From left to right…coldest to warmest: Montbell Down Hugger 800 Expedition, Feathered Friends 20-degree Hummingbird UL, 40-degree Feathered Friends Flickr UL Wide, and the Patagonia Hybrid.
Sleeping bags quivers are a thing. Although they take time to build out, they help us pick the right tool for the job, even in a notoriously cold place like Alaska.
A pile of gear on my garage floor spells out a late summer adventure in the Brooks Range. I am packing for a week and half long packraft trip in the Arctic to gather water samples and data on climate change in the far north. We’ll be boating and backpacking in Gates of the Arctic National Park. Before the equinox, the days stay long up north (even into late summer), but by late August, it surely will get cold at night. Hopefully, this means mosquitos will die down for the season, but it also means warmer gear. I am bringing a Feathered Friends 20-degree Hummingbird UL sleeping bag for this trip. At this latitude, snow could very well make an appearance; temps below freezing are likely. This cozy bag is the lightest mummy-style offering from Feathered Friends, packs down to a minuscule size for its weight with 950-fill down, and hits the scales at a mere 680 grams: it’s an excellent stay-warm tool for backpacking, light and fast ski traverses, and those in-between season trips here in Alaska.
The Feathered Friends 20-degree Hummingbird UL—a reliable go-to when the temps dip below freezing.
Feathered Friends products are incredibly simple, effective, and addicting. This makes the heavy price tag (the Hummingbird runs $609) worth it—I will be comfy.
The Hummingbird UL is my go-to three-season bag. Laying it out on the garage floor gives me a chance to reflect on my sleeping bag shelf and share a few thoughts on an Alaskan’s bag quiver.
The Feathered Friends Flickr UL Wide quilt. 950 down fill, a rating to ~40-degrees and 500g light.
Summer System
I have long struggled in the summer months with finding the right sleeping system. I like sleeping cold, but it can get too cold up here even in the warmer months. It can also get too warm. For years, I used an old 30-degree Marmot bag that worked well, but it never quite fit the bill. These past couple of seasons, I have switched to the quilt lifestyle and am never going back. I now use a 40-degree Feathered Friends Flickr UL Wide quilt. 950-fill down at just over 500 grams feels great in the pack, but even more, I love the versatility of a quilt over the bag when conditions allow. Use it as a blanket when it’s cold; tie it to a pad for more security; zip it up and cinch down the toe when the temp drops. The UL is wide enough for two people to squeeze under if that’s your vibe. I also like adding the quilt to the systems below if I need an in-between or warmer weight.
Three-Season
I already shared my go-to three-season bag (the Hummingbird UL). If I need more versatility, I add a liner (and an old Capilene bag liner) or a bag cover. I have a Montbell Breeze Dry-Tec cover that weighs 180 grams, adds a good bit of warmth, and waterproofs my system. I’ll add the cover if I am sleeping out or stretching the season.
The Patagonia Hybrid sleeping bag. Down insulation for only the lower 2/3s.
The other addition in my three-season category is the Patagonia Hybrid. This sleeping bag is a half bag with an upper uninsulated cover. The hybrid weighs only 490 grams, sports a half zipper, a well-designed wide foot box, 850-fill down lower, and reinforced interior fabric. The lower is warm enough for cold weather, so the temp on these things comes down to what puffy jacket comes along. I’ve never taken this out on a long trip; it’s just not comfortable enough for me to commit. But on quick missions, especially when no tent is involved, it’s small, light, and saves on redundancy when a puffy is already included. It’s been up 16,237ft Mount Sanford, out on the Harding Icefield, and been a go-to for overnighters with a goal.
The Cold and Dark
Okay, so what about the winter? For a while now, my expedition bag has been the Montbell Down Hugger 800 Expedition. I have the older model with diagonal baffles coming in at 1500 grams, but the newer seamless design sheds nearly half a pound. 800-fill down, draft tube, ballistic Airlight Nylon that feels super cozy, and plenty of little touches make this oh-so nice. The older design had what Montbell called “Super Spiral Stretch,” think 45-degree stitching that allowed a ton of wiggle room when needed but hugged your body for warmth. I have used this bag well below zero. It’s been up Denali in the spring, out in the subarctic in winter, and on plenty of mountain trips for me to have full confidence in it. The bag is ISO tested at -5, but it feels warmer than the -15 bag I replaced when I bought it. I like this weight because, on extended winter-ish trips, I have big down pants and a mega puffy, so I can also stack on the down if it gets really cold. My coldest night in the UL Down Hugger Expedition was around 40 below. I woke up cold, but hey, it was 40 below, and I didn’t freeze.
