Edit:  Dec 2011

Two camping trips in, I’ve learned a little more about this sleeping bag. The short answer is, it’s not nearly as warm as advertised if used flat on the ground. But then, from the research I’ve done, very few sleeping bags are if you lay it on the ground flat. For those who haven’t experienced it yet, it’s beause insulation works when there’s air in the insulation, but the bottom of the sleeping bag is compressed because of your weight, thus, no insulation and therefore cold.

There’s lots of solutions to this. My solution was to take a sleeping pad, cut it so it was a little narrower, and much shorter, just long enough to go from my butt to my shoulders, and put that in the sleeping bag and sleep on top of the pad. It may be crude, but it works. This makes the sleeping bag get to the right temp. I also take a mylar sheet and put it along one wall of the tent, reflecting heat back down. So the tent’s ambient temp is lower too. All in all, this sleeping bag, with this modified use, kept me warm in 32 degree weather just fine.

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I’ve tested this in my backyard and noticed a few things already.

First off….isn’t 20 degrees “f” below freezing? So why does it say 7 degrees “c”. Oh well, I don’t need it that warm anyway.

The sleeping bag is rather thin, and cold seeps through the bottom, so I’d recommend using a mylar blanket or the more durable multi-ply space blankets underneath to get more even warmth all around. If you do this tho, there’s a noticeable jump in heat. Still cool along the bottom, but not nearly as cold as it would be otherwise. And of course, like all sleeping bags, there’s no padding whatsoever so I’d recommend a good pad, at least large enough to cover your shoulders to your butt as u can use ur pack as a pillow and your legs won’t need as much protection from little ground bumps.

Next up, this sleeping bag looks so snug, but isn’t. There’s so much space inside to move around, it feels just a little tighter than a regular rectangular sleeping bag. And there’s tons of leg room. I’m pretty medium at about 5’8″ but it sure felt like there was a lot of leg room. I felt like a little 10 year old kid using my dad’s sleeping bag. Still, that meant I could move around pretty easily.

The carry sack also has extra wrap-around cinch straps so you can pack the sleeping bag really small.

All in all, I consider this a really good buy and would recommend it.