Caribou MF

Back in the early-mid '90s my then-girlfriend and I had a pair of matching Caribou Mountaineering mummy bags; one with the zipper on the left, and the other with the zipper on the right. We lived in Wyoming at the time, and later, in Tahoe, and it was just a fact that once you zipped them up together with two bodies sharing the same space, your temperature rating dropped a good 20 degrees F. We were into multi-day backcountry climbing and snowboarding trips at the time and used ours in sub-zero temps on multiple occasions, for example, even though individually they were only rated to around 15F.

I have been using the same Western Mountaineering Caribou (well, technically mine is the predecessor) for 25 years. It's extremely well made, extremely light, packs extremely small, but also extremely expensive (for a 35F degree bag). I pair it with a Big Agnes Hyperlite pad that is 3.5 in thick x 25 in wide x 74 in long. The extra wide, extra long give more room and feels more like a bed than a pad. I also use a Cocoon sleeping bag liner to keep the sleeping bag clean on longer outings. This set up is warm, comfortable, light, and packs reasonably small. The downside is an expensive kit. Consider that comfortable sleep is super important for rest and recovery, it's worth the cost. The Western Mountaineering bag has been extremely well used for 25 years and still looks new. I wash it (with a special down safe detergent) once a year or maybe less depending on use. It was an investment that has paid dividends for decades.

I am a cold sleeper too. And I’m embarrassed to admit, I could afford a western mountaineering bag. It was 0°. And I’m 59 and I got the 6 foot six version. Giving me tons of down to snuggle into. I actually use this bag way more than just the winter and I’m always toasty warm.

Western mountaineering. I get cold easily even in the summer in Colorado at high altitudes. I also snow camp

Don’t forget to get a really big bag one that goes way over your head. It’s just so cozy.

I liked my quilt when I was doing shorter trips. Once I started doing months at a time I grabbed a western mountaineering bag and I have no regrets. Helps me extend a bit more into shoulder season

Western Mountaineering mummy bag. I do a lot in shoulder season and these are very warm for the weight

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

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.

Good pad. Stick with that. Edit: (I forgot about the Nemo eclipse. That's something to look at. I don't think they're ready to ship yet. I don't know that factually. I think they're officially going on sale in march. REI was doing pre-orders.) Someone mentioned Western Mountaineering. That's the best. But they're expensive. I don't know if I'd recommend it for a beginner. I have one and it's totally worth it. If you know you're going to be out there, then maybe eventually you want to make that investment. In general about sleeping bags look at the EN or ISO Comfort rating. If they don't have that, you probably don't want it. That's an incorrect statement. Because even some top brands don't necessarily publish that for certain bags. In which case you just really need to look deeper into that bag. To give you a specific example, Western Mountaineering has EN number is published on a chart under their faqs. But that only goes down to their bags that are about zero rated and above. That doesn't mean that they're cold weather bags are crap. The exact opposite actually. But a lot of budget brands are throwing a temperature rating on there that may be more related to the extreme limit number which is survivability and you'll just be cold. If you want to look at the difference between the comfort, limit, and extreme limit rating, you can. But just stick with comfort. Maybe build in an extra 10° from what you actually expect to sleep in. That's a heavy tent. You can save a lot of weight there. Let me offer a specific alternative. Durston Xmid 2. It's a trekking pole tent. If you wanted to try trekking poles, this is a great way to save weight. If you don't want to use trekking poles, Durston sells ZFlicks poles. You'll still be significantly lighter than the Half dome 2. R/durstongearheads Naturehike is a budget brand with tents you can look at to see if one would work for you. You'd save money. And probably can come out a fair amount lighter. Check out r/ultralight. I'm not saying you should go full ultralight. But if you're going to be backpacking, save weight where you can.