Western Mountaineering - TerraLite

If anyone wants a light bag that is also roomy as fuck, and you are rich - Get a WM Terralite asap. I have been sleeping comfy for almost a decade, and I thought paying $450 at the time was ridiculous!

If you're willing to go to $800, that opens up Western Mountaineering. And really not even that much if you just want a three season 20f rated bag. I feel like their website is straight forward. Look at the list. Find the temperature rating you want. Look at the literal size. All of the individual pages have the girth measurements. So you can get a lighter mummy bag. Or a little heavier wide bag and it'll be just as warm. To be specific if I were looking for a side sleeper or roomy sleeping bag from WM that's three season, I'd get the TerraLite rated at 25f. But the comfort rating is something like 18f. 1.8 lb. Or add three ounces of overfill down and drop the temp ratings by 5f degrees. Under their faq they have the EN numbers of their sleeping bags listed. Everything except the newest bags that haven't been tested or the list hadn't been updated yet or whatever. WM is top quality. But I like Montbell too so I wouldn't want to talk you out of buying from them.

I went back to a sleeping bag, a square one with plenty of room. I move a lot at night and the quilt was just too drafty

Wm terralite

What temperature rating do you need for your winter camping? Western Mountaineering has some very roomy winter bags available (Terralite, Sycamore, Badger, Sequoia, maybe more). They are very expensive but very good. They really can last a lifetime, so perhaps you can pick up a second hand one if you’re lucky. Alternatively, the Montbell Seamless Downhugger is made from stretchy material that works quite well. I have one of their summer bags. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_sBs3JFkago&pp=ygUdTW9udGJlbGwgc2VzbWxlc3MgZG93biBodWdnZXI%3D For either of these choices, you could decide to size up as well.

If you insist on a sleeping bag over a quilt western mountaineering terra light is absolutely amazing. Pricey but totally worth it in my opinion

My western mountaineering terra light is such a ridiculously high quality bag. I'll never buy anything else again. That being said.... I switched to hammock camping years ago so it just sits in a closet gathering dust. A huge shame.

Had the same question on my mind, I focussed even on the same brands! I also use my bag in central europe, sometimes in higher elevations: After my - exhausting and nerdy - research I can attest you, that some customers complained about the lack of warmth of the WM summerlite. And its not the manufacturers faulft, (WMs temperature rating are trustworthy!!!) but you can have some colder than expected nights on high(er) elevation. Also sometimes you are lacking the calorie intake before you go to bed, so your body depends on a toasty warm bag. Also exhaustion can add to the equation. So if you can‘t get the overfill on the summerlite, I‘d rather go with the xlite 400, or just look into warmer bags. Last week me and 2 friends did a thruhike in Madeira, East to West with a lot of elevation change. My WM Bag is rated for -4 degree. Turns out it was perfectly fine for the subtropical climate, because we had 1-2 nights at around 0. If its too warm, you can either open the bag or with WM bags, you can shift the down from top to bottom tonregulate the warmth. Brilliant feature. Another food for thought: Don‘t get yourself talked into buying a quilt, if thats not your thing. A wide cut and light seeping bag is the cosiest thing you can have! At one night last week, my friends 9 degree bag was dangerously too cold, so i unzipped my bag (mine can be transformed to a blanket) and put it on top of us both. You feel EVERY draft at your shoulder, your knee, your feet, whenever this thing raises. You feel the shivering going up from the exposed body part (maybe its then cold blood pumping along your vessels). @NewChipmunk2174 I believe quilts have their place at above 6+ degrees or so. Everything else is (personal opinion) just geeky and cumbersome and at worst just drafty and cold as hell. Just look how many Quilt products are out there, who are packed with „features“ (need for balaclava, elastic straps, bottoms without insulation, clips, sinches, bedhsheets, „you can wear your Downpuffy anyways“, zippers,….) so that they are again on the brink of being called a standard sleeping bag. Going full circle… Thats no rent btw! I wanna get one for summernights with 9+ degrees :-)

I also have particularly dislike for their zippers, they use a special no-snag zipper head that functions great but is super chunky and uncomfortable against the face when the hood is cinched. I returned a FF bag for that reason and bought WM.

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.

Western Mountaineering is the benchmark. Their bags really are great. In addition to WM, I also own a Gryphon Gear quilt and can say that their quality is top notch as well and they make both bags and quilts. For a few hundred less than a WM bag, you can get a Gryphon Gear Taurus bag. They are a small cottage shop so you get to deal directly with the owner and he'll make it custom to your liking if you want it a little more roomy. I think there are so many better choices than the EE quilts.

Western mountaineering… cry once, but once

Check out western mountaineering/feathered friends. They’re the gold standard in mountaineering bags

I own two sleeping bags: one from Western Mountaineering (superb quality, but very expensive) and one from Cumulus (high quality at a fairly reasonable price). After a lot of comparison, I personally think both brands provide reliable comfort temperature ratings and are absolutely worth the money. Just remember: if you're physically worn out, the lower limit of the comfort range might not be enough-so it's smart to give yourself a little warmth buffer.

Good suggestion! I love my western mountaineering. But Radiant 20 is legit for under $200.

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

I have an ancient Western mountaineering bag and a several years old hammock gear bag. Both are excellent, it is likely that with how cheap hammock gear stuff is I won’t buy anything other than these two brands in the future.

Western mountaineering sleeping bag. If you want to do -10, it's the only way.

Western mountaineering, awesome bags and uber lightweight.

My buddy has a nemo with the gils that he really likes. Packs almost as small as mine and He got it right when a got a 20 degree alpinlite western montaineering bag before we went on the Grand Canyon. I love my Western Mountaineering, as when I use the baffel I have camped sub 25 degrees in a tshirt. I was also heavily considering a Featherd Friends quilt. I didnt know if it was going to snow/rain/be cold on the river as it was early march. These are definitely the more expensive options. But all and all I really did like the Nemo and was considering getting one for summer car camping. But I spent $600 on a bag so now i just use it as a blanket in the summer. The nemo is the only one I have tried out of your options. I think its a graat option. Cant say anout the others

The weakest link spoils the fun. Sleeping back: -5 degrees in winter, ignore the rating just get a Western Mountaineering bag for all but summer, in that rating. Bottom layer for ground: closed cell foam like RidgeRest, I don't like air matressesl they take work Old sleeping bag on top of that foam pad. Another sleeping bag or blanket over you. I can't stay confined inside a mummy bag but I need one for warmth so I keep the zipper open on top so I can turn and the blanket/sleeping bag on top. It's all fun with advice at home, but bring more than you need and experiment what works for you. I was more cold and shaking in 20 degrees (rectangular bag, foam pad, little else) than I was later on in -10 degrees with the right gear and "layers" described above. https://preview.redd.it/ceia9yeziire1.png?width=1569&format=png&auto=webp&s=4dcb31bd3abce5073f985278d6ac184f36e8a144

I buy Western Mountaineering lol!

Our go to is Western Mountaineering bags. They have specific tailored bags for mountaineering.