Theresa gets cold at night. The one big drawback of the cloudburst shelter is that to prevent condensation, we often sleep with the door fully open and facing into the wind. That way the airflow keep condensation to a minimum.
The only way I could convince Theresa to keep the Tarptent, was to get her comfy at night. The highlite didn't do it when the wind howls in and the temperatures drop.
So we took on an extra pound of weight, invested a lot of dosh and settled on the WM Versalite.
Theresa has the short (5'6") model, which weighs in at 1lb 14oz (30 oz). This bag is rated down to a whopping 10 °F and does a stellar job at keeping her toasty warm.
Available from Backcountry Gear for $385.
Brett, What do ye Seattle-ites think of your own ‘Feathered Friends’ bags? Also do you know about Ulfrotte Wool Power clothing? It’s not the lightest but one of their 600gm zip-ups can eliminate the need for anymore layers. Thanks again for the site, it’s a great reference point for me. Well I’m off for some bangers, mash & black pudding.
Cheers,
-Shot Caller
bangers & mash AND black pudding. curious. i’ve only ever had black pudding for breakkies. lets hope there’s lashings of gravy to go with it!
FF bags are excellent and they are a great company. have an awesome store in in Seattle which has held its own very well since the REI outdoor mega-store moved in next to it some years ago. However, I don’t think they do a bag as light as WM Highlite (my main stay bag). I’ve talked to them a few yrs ago about the idea of doing a custom bag in that weight range, but they claim they don’t have a fill that has the same warmth/weight ration. That may have changed.
I got the Marmot Helium long for $303 vrs $455 for the same length (6’6″), same down fill (850) but 15F vrs 10F. Rated at 34oz weight, but I weighed it at 36oz including stuff sack.
I’ve been using Versalite for a couple of years. I also own and use a WM Caribou. In general I have noticed that the Versalite seems to absorb condensation a little more readily than the Caribou.
Do different lengths of WM bags zip together ok? I.e. 6′ 6″ to a 5′ 6″