Mountain Hardwear - Bishop Pass 15

First - are you positive you want to zip together with your partner? I did your same plan \~15 years ago. Got 2 bags and zipped them together. It was cute. At first. Then we soon became cramped / cold. We almost always preferred to be in our own bags vs. zipped together. After the novelty of zipping together wore off - it really wasn't useful. Just saying... don't spend the extra money / effort or limit your options for this feature if you don't really need it. If you still want the zip together bags - you are looking for sleeping bags that have 'left' and 'right' zippers. Buy one left and one right. At 15F nights - you want a 5F or 0F rated sleeping bag. Or a 15F bag plus a liner for the colder nights. Are you sure you want a traditional mummy bag? I personally prefer down quilts. They pack smaller and are more comfortable than my mummy bag. They also work well when 2 people are together. Snuggle under the blankets, but then go into your own cocoon for the night time. **What is your budget?** It looks like Mountain Hardware does mens zippers on left and womens zippers on the right. * [https://www.rei.com/product/235362/mountain-hardwear-bishop-pass-15-sleeping-bag-womens](https://www.rei.com/product/235362/mountain-hardwear-bishop-pass-15-sleeping-bag-womens) * [https://www.rei.com/product/235363/mountain-hardwear-bishop-pass-15-sleeping-bag](https://www.rei.com/product/235363/mountain-hardwear-bishop-pass-15-sleeping-bag) Nemo does the same: * [https://www.rei.com/product/228439/nemo-disco-15-endless-promise-down-sleeping-bag-womens](https://www.rei.com/product/228439/nemo-disco-15-endless-promise-down-sleeping-bag-womens) * [https://www.rei.com/product/251886/nemo-disco-15-endless-promise-down-sleeping-bag-mens](https://www.rei.com/product/251886/nemo-disco-15-endless-promise-down-sleeping-bag-mens) This is a unique option too: * [https://www.rei.com/product/231206/sea-to-summit-ascent-15f-sleeping-bag](https://www.rei.com/product/231206/sea-to-summit-ascent-15f-sleeping-bag) The North Face Cat's Meow was the one I had with L/R zips. But it looks like they took that feature away. I was also going to recommend the Kelty Cosmic Down as a cheap/budget option - but they also look to only sell right zip bags.

I have two Mountain Hardwear bags, a Bishop Pass women's +15 and a Lamina Eco +30. I'm male, but I'm short and run cold, so the women's bag is a great winter option for for me (comfort rated at +15F (-9C), limit about +3F (-16C)). The down of the Bishop Pass still allows it to compress decently for backpacking, and it lofts up well. The Lamina is +35F (+2C)/+25F (-4C) comfort/limit, and I find it comfortable for me down to the mid-40s F (7C). It packs down quite small, and I used it for a week-long backpacking trip at Philmont in New Mexico this summer. In your situation, I'd consider two bags: the Bishop Pass 0 for winter, and a lighter-weight summer bag (since it sounds like you may not already have a good one). The credit would probably cover most if not all of the cost, and you'd be comfortable in every season.

I’ve been using Outdoor Gear Lab for kit reviews for over a decade… they have two MH bags in their top 10 list—including the Bishop Pass 15. MH makes great stuff but they just have a hard price point—there are better brands for folks willing to spend $400-500 (like western mountaineering) and companies like REI win on value by selling comparable bags for significantly less.

I really enjoy my mountain hardwear bishop pass. It’s not top of the line though. It’s rated 15* Fahrenheit, 2.5 lbs (just over a kilo), and packs to a decent size (not super small but not huge). For reference I usually backpack in the sierra Nevada range of California. So average nightly temps are around freezing. I would recommend this bag but of course you can get nicer if you have a larger budget. I think the two most important things to consider are nightly temps and material: 1) do you really want a -9*C bag? I’m not sure how cold it really gets where you are but I feel like there is a good chance you are going to be dripping in sweat with that for a lot of nights that aren’t mid winter. 2) synthetic vs natural down. I prefer natural because it’s so fluffy and warm. But both have their pros and cons. Side note: not even sure if mountain hardware is offered in NZ lol

If you're not into making your own synthetic quilt as suggested above, some sleeping bags come in both a right hand zipper and a left hand zipper and can be joined together at the zippers. Looking now I'm seeing fewer options that do this than before. ☹️ For example the Women's and Men's Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass bags are left and right zipper respectively, but neither the Kelty Cosmic Down 20 nor the REI Magma bags seem to come in alternating zipper sides. Mountain Hardwear Lamina Eco AF comes in both left and right zips. It's a synthetic bag so it's cheaper but will be a bit heavier and take up more space in your pack than a down bag. But so would a MYOG quilt as described elsewhere.

Thats good to know! Thanks I only discovered them recently by accident when I was trying to find a midlayer fjallraven in my size and the quality of that from haglöfs blew me away I ended up getting the mountain hardware bishop bag because of the advertised range being better and the goretex that mountain hardware makes it with. Im canadian and will be using it in the outback which means possible water exposure in the canoe and in the winter; which our winters which i assumed is pretty comparable to your winters which is why I appreciate my fjallraven stuff so much. But I think ill be keeping Haglöfs' bags in mind for when anyone i know is shopping replacements or upgrades

For posterity, the sizing is indeed important.  The non goretex versions are "performance mummy cut" which mean these are smaller.  The goretex ones are the ones you bring for expeditions, these are the big bullet proof tankers known as "Expedition mummy cut".   Inside the Expedition Cut, you can gear up with your belay down jacket and stuff, theres more room and then you can get a -18c instead of a -40c for example. The beefier goretex expedition one is interesting if you sleep straight outside in winter, with no tent.  It stop wind and melting snow wont wet the sleeping bag.   For serious winter stuff you can add a VBL in that melting pot of kit to manage humidity and dew point but its not in the main subject. Things to remember: - Performance cut; - Expedition cut. I personally have the blue and red MHW -40c goretex, the -18c, the -18c goretex and the -9c. Each sleeping bag have its particular usage in my activities.

My current down mummy one from Mountain Hardwear that I got for a crazy deal (<$90). There are zippers on both sides and the toe area. I move a lot in my sleep, and the slightly wider area up top makes it easier. (It's wide enough for my arms to go to my shoulder area, even zipped up.) It's a huge step up from my previous one, a cheap synthetic mummy.

It's really a personal choice. I would suggest you try the MH sleeping bag. It's a free way to test a type of sleeping bag. Worst case, you buy another one later. I personally use down sleeping bags because they are lighter and compress better. But they are more expensive and take a lot longer to dry if it gets wet.