Just a year and a half ago I invested in a really good sleeping bag that's relatively light (24 oz), when I thought I was going to use a tent (of course). So I used that and a sleeping pad and did ok. Now that I am investing in an UQ, I researched the best way to use my mummy sleeping bag, and I was wondering what you do with the hood. Shug's video took care of that. Thanks for the info here.
I prefer being tightly coccooned up in a sleeping bag in winter. Yes its a pain at the 3am nature call. Maybe if I had JRB's down hood.
But for warmer temps the top quilts come out.
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"Courage Grows Strong at a Wound" - Stewart Clan Motto
My personal opinion is a sleeping bag is a great option, unless you have cash burning a hole in your pocket and you can't think of an item that has a higher priority. A caveat, If you have sufficient skills to DIY a TQ, I would think go for it!
Why? Most likely the cheapest option is the bag you already have. All things equal a sleeping bag should be incrementally warmer, and probably during a moment, i.e. during that cold snap that you didn't expect, that you would swap your buddy your $300 TQ for his warm WalMart synthetic bag. Most mummy bags that resemble a TQ with a hood, actually have a hood to cover the part of your anatomy that loses heat the most, i.e. you head and neck.
After the TQ craze has been relegated to the dust bin of latest and greatest fads (like fire and the wheel), the mummy sleeping bag will live on. Plus, a quality sleeping bags, e.g. Western Mountaineering or Feathered Friends, will continue maintaining a good resale value. I also consider a bag to have more versatility. It can easily serve as a TQ, yet it can provide a haven for the full gamut of activities from car camping, to alpine climbs, to polar expeditions.
To sum it up, opinions vary and to each their own, eh? If not, discounted to the rantings of an old dog who eschews facebook, snapchat, instagram, and other modern contraptions.
Last edited by OlTrailDog; 02-15-2017 at 20:04.
I'm finding this feedback really helpful! I'm thinking now that I'll stick with my current bulky bag in the winter and get myself a TQ sometime during the summer. I'll be doing more long-range backpacking when it's warmer out and my leakage concerns are less important... also as a paddler I like the idea of sticking with synthetic during the colder months should I capsize or get caught in cold rain. In the summer wet down wouldn't be as big an issue.
Now my question is what temperature rating should I shoot for? I like the design of the Enlightened Equipment quilts that can double as a warm poncho. The coldest I would probably bring it would be September in the Northeast/Vermont/White Mountains. It would be coupled with my 20* HG UQ so I feel I might have a little wiggle room, especially if I use other clothing to complement it should I catch a chill.
Overall Topquilts seem waaaay more convenient. Wriggling into my sleeping bag seems like it gets more difficult every time. I just can only see myself buying one topquilt so getting a 2-season summer-ish one as opposed to a more expensive winter one seems most cost-effective for me.
I just want to reiterate and restate a bit what Just Bill pointed out... having the fit right on an UQ is not an option, and the bag doesn't save you anything there. Yes, a bag does have a bit of insulative value where it can loft on the ground side where the narrow footprint of your body isn't compressing it completely. The benefit, and main problem with a hammock is that it spreads out the contact points of your body footprint so that the bag is completely not effective on bottom. You sleep more comfortably with less pressure point issues, but your body is in greater contact with hammock, and any gap between hammock and UQ is potential cold. Fine to use a bag unzipped as a TQ.
If you've got a 20 degree UQ, then I would go with 20 degrees or higher (warmer) rating for the TQ. Keep in mind that syn being better when wet does not mean when drenched. Anything drenched will chill you. Colder weather often brings condensation issues which can make syn better insulation, even though most folks still prefer down. You still always need to be prepared to keep your quilts dry no matter where you are.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
Okay so I will be the odd guy. I use Western Mountaineering sleeping bags as my top quilt. I find that I can pack them down as much as a TQ but then I can use it any way I need. In my hammock I do not zip it up, just the foot box area is zipped.
The second reason I use the sleeping bags is the fact that I have them already.
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IMHO.....
I use both. I have several different sleeping bags based on temperature comfort ratings. I also have a HG 20 degree TQ.
If I'm backpacking I prefer the TQ due to it's much lighter weight and ease of packability. I have no issues with length or coverage and it's quite cozy.
If I'm car camping I can use the sleeping bag based on the anticipated overnight temperatures (I have 0, 15, 20, 30 and 50 degree rated bags). All of my bags (except one mummy bag) completely unzip and can be used just like a TQ.
So if you can only afford one or two options, I would go with a TQ rated to what you think would be the lowest temps you'll hike in. That could be used for both backpacking AND car camping. Versatility you can go with both.
If you end up with a 20 degree TQ and the overnight low is in the 50's, just keep it in the hammock with you and cast it off if you get too warm!
In my opinion (& mine alone) using a zipped up sleeping bag in a hammock is too awkward and I sometimes need to be a contortionist to wriggle in and out of it or to get the zipper all the way up. That's why I make sure the bag I'm buying can completely unzip and be used like a blanket.
Retired US Navy, 10-year Stage IIIb colon cancer survivor. I believe my last words will be "Hold my beer..."
If you are using a mummy bag as a top quilt you do not have to completely unzip it. Leave the lower end zipped as a foot box, just like a TQ. Yes, a zipped up mummy bag can be more difficult to negotiate than a TQ. BUT the only time you are zipping it up is when you are cold. Colder than a comparable TQ can handle, and thus one of the benefits of a bag over a TQ, i.e. warmer when you need it.Originally Posted by Slugger
I use a Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 sleeping bag. It has a foot box, so I just unzip it and use it as a quilt. I like the hood on cold nights or when the sun is hitting me in the morning, just pull it over my face and go back to sleep. At 20 Oz I just can't justify the $ for a top quilt. Although I think I'll diy one sooner or later.
By all means, let's argue about whether or not a hammock will hurt a tree. All the while ignoring the fact that there is an island of garbage the size of Texas floating in the Pacific ocean. Or how about the fact that over 75% of the world's nuclear reactors are leaking...
It's always cold in the Sierra at night, even in high summer. I tried a TQ and froze so I haul my North Face bag along even when I'm trying to travel light. Between the UQ and the sleeping bag, I warm up and stay warm even after an icy dash to the trees and back. Yes, I have to wrestle into the bag again and I usually have to unzip and rezip it unless it's unusually warm. I made a happy mistake, though, which is the kind of DIY that makes hammocks so great. When I first got into hanging, I saw Speer's peapod and thought I could make one if I just sewed pass-through holes for the hammock in the top and bottom of my bag. Wrong, it never worked, of course. It was like hanging in a straitjacket. BUT - now that I have the holes, I can sleep with the hood over my face and see the stars! It's a fairly small hole, with grosgrain ribbon around it like a big buttonhole. I can breathe without condensation. Plus, the stars. The hole at my feet just folds over.
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