UQ Overstuffing

[BillyBob58]

Just Bill:

At the end of the day they both slap a rating on it that either matches or doesn't.

Right, it either matches or it doesn't. And all of these folks compete in conflicting areas:
1: To have the 20F (for ex) TQ/UQ that most users report easily keeps them warm to 20F and hopefully even a bit lower
2: to have the 20F TQ/UQ that weighs the least. And maybe also to
3: have the 20F TQ/UQ that looks the fattest and puffiest, because it is assumed that will be the warmer one and will probably sell better.

Coming up with the best combo of all of this is probably quite a challenge. In the meantime, a very low weight can be offered while leaving the user the option to, for 10-30 bucks and a few oz weight, fatten it up a bit more with optional OS(i.e., OS on top of the vendors normal fill and/or OS). Resulting in a product that looks fantastic and bursting at the seams, but may not actually be as warm as the next heavier colder rated model in the line that does not appear to be quite as puffed up as the one with OS.

[hawghangar]

...none of this to be confused with the published warmth ratings of the national sleeping bag manufacturers - who seem to base their temperature ratings on survival rather than comfort...

[OneClick]

...none of this to be confused with the published warmth ratings of the national sleeping bag manufacturers - who seem to base their temperature ratings on survival rather than comfort...

Don't want to get too off topic, but I found the newer EN ratings to be pretty good. Example with a Marmot Sawtooth 15° (I no longer own):

EN Rating Comfort: 28.6°F
Lower Limit: 17.4°F
Extreme: -15.3°F

I remember tent camping before my hanging days and my thermometer read 16° one morning. I was pretty cold the last few hours before waking up completely. So I'm sure 25°+ would have been fine for me. I now use a Pinnacle which is good down to 10° lower limit. I also found that to be accurate.

Anyway, I've been thru two UQs and two TQs with 1oz-2oz overfill and exceeded their limits many times...without even worrying about it.