Vireo Nano (Older Generation)

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.

There isn’t really an absolute best, but I like Katabatic for a quilt and western mountaineering or feathered friends for a bag. I prefer quilts down to around the low 20s, bags below that. Having a pocket in your quilt for a sleeping pad seems silly to me.

Really high end would be Feathered Friends or Western Mountaineering, basically life time bags. If you are in Europe Cumulus is a great alternative.

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.

At those temps you don't want to be messing around with some (relatively) unknown brand. I would also go insane if I had to deal with some fiddly hood that let in drafts around my neck in the winter. As far as I'm concerned, in the winter you have two options -- feathered friends or western mountaineering.

For sleeping bags I do Feathered Friends. PHENOMENAL products. Carefully selected down feathers and they don’t have to kill the animals to get them. I’ve got 3 different Feathered Friends sleeping bags for different temperatures, including an ultra thick one that I’ve used alone sleeping in no-tent self-dug snow trenches in the middle of Yellowstone in January. The outer layer of the sleeping bags is synthetic, but the primary ingredient is natural feathers. I also have one of their down packable jackets, but it’s too hot, even in -20F. Last time I camped in deep snow for a week, alone, on cross country skis, pulling all my gear on a Fairbanks siglin pulk sled behind me, I found I didn’t need much during the day, because I was working so hard I was always hot. At night I would dig a trench, lay a tarp across the top, supported by my ski poles, and sleep in my FF down bag on top of a thermarest. I’d keep my boots in the bottom of the sleeping bag so they didn’t freeze overnight. Wool socks, wool long underwear, wool sweater, synthetic wind-and-snow protecting pants and jacket. Wool hat, neck gaiter, and gloves. Synthetic outer-layer for gloves to keep my fingers drier. Smartwool makes merino wool boxer briefs. You need less than you think. (Except calories, holy f— do you need a lot of those.)