Does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations on lightweight sleeping bags for an elk hunt out west?
Depending on the time of year and elevation you are at you might want to have more than a light bag. Many an august morning I have been wearing a hoodie to the breakfast tent. Dry air at elevation cools down fast.
As always, thanks for your input, Sota! Do you have any experience with different inside material? Down vs. whatever else they put in sleeping bags? Might as well spend the money for a decent bag.
I’ll add my .02, if the bag is rated at 0, it might be good to 20-25. I’ve got an older NF that’s rated at 0 and a bit on the heavy side, a little over 4#. Get a good pad for insulation, even with a cot. It’ll help improve the bags rating.
For September backcountry elk hunts I carry a Big Agnes - Anvil Horn 15 degree bag. It’s lightweight and works great with the integrated sleeping pad system. I feel it packs well and is worth the price.
Down sleeping bags will pack smaller than a similar temperature rated synthetic insulation sleeping bag. My down filled 16degree bag packs as small as my 35degree synthetic bag. The problem with Down is if down gets wet it looses all of it insulation capability. Treated down, like Dri-down, does not absorb water like untreated down does. When I backpack with my down filled bag (which is a Dri-down bag) I pack it in a waterproof compression stuff sack. To show the difference in pack size. My down filled bag packs down to the size of a cantaloupe, where as my son's synthetic bag (same temperature rating) packs down to the size of a basketball. The cost of a down bag will be much higher than the same rated synthetic bag. Hope this helps
A good insulated sleeping pad is very important also. The sleeping pad will make the difference between being cold or warm.
I use quilts from Enlightened Equipment, however good bag can be had from sevrral manufactures like, western Mouuntainerring, Nemo, Featherd Friends, REI, kifaru, ect ect ect....the list can go on forever. You need to decide if your packing in or base camping then decide on temp range and either down or synthetic.
