Outdoor Gear Lab's 2017 Ultralight Sleeping Bag Review

[spfleisig]

Here is the link:

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics...t-sleeping-bag

[Stone1984]

Wish they could compare apples to apples. Have to many different temperature ratings, comparing bags and quilts.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

Yeah, it's tough to appreciate a comparison like this. The best rated is hardly an ultralight, and the second best can't be compared with the other temps. I'm no gear expert....not by a long shot....so this is frustrating.

[Dogwood]

Spfleisig, you posting the link isn't the first time the piece was deeply considered. I've been tweaking my bag/quilt line up for almost 2 yrs so have been researching the heck out of what's my "best"... which includes spec analysis comparisons and what ultimately determines bulk, wt, $ cost, warmth to wt ratio, feature set,...in a sleep "system" rather than just stopping at singular quilt or bag comparisons. Although there surely are benefits comparing bulk and wt and warmth to wt ratios, etc of individual quilts and bags it can be potentially misleading because what's often ignored in real world conditions neither is commonly employed as a stand alone singular piece. This can have profound ultimate consequences on what could be determined bulky, heavier/lighter wt, warmer/colder, more/less $ expensive, appropriate, comfortable for a sound sleep, etc.


I goto Outdoor Gear Lab reviews many times. Appreciate much of the info shared and learned. I had a problem with this article though. It frustratingly compares 15-20* quilts/bags with 40* quilts/bags while making statements like "the 20* bag/quilt was the warmest in our review" or using bar graphs using a 1-10 scale with 10 being the warmest comparing warmth of a ZP 20* bag/quilt with a FF 40* Flicker. UGGH! Hard for even a long time committed gear junkie like me to make sense of all these comparisons. UMM, a 20 * quilt compared to a 40* quilt should be expected to be warmer or having a higher warmth rating. Is this just me? Am I the only one that expects this? Maybe it's just how I compare sleeping bags and quilts but MAYBE it's a fairer analysis beginning by looking at suggested ADVERTISED temp ratings as a baseline comparing equal temp rated bags and quilts with other equal temp rated bags and quilts as it could have been done...or too much complexity(AND POTENTIAL FUDGING, GEAR BIAS, AND INACCURACIES) gets easily involved from the start? Might also be useful to read or include the fine print details on how temp ratings are determined by EACH different quilt and bag manufacturer because there certainly can be differences on how this is determined. KEEP IN MIND THAT MEASUREMENT OF LOFT MAY VERY WELL NOT BE THE DEFINITIVE MEASUREMENT OF WARMTH as some bag and ESPECIALLY advertised quilt temp ratings are really temp ratings for a "sleep system" NOT just the quilt.

If you're going to rate quilts for example at least compare a FF Flicker 20* with a ZP 20* and mention things like standards of such company like what each company's definitions of a long or reg length, wide or reg width, top and inner fabrics, etc AND WHAT THAT MIGHT MEAN.

[Just Bill]

LOL...
"Hey here's the pile of stuff we got free this year to test so we lumped it all together into a review. The manufacturers are marketing them as ultralight so that's why we called it the 'Ultralight Sleeping Bag Review'"

[Cheyou]

Yep waste of time .
Thom

[Dogwood]

LOL...
"Hey here's the pile of stuff we got free this year to test so we lumped it all together into a review. The manufacturers are marketing them as ultralight so that's why we called it the 'Ultralight Sleeping Bag Review'"

Want a bigger head scratching session like you have a out of control case of head lice Google UL sleeping bags and see what comes up.

There was actually some excellent info in the piece but trying to glean it at times probably felt like threshing and winnowing wheat by hand and making a decent pizza crust from it in 1789 Kansas.