Timmermade - Serpentes False Bottom Sleeping Bag – Mummy

I tested the Timmermade Serpentes against the FF Tanager and found that the 20F Serpentes was both lighter (423g) and warmer than the Tanager (520g). The false bottom on the Serpentes also makes it much easier to dump heat than the Tanager. The theory behind continuous baffles sounds great but if you move a lot during the night you can forget about it; the down will migrate.

You make a good case for functionality with the 2-temp-range construction of many bags. I had not realized that was a thing. I would agree with you that pad straps are bunk. I gave up on those years ago. I tend toward quilts that have false bottoms or false bottom flaps, like [this one](https://timmermade.com/product/coati-quilt/). Curious that this same maker also does bags that are kind of a hybrid with a quilt, like [this](https://timmermade.com/product/wren-false-bottom-sleeping-bag-narrow-torso/), or even [this](https://timmermade.com/product/serpentes-false-bottom-sleeping-bag-mummy/) which take the false bottom further.

Another thing to consider is that enlightened equipment quilts are known to be a little optimistic in their temperature ratings. Their vertical baffles are also prone to down shifting and leaving dead zones. I love my enigma 20 deg but below 30 i need to start layering up or sleeping cold. The switchback is great down to about 35 for me, but most of the time if I expect colder nights I bring a pad with a higher r value. It makes a huge difference, both with a sleeping bag and a quilt, since the down underneath your body does not insulate you in a sleeping bag. My experience with sleeping bags is that if I ever roll over the bag rolls with me and the crushed down is now on top letting me get cold. I sleep much warmer in a quilt, due to tossing and turning and the quilt not moving with me, you just have to learn how to set up your pad straps properly. If you’re in the market for a new bag, you may consider Timmermade’s hybrid bags. They are a quilt with an actual bottom like a sleeping bag that just isn’t full of down. So you get the weight savings of a quilt but the draft protection of a sleeping bag. Downside is dealing with the Timmermade monthly lottery to order, but the temp ratings are also really bomber!

The Timmermade Serpentes is my primary sleeping bag, and I have probably 40 nights in it. Here’s what i can pass on: The most important difference from a false-bottom bag and a traditional bag is that you turn in the bag with a false-bottom, not with the bag. You have to keep the bottom centered under the body, and this can be surprisingly fiddly when you turn. Yes, you keep out drafts, but if you expose the uninsulated bottom to the cold air you will feel it nonetheless. It’s easier to keep drafts out in a quilt, assuming it is wide enough, than it is to keep a false-bottom bag properly oriented. For a zipperless bag, it is best to have a temperature profile like you would find in the arid American west: where the temperature drops quickly at sundown. In the humid American southeast, the temps drop slowly, such that a zipperless bag that is adequate for the lows will be too warm for the initial nightly high. Quilts are better in these circumstances since you can regulate temps easily. If you can only afford one, I’d recommend a quilt in a wide size. This recommendation is coming from someone who spends about 70% of my nights in a false-bottom bag. If you get a false-bottom bag, order one oversized so that you can easily turn in it, unless you spend all night on your back. My Serpentes is the “fetal position” version, which I highly recommend if you go that way. By the way, you want one without a hood. The cumulus versions with attached hoods make no sense, given the fact that you turn in the bag, not with it.

Timmermade Serpentes ! Love it …

I want to second this, I love my Timmermade Serpentes, it took me a while to “learn” how to keep the bottom on the bottom, but now is second nature. I only really rotate trying to get (back) to sleep. I can’t recommend it enough, 

Checkout the [false bottom sleeping bags](https://timmermade.com/product-category/sleep-systems/down-sleep-systems/) from Timmermade. The differential baffle design and false bottom design is the best warmth to weight ratio bag I have used and seen. It is paired well with a water bear hood. The false bottom of a Serpentes bag reduces the overall weight of the system by approx 10% over an equivalent size without a false bottom, depending on the dimensions and fill quantity. Dan is very helpful and you can customize the fitment and materials.

Fellow rotisserie sleeper here. Mostly camp in my hammock but also go to the ground when I have to, e.g. routes above treeline. I’ve done quilts and mummy bags on the ground, and I don’t like either in their traditional forms. A third viable alternative is what basically amounts to a hoodless “bag” of some sort: a false bottom bag (Timmermade Serpentes/Wren), a zipperless bag (Nunatak Sastrugi), or a fully zippered quilt (Feathered Friends UL Wide Flicker). You have the option to select from a variety of sizes to suit your needs especially with Nunatak and Timmermade, but be aware of the lead times and specific ordering windows that will require some patience and diligence on your part. I find I sleep less interrupted in these types of bags on the ground, while traditional top quilts do just fine in a hammock system with an underquilt.