The Montbell Down Hugger 800 Expedition, Alex’s go-to downright cold weather bag.
My dad’s old proper 40-below Marmot Penguin still makes an odd appearance now and again, but if I am going tochange things up, I am more likely to add the quilt to one of my other bags.
Any quiver helps pick out the right tool for the job—skis or sleeping bags alike. I like having a couple of specialists in the mix, like my skimo skis or my hybrid bag. I also like versatility—a quilt is way more than a niche item and weighs nearly nothing, and it lets you add warmth to other bags. Then, of course, there are the daily drivers, the 95 underfoot skis, and the 20-degree bag. The warmth here depends on where you live, but make it as comfy as possible. In my experience, when choosing a go-to, people tend to go too warm and then don’t sleep well (anyone who’s been on a hut trip in Colorado knows well the ruckus in the middle of the night as folks wonder why they have winter bags next to a roaring stove in a hut that rarely dips below 50 degrees). Consider a colder bag with an optional liner or cover. On the top end, the pow skis,or the winter bag should inspire confidence.
That’s what I got. Now it’s time to go faff with my pile of clothes and count calories on ramen packets before starting my drive north.
…What works for you all?
Like Alex, my preference is for a few bags/quilts that can sometimes be combined.
1- a 40 or 50F quilt, synthetic, for summers here in the upper Midwest where nights don’t cool down much. In these thin layers, down doesn’t save a lot of weight.
2- a 30F degree bag (or quilt) for summer in the west or fall/spring at home.
Combine 1+2 for lightweight spring or fall trips, or mild winter weekends combined with appropriate puffy clothing.
3- 10F bag. Use on its own (with clothing as needed) for moderate cold trips of 1-3 nights. Layer with 1 for longer outings to manage condensation, or for deep cold outings.
6- Plain nylon ‘bivy sack’. Not waterproof. Provides a waterproof ground sheet, adds some warmth to thin bags/quilts from wind protection, provides some protection from spindrift and from condensation in winter temps.
7- WPB bivy sack. Only use if planning to sleep without tent or tarp.
One key point if you are going to layer at night:
Sufficient circumference. Each layer needs to be (able to adjust) big enough to layer over the underlaying bag/clothes, without compressing it, or you lose a fair bit of the extra warmth that layer brought you.
Edit: I had mixed up lower limit and comfort limit ratings. The warmest bag I have is a “0 F” bag.
So my quiver is:
40 F quilt
30 F Bag
0 F Bag.
(I sleep a bit cold). And I do have others, older quilts and bags, that overlap, but this is the way the quiver is set up.
Oh man I don’t want to even bring out all the bags to review my quiver as my spouse may think I’m crazy.
Up Next: sleeping pad quiver.
possible for other lower 48 contributors to weigh in on their quiver?
Nothing too earth shattering for this cold sleeper. Summer/shoulder season: Patagonia 19F 850 Down Bag. Pretty solid bag. For a warm sleeper, prob overkill for even summer alpine. Winter/Spring Traverses: Older TNF 0 Inferno Sleeping bag. 1/2 center zip could be longer, and takes space up in the pack, but it’s a warm bag. Expedition: Older Feathered Friends Ptarmigan (25+ yrs. old and still in good shape). Bag I wished I hadn’t traded away for a piece of gear I no longer use: Feathered Friends Rock Wren, a cool bag they no longer make. Featured a draw string closure at the bottom and zips for arm holes. Yes, you could wear it as a funky looking vest poking around camp. FF does still make a Winter Wren—so there’s still hope.
Sure thing, but honestly my scene isn’t too different from Alex’s. Here’s what I’ve got:
– Homemade 50(ish) degree quilt with teijin octa and nylon shell – mostly used as an overquilt to add some warmth to other bags/quilts (Check out the Nunatak Alfabatik for a similar option for purchase)
– Homemade down quilt – similar to the Featherd Friends Vireo, 40 degree upper/20 degree lower, weighs just under a pound. My workhorse the last few years, alone in the summer and with the above quilt on top for shoulder seasons down to around 10 degrees F.
– North face inferno -20, winter trips, expeditions, etc. This thing is just okay but the price was right and replacing with something nicer is $$$$
I also just received a Rab Mythic Ultra 360, 20 degree bag. I’m excited to see how this compares with my homemade quilt, and how cold I can take it with various clothing/bag layering.