0 degree compact bag on a budget?

**Kshatriya** · 04-24-2010, 16:15

I need a bag that's going to keep me warm during cold desert nights, camping on the ground with a tent and maybe a thermarest. I'm told to bring something rated 0 degrees, but 20 may be doable (I've never been out west, so I'm unsure). I'm bringing my mosquito hammock, but it's probably not going to be practical everywhere, but the bag will undoubtedly be used with it too.

I've always bought cheap bags that don't last, being a miserly college student. I really don't know anything about quality bags besides in-store browsing, which all seem to be beyond my price range, or not as compact as I'd want. I'm trying to find something cheap as possible, but still durable and warm. I'm more concerned with warmth and size than weight. I'm not able to get anything top-of-the-line like some of the posts I've seen on the forums.

I have three weeks to prepare for the trip (it was suddenly sprung on me), so there's no time to save money or wait for Craiglist/eBay steals. I've been browsing on Campmor, REI, etc but it's hard to get a grasp on how compact the bags are online.

I apologize for the generic question, I couldn't find a thread that seemed to address what I'm needing, and was recent enough to be relevant.

**kayak karl** · 04-24-2010, 16:24

http://www.topsleepingbags.com/ i got some good deals here. 1 week on delivery.

**beep** · 04-24-2010, 16:28

Zero Degrees, Compact and low budget don't go together.

Compact and zero degrees almost certainly means down for insulation. Enough loft to reach sufficient insulation value to provide zero degrees means a lot of down...and therefore higher cost for the construction with baffles, etc.

Even a used zero degree down bag is likely to run $375-$425, provided you can find one. New ones are $500-$700.

If this is a one-off trip, I'd try to find someone who'd loan you a sleeping bag.

If this is a summer-time trip, zero "sounds" to me like overkill, even for a trip at altitude unless you are going to Denali or other similar sites.

**kayak karl** · 04-24-2010, 16:36

Originally Posted by kayak karl

http://www.topsleepingbags.com/ i got some good deals here. 1 week on delivery.

on this site i got my Go-lite Adrenaline 0 degree for $265 and it holds true. want 2 buy it

**kayak karl** · 04-24-2010, 16:43

this ain't bad http://www.backcountrygear.com/catal...il.cfm/GLT1414

**Kshatriya** · 04-24-2010, 17:32

Originally Posted by beep

Zero Degrees, Compact and low budget don't go together.

Compact and zero degrees almost certainly means down for insulation. Enough loft to reach sufficient insulation value to provide zero degrees means a lot of down...and therefore higher cost for the construction with baffles, etc.

Even a used zero degree down bag is likely to run $375-$425, provided you can find one. New ones are $500-$700.

If this is a one-off trip, I'd try to find someone who'd loan you a sleeping bag.

If this is a summer-time trip, zero "sounds" to me like overkill, even for a trip at altitude unless you are going to Denali or other similar sites.

Yeah, I'm aware of the difficulties of finding something affordable at 0 degrees, but I'm also looking for something synthetic around 20 degrees, which should be more reasonable. There's no possible way I could gather 200-300 dollars in such a short time, because I'm going to be looking for some other gear too, still under a small budget. This trip is going to last 3+ months and I'd like to have gear that's going to be usable beyond that. I'm not too tough on my equipment, so there has to be something cheap out there. It's easy to find bags for 60-70ish dollars on Amazon, but quality and portability are a question.

**grakker** · 04-24-2010, 17:53

This place has some crazy deals, but I've never purchased anything from them, so I can't offer any type of endorsement. http://www.campingmaxx.com/Sleeping_Bags.html

**oldgringo** · 04-24-2010, 18:01

Not compact, but the US government Issue Intermediate Cold Weather bag is cheap and bombproof. Not for tall folks, though.

**Kshatriya** · 04-24-2010, 18:09

Originally Posted by grakker

This place has some crazy deals, but I've never purchased anything from them, so I can't offer any type of endorsement. http://www.campingmaxx.com/Sleeping_Bags.html

This looks like what I'm needing! Has anybody used this site before? 0 degree down bag for 150 dollars? I need to find out if this is a scam, or just terrible quality, or what?

EDIT:

I just sent them a call on the 1-800 number to ask some questions about the down's sizing, and everything the gentleman said seemed to be scripted, like he wasn't even having a real conversation. He also seemed to assume that I'm a boyscout, and went on about how the prices in China are changing everyday. It all seems very sketchy, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

**grakker** · 04-24-2010, 22:07

EDIT: Actually, since I put it up here, he runs a shop through Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html (just search for "sleeping bag" at the top) and has got pretty positive feedback. Good luck!

The guys name is Ryan Shulman 949-646-3000. This is his line. I bookmarked the site several weeks ago, and just figured I'd research it if I ever got ready to buy something.