Where is UPS? It is a Friday afternoon and I am anxious for UPS to arrive. Why? I have initiated the ultimate trade/barter and have ended up with a very lightly used Western Mountaineering Versalite 10 degree 900 fill down sleeping bag.
Why am I so excited? Well, First, Western Mountaineering bags are regarded as being one of the 2 or three best made sleeping bags in the world. They are hand made with only the best goose down used as the fill. The construction from what I have seen from other people that own the bag is awesome and the attention to detail is phenomenal. Secondly, the bag is light. Secondly, at only 2 pounds, it almost as light as my 32 degree bag and it will compress better allowing for more room in my backpack. This compressibility and super light weight will allow me to carry the same pack I use in the summer and help keep my winter pack weight at less than 30 lbs with food, water, and additional supplies needed for winter hiking. Thirdly, I seem to be a bit of a warm sleeper, with a decent pad underneath me and dressed in my down clothing and heavy base layers, I am hoping that due to the conservative rating this bag might just hold me over and keep me warm down in to the low single digits if the weather were to get colder than what I am planning while out hiking. Not that I want to push it, but it would be nice to be able to survive a colder night and less chilled if I find myself in an emergency situation. The best reason is I was able to negotiate a great trade involving several people to bring my net cost down to about nothing. This bag retails for about $500.00 and with my net cost, I must say I am very pleased.
Now, the drawbacks. Well, the big one is the bag is down. Care must be taken not to get it wet as it will lose all of its insulating properties. This means in wet/damp weather, I will have to be careful packing the bag with additional waterproofing material such as a turkey basting bag or additional stuff sack or dry bag to make sure it stays dry in the bag. Hopefