioning though My best personal experiences have been with \-Feathered Friends Flicker 20 (-7C) for general 3 season use, which I like for versatility. It works down to actual rated temp with the right shelter, pads, campsite selection, clothing. \-Aegismax Mini 6C which is good for summer use (which is half the year where I live), but was impressed with brand.

I backpack with my 9 and 6 year old boys. Last summer, I had them both in 12L REI Tarn packs that I picked up on Facebook marketplace for like $40 combined. They use 8 and 6 sections of Z lite foam pad. I bring quilts for them, one of which is an old 28 oz 10 degree EE quilt from when I first went ultralight, and the other is a Feathered Friends hoodless sleeping bag that I bought for basically half price on Facebook marketplace this off season. Just make sure to bring a warm beanie for the kiddo to keep his head warm. 18L is about the most volume I would recommend in a pack for a 5 year old. You’ll want the pack light and small enough that you can easily carry it in an extra hand if he gets tired of wearing it. The torso size (assuming the pack has a hipbelt) is one of the more important factors at that age. Ideally, you’ll want a pack with an adjustable torso length, th shorter the better at his height. My 4’4 9 year old has about a 12-13” torso measurement for reference, but it’s easy to measure. Bottom line, you’ll end up with some extra weight and volume in your pack in order to make the experience better for him. I

Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends or Marmot for bags. Enlightened Equipment, Hammock Gear or Katabatic for backpacking quilts. Not cheap but quality and comfortable.

I've been a quilt user for years, but if I were looking for sleeping bags, I would go with either Western Mountaineering or Feathered Friends. You absolutely get what you pay for with either brand. Awesome quality.

I have some Feathered Friends bags. They typically come with a stuff sack larger than how small they could pack (in fact they can easily be compressed at least another 30-40%), and that stuff sack size generally seems to vary across manufacturers. Should you compress it more? Debatable. But you can.