I'm going blacktail deer hunting in November in SE Alaska and need to bring a sleeping bag and was wondering if you could help me. I want to buy a good quality bag that will last a good while for me and be just as useful on a sheep hunt as well as a family camping trip. I pulled out the Cabelas catalog and couldn't believe the many different bags.

Thanks

Spend the money on a good down bag. Nothing, absolutely nothing beats a well constructed down bag. There's a few really good companies out there, although I prefer Western Mountaineering. I bought the Kodiak SMF, and I couldn't be happier. Warmest, lightest, most roomy bag I've ever had the pleasure of using. Cost $430-ish I think, but very well worth it. I've never regretted spending the $$$ on good equipment, but I have kicked myself a dozen times for buying mediocre shit that always fails at the wrong time.

I wouldn't use a down bag in southeast Alaska. Not in the fall.

Good synthetic bags, say down to +20 or 30 should be fine.

DPhillips is right. Down bags are excellent in dry and cold environments, but not so good in cold and wet areas such as S.E. Alaska.

I have 3 sleeping bags.
One is a light weight down bag good to 25 degrees. You can shift the down between the top and bottom depending on the temp.
My second bag is a Goretex down bag rated to 30 below zero. Both were made by Marmont when they were the best in the business.

Both of them have been used quite a bit.

When I made my first trip to Alaska my outfitter and several others said, DO NOT bring a down bag under ANY circumstances.

On both my hunts to Alaska, one 15 days and one 30 days I took a Synthentic bag by Mountain Hardware.
It has done great.

If down gets wet it will never dry out.
You might DIE.
Synthentic bags are warm even if wet.

I love my Marmont down bags, but for rainy weather, synthentic is the way to go.

Be sure you get a bag with a hood and an internal collar that goes around your neck. Makes the bag much more comfortable and warmer.
Take a look at Mountain Hardware synthentic bags.

Many down bags are made with Gore-Tex shells, thus eliminating the problem of wet down. Feathered Friends and Western Mountaineering both provide many bags with Gore-tex shells.

I agree to stay away from down bags in a wet climate. The gore-tex outer lining is a plus for any type bag. I persnoally used the quallfoil bags for over ten years in Alaska during hunting or trapping outings,great bag. Once on the Alaska pennisula hunting spring bear, I experienced 50 knot plus winds and torrent rains while the temperature went from mid-40's to high 20's for over 2 weeks. Everything in the tent was soaked. I tried to keep my bag dry but when out hunting it got wet. The bag was still warm when I crawled into each day for a sanity break or at night to sleep. I still believe in the quallfoil, it work then and it will work today. This bag was a Coleman product and called a Slumberjack. Today, I think there must be equal or better products available. I would definitely used the synthetic filling with a breathable waterproof outer covering, and a quality stocking hat to keep the chill off my bald head. One piece of advice, use the best gear when you hunt in Alaska, mother-nature can be very harsh and un-forgiving. good luck and stay warm.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations and advice. I've been googling each manufacturer to learn about the different bags. Very interesting. I definately want a compressable bag after reading into them.

If your down bag has a Gore/Dryloft shell down is fine in SE AK. I've done it no problem.

Otherwise, synthetic makes more sense.

+1 on dphilips;

i would not use a down bad in ak. you very life could depend on your ability to get inside a warm bag and rewarm your body. i would not trust goretex. if the goretex fails and you are hypothermic, then what?

i would look for a synthetic bag in the 3-4 lb. range that is a 3 season bag. forget cabelas, what they have is heavy crap. i use a northface snowshoe. you could also look at the cat's meow. i have used this bag for many years on every different type of hunt ak. has to offer, it is a 0 degree bag about 3.5 lbs. and have been completely happy with the price and the performance of the bag. pack it in a waterproof stuff sack. you could take a look at the fine wiggy's bags as well.

pleasant dreams....

When the guys from Alaska tell you to stay away from down, I would heed what they say. I've spent a few nights in a wet sleeping bag. Synthetic is the way to go. Its not a matter of if you get wet, it's when you get wet.

rule of thumb...whatever the bag is rated as subtract 20 degrees. if you are in 40 degree weather get a 20 degree bag. if tou are in 40 degree weather and have a -20 bag you will be cooking and need to stick out an arm or a leg and then that will be cold (speaking from experience here) if you are in mild weather just use as a blanket. the waterproof sleaping bag covers add 20 degrees to the bag and double as emergency shelters. if you add a silk liner even more warmth but then people will think yer gay. if it is reeeeeely cold and you can have a fire or have a good one before you go out wrap a hot rock in a wet towel and put it at yer feet and you will be warm all night or do a trench fire and do the same thing with dirt over it and sleep over the once trench fire. i like to stuff a 3/4 sleaping pad inside my sleeping bag for warmth and comfort. also it wont slide around and i end up sleeping on hard ground. the ground sucks a lot of warmth from the body if it is just you and the sleeping bag so put leaves and such under you for insulation.

as far as brands marmot, mountain hardwear and sierra designs are good ones. good luck

I really like my down bags....

