The Test of Time…

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Jan 18, 2014
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33 years of warmth.. th red colored bag is a Circa 1989 Marmot Goretex -5 below Snow Goose…. 650 fill goose down. Had it down to zero or so and slept nice n warm….th sage bag is a 2004 Feathered friends swallow 20 degree custom over filled 750 fill goose down thats jept me toasty to round 15 over th gears.. had to useboth as quilts due to th summers in th rockies stayin round 30+-..decied to pull th trugger after th Yellowstone Sept. trip and go by Katabatic Gear in Colorado on th way back n check out their quilts.. I got a 15 degree with 850 duck down hyperdry fill that will save me some ounces and still keeps me nice n warm.
Wish I had a time machine to go back to 1989 n do itall over again.
The weekend pack weight ack then for a 2 day 1 night was round 45+lbs.. now for a 4/3 day nite its round 30 or so lbs with a chair n hammock for comfort added in). Maybe this ole back would feel better is Id been carryin less all those years! Time does fly..
Fixin to head out on th porch n see how th ole Marmot holds up to 26 defrees n 15 wind chill!
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Love it @The Trout Whisperer ! Its crazy how attached we get to gear that gave us comfort over the years. I'm especially that way with my bags too- must be something with the psychology of the memories and the comfort they invoke. I just can't get rid of them, even though I've replaced them with newer ones. My first WM bag that I used for years and then I had my son use comes to mind. My wife would love to get rid of it, but I just can't do it- it holds too many memories of cold night or special trips! Thanks for the post!!
 
When I started in the late 1970s ....... Had a Trailwise down sleeping bag, a North Face Toulumne Aframe, a Camp trails Astral pack, a Svea stove and Vasque leather boots. Replaced everything around 2008. Made no sense to keep old heavy stuff il_fullxfull.158490201.jpg il_fullxfull.343104584.jpgsvea.jpgand a Svea stove as my main

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I still have my old Inferno bag and it still has tons of loft. Can't recall the rating (minus something), but it keeps me warm in real cold spells.

Modern gear makes it possible to backpack much longer distances than not so long ago when distance was harder to come by because of carrying a lot more weight. Some of the old-timers marvel at how far people go now, but they're not carrying 50# plus packs like in the good old days.
 
Wish I had a time machine to go back to 1989 n do itall over again.
Your bags look good for the time frames they were purchased in.
If I ever went back to a bag, it would be a FF.

I have a cold-sleeping friend who has all kinds of nice gear, but would never shell out for a premium bag or quilt for some reason.
Hearing me crow about my Katabatic Palisade 30° for 9 years straight finally won him over, and he bought its equivalent for normal people(I sleep super warm), a Sawatch 15°.
When I asked how he was liking it after having it out at ~15°, he said, "Any other quilts I buy will be from Katabatic."
Told ya!:thumbsup:
 
Didn’t take any glamour photos of my 2009 montbell 30 degree bag… I NEVER took it out unless it was forecasted in th high 30s or above for th low…I would take my warmer bags for lower 30s and below..
Well, since we dropped 56 degrees in temps yesterday for th day before, I decided to go out to my testin site( upstairs porch) n see if would keep me warm n toasty as a quilt ( feet in th zipped bottom part)… it was 26 degrees with th wind chill at 20. Light drizzle was fallin n makin it a tad humid n bone chillin as I crawled in for th test round 4 pm..I was out there tossin n turnin for over an hour..

The verdict…

I was surprisingly warm n toasty th whole time even when rollin over..

This bag would be a nice lighter weight to take on th upcoming trip to Yellerstone with th new Katabatic quilt n pick th best one for th conditions at th time(. It’d been NICE to have it on last years GNEISS Crick trip as it was warmer than normal).

Good ta know th temp ratings are holdin up!
 

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