Best Bag temp rating for Summer time

[Twistedlarch]

Hello, I'm new to back packing and just curious as to what bag temp ratings you use for Summer Back Packing in the Sisters Wilderness (approximately 5K elevation). I have a Zero degree bag but 1) think it's too warm, 2) too bulky and heavy.

Would a 30 degree bag be fine? I know temps get down into the 30's at Crane Prairie in August.

Thanks!
Brian

[dfs1109]

Would a 30 degree bag be fine? I know temps get down into the 30's at Crane Prairie in August.

Last year I did most of my overnights between May-October last year and a 30 degree bag it worked really well. If anything I was mostly too hot but I normally would just unzip the bag strip down to just shorts and maybe t-shirt. I did two overnighters in at Green Lakes below South Sister in June where it got down to about 30 and summited South Sister and overnighted at the top in July and I was just fine both times.

[retired jerry]

same here

might get below 32 F a bit at the extremes. check out weather reports before hand

sometimes I'll wear an insulated vest or jacket inside

[Twistedlarch]

Thanks!

Somebody told me you should'nt wear anything more than just your undies in your bag, sounds like that's not true. So it should be fine for my two boy's (ages 5-7) to wear their
fleece jamies? Their the ones I'm mostly worried about, they both have 32 degree bags.

Brian

[retired jerry]

In general, you can wear any clothes you want inside your sleeping bag. I do if it's cold.

If your clothes are wet, and you're in a down bag, it can cause the down to lose almost all it's loft - you don't want to do that. If it's just damp, that's okay, although a lot of people disagree.

If you're doing arctic expeditions - days at really cold temps - your bag will accumulate sweat which freezes. The best solution is to have a vapor barrier inside which prevents your sweat from migrating to the bag. In this case you probably don't want to wear clothing inside. This is a fringe case though.

[Twistedlarch]

In general, you can wear any clothes you want inside your sleeping bag. I do if it's cold.

If your clothes are wet, and you're in a down bag, it can cause the down to lose almost all it's loft - you don't want to do that. If it's just damp, that's okay, although a lot of people disagree.

If you're doing arctic expeditions - days at really cold temps - your bag will accumulate sweat which freezes. The best solution is to have a vapor barrier inside which prevents your sweat from migrating to the bag. In this case you probably don't want to wear clothing inside. This is a fringe case though.

Thank you!

It looks like my kids are covered then. I've been shopping around for a bag in the 20-35 range for myself.

[texasbb]

If your clothes are wet, and you're in a down bag, it can cause the down to lose almost all it's loft - you don't want to do that. If it's just damp, that's okay, although a lot of people disagree.

I'm one of those people. I don't care whether your bag is down or not, damp clothes will make you cold at night. Even just a damp waistband on your underwear will chill you every time you move around and pull cold air into the bag. IMO, that's where the "myth" that you sleep warmer naked comes from. It's not a myth if you sleep in sweaty clothes.

I always carry a dedicated base layer (top and bottom) as pajamas. I even wear them on warm nights (keeps my sticky skin from...sticking).

To the original question of the "best" bag rating, it depends on whether you sleep warm or cold. The bag rating is a guide, but everyone's different.

[retired jerry]

This is one of those things people can argue about endlessly on the internets. And then start insulting names

If your clothes are a little damp, they'll dry out after a while. While this is happening, they will feel colder because it takes heat to evaporate the water. This is like the first couple hours, but you start out with more body heat because your metabolism slows, and the air temp is warmer. By the time the early morning comes when you'll get cold, your clothes are dry.

I almost always wear damp socks to bed. They're dry half way through the night.

Once I wore wet socks, down collapsed, it wasn't until the next night that the down dried off and recovered. Fortunately it wasn't that cold that night.

[retired jerry]

it doesn't hurt to put on a dry set of clothes. But your damp ones will still be damp in the morning. And you have to carry an extra set of clothes.

Maybe with kids it's just as well to do this.

If you want to really reduce the weight of what you're carrying, don't carry an extra set of clothes. I always carry an extra pair of socks though.

[Twistedlarch]

If your clothes are wet, and you're in a down bag, it can cause the down to lose almost all it's loft - you don't want to do that. If it's just damp, that's okay, although a lot of people disagree.

I'm one of those people. I don't care whether your bag is down or not, damp clothes will make you cold at night. Even just a damp waistband on your underwear will chill you every time you move around and pull cold air into the bag. IMO, that's where the "myth" that you sleep warmer naked comes from. It's not a myth if you sleep in sweaty clothes.

I always carry a dedicated base layer (top and bottom) as pajamas. I even wear them on warm nights (keeps my sticky skin from...sticking).

To the original question of the "best" bag rating, it depends on whether you sleep warm or cold. The bag rating is a guide, but everyone's different.

More often than not, I'm throwing all my covers off at night. I guess that makes me a warm sleeper.