But the outfitter said "UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES BRING A DOWN BAG".
On my second trip we were stuck on the "nountain" for 5 extra days because of a rain/wind storm.
We had a good tent and our gear stayed dry...
But, if you down bag gets wet it is worthless, and it will NEVER dry out in the field.

A synthetic bag will dry out in one day if it is a litle windy.

But most importasnt they are still WARM WHEN WET.

I chose Mountain Hardware for my synthentic bag as they are made with all the features of a quality down bag.
They have a good good and a good collar you can sinch up around your neck so when you flop around at night all you warm air does not rush out of the bag and cold air rush in.

Here is a free tip.
If it is too cold to sleep without zipping the bag up, but too hot when in the zipped up bag, then zip open the bag from the foot.
Sometimes I have it nearly all the way zipped open from the foot with just enough closed at the top to keep it over my shoulders.

i have a treated down bag so i never had a problem with water or you do the sleeping bag cover thing. but yeah synthetic has an advantage

I have several sleeping bags, both down, and synthetic, and The one I use in Alaska is a Kelty Qualafill bag that is warm to 0 degrees. It is a simi mummy, and has never let me down, wet or dry! This bag was priced in the $150 range 21 years ago, and it is still just like new, with 18 hunts in southern Alaska's rain, and it will get another trip there this September!
One night in the Mulchatna Drainage the tent flap didn't get zipped all the way down, and we had one of those 60 mile per hour wind driven rains. My feet were just inside the tent by that opening, and got the bag wet all the way up to my knees. I never knew it was wet till the morning after I crawled out of it and saw the wet bag. Qualafill is some amazeing stuff! Down is great untill it gets wet, then it is worthless. Anything that gets wet in Alaska, in September, will not dry till june of the next year, and a down bag may get you killed! Alaska is a very different place, the country, and weather is what is dangerous, more so than the big old Brownies!

GOOD HUNTING, and stay dry& warm!

Boomstick,good post and you brought up something that has not been mentioned, that is your ground pad.

You must have a ground pad. Your sleeping bag will not keep you warm with out a ground pad.
I always take one even if the outfitter says they have them.
I use a Thermarest. I have they one that is self inflating but I usually tale the closed csll form one because it is bullet proof.
You need a pad even if you are using a cot.

When sleeping you are recharging your batteries, a misserable nights sleep or two can ruin a trip at beat, be life threatening at worst.

I always carry a silk liner....I just do not let anybody see it.

http://www.bdel.com/gear/winter_bivy.php

http://www.bdel.com/gear/lightsabre.php

make room in your daypack to have one of these and maybe yer bag too.

with a silk liner, thermarest pad and a bivvy sack you have a versitile system. i did not mention i usualy sleep in a hammock or a hammock tent to get off the ground. i find it a ton more comfortable and my back is not out of sorts in the morning. henessy has an all in one tarp bugscreen one that is light and watertight. they use them on adventure races. you just need two trees


i usualy have a waterproof kelty tarp that i can make into a shelter wherever i go.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
Boomstick,good post and you brought up something that has not been mentioned, that is your ground pad.

You must have a ground pad. Your sleeping bag will not keep you warm with out a ground pad.
I always take one even if the outfitter says they have them.
I use a Thermarest. I have they one that is self inflating but I usually tale the closed csll form one because it is bullet proof.
You need a pad even if you are using a cot.

When sleeping you are recharging your batteries, a misserable nights sleep or two can ruin a trip at beat, be life threatening at worst.

I always carry a silk liner....I just do not let anybody see it.

Tony is right! I have the same pad that he uses, and I also take a short closed cell pad, long enough to go for my head and trunk, for emergencies. Another little trick I use is to place my open jacket, dry side up, under my trunk area, between the sleeping bag, and the ground pad. It gives more insulation for you from the ground, and your jacket is warm in the morning when you slide out of that bag!

Dthfrmbv,
Try this bag. 2lb 6oz total weight. Worked like a charm on my sheep hunt. Kelty CD Light Year 25F bag. You can get it at www.campmor.com for $80.

I am carrying a Wiggy's Superlight - wide, regular on a caribou hunt to SW Alaska in 3 weeks - I'll post how it and everything else works afterward. Cabela's carries them as does the website http://www.wiggys.com/. I've read that some sheep hunters really like down because of the weight, but then that would give you the excuse to buy another sleeping bag. However, you're planning on SE Alaska hunting blacktails and it is going to be wet - I'd go synthetic.