Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina 15 Sleeping Bag
August 7, 2008
Warm. Dependable. Cuddly. Compressible. No, it’s not a list of things I’m looking for in a man, it’s a list of attributes brought to the table by the Ultralamina 15 degree synthetic-fill bag. I understand your confusion, though – if you’ve ever been disappointed by a date, you might think “compressible” is a reasonable thing to look for. But anyway, other things the Ultralamina possesses that don’t apply to significant others are the super clever dual-zipper system, which eliminates left-zip vs. right-zip frustration; the pillow pocket in the hood; the super soft outer material; and the nice, perfectly sized, ultralight stuff sack that for once actually COMES WITH the bag. The zipper system is by far my favorite – I hate ending up with a left zip bag and, as a left-side sleeper, having to sleep with the zipper under my hip and shoulder. The Ultralamina has two 1/2 length zippers that are located on the top of the bag, rather than the sides, so it doesn’t matter which side you sleep on – there won’t be a zipper in your way. The 1/2 length zippers also contribute to the warmth of the bag since there’s no way for the air in the bottom half of the bag to leak out the zipper. If your feet tend to be fragrant, your tent mate might also appreciate that feature.
I am a cold sleeper so I need a warm bag, and I’m into airflow and don’t like to have to completely entomb myself in a sleeping bag, so I took this 15 degree bag on a kayak trip in fifty-something degree weather. Because of our extended swath of cold summer weather this year, I expected the trip to be rainy and chilly and I wasn’t disappointed on that front. While I didn’t quite need a 15 degree bag, it was really nice to be able to warm up quickly after each day out on the water in the rain. The excellent performance of this bag left me confident that this bag would be sufficient even in below-freezing temperatures (high praise indeed from the Queen of Cold Feet).
The material is not your run-of-the-mill sleeping bag nylon. It’s soft and silky, quite luxurious really. It wasn’t cold and clammy to crawl into and it didn’t retain moisture from a night in the tent (ever have that slimy-sleeping-bag-on-the-face feeling? Not a nice thing to have in the morning). The side pocket was really handy for my watch and headlamp, and the bag was nice and fluffy, kind of like sleeping on a feather bed. It’s the kind of bag that makes you look forward to crawling in bed with at night. And that IS something I’d look for in a significant other – so, Ultralamina…’til death do us part. Well, death or colder weather, of course.
The North Face Tundra Sleeping Bag
May 20, 2008
This thing is a perfect example of why I started this blog. There is no reason anyone else should suffer with this sleeping bag and with this blog I’ve got the vehicle to get the word out. North Face, usually so dependable, must have designed and manufactured this bag on its annual Bring Your Crack To Work Day.
Now for the backstory (settle in, folks). I am a cold sleeper. So cold, in fact, that I carried a North Face Dark Star sleeping bag, rated as -40, for years and years. I don’t really travel or camp in -40 degree weather, so I was warm in that thing, to the point that I could unzip it and still be cozy and comfortable. I reasoned that since I was too warm in the Dark Star, I could safely dial back the temperature rating by getting a -20 bag, and then sleep in a cozy cocoon of perfect temperature regulation. The Dark Star is heavy, so by carrying the Tundra instead, I could ditch about 3 lbs of weight. Good plan, eh?
Terrible! Terrible plan. I got my first inkling of what I was in for on a multi day mountain bike trip. The first night we slept in a cabin, complete with a raging inferno of a wood stove. We headed to our bunks while the cabin was probably about 80 degrees inside. Once the wood stove consumed the remaining fuel and the temperature dropped, I COULD NOT stay warm in the Tundra. I’d estimate the temperature in the cabin dropped as low as 40 degrees, which shouldn’t have been a problem with a -20 bag. But it was a problem, and a big one. I shivered through the miserable night with the sinking feeling that my sleeping bag SUCKED and I was stuck with it for the rest of the trip. And that, dear readers, was the case.
Usually I don’t read other reviews before I post, because I want to keep my opinions unsullied by the experiences of others (my, that sounded pretentious). But this time I checked out some other reviews, because I know I sleep cold and maybe the problem was mine. But no, every other Tundra review I read mentioned that the temperature rating was overly optimistic to the point of being absurd. If you’re camping in someone’s spare room or on a friend’s couch, by all means, feel safe in the knowledge that you’ll be warm in the Tundra. But if you want to ever camp outside, look elsewhere for your protection from the elements. Or just carry it on summer trips, but this is one heavy, bulky summer sleeping bag. So if being cold at night AND carrying heavy, bulky stuff is your idea of a great time, the Tundra is for you. I already know it’s not for me. So, Tundra, I am kicking you to the curb with the sound knowledge that it’s not me, it’s YOU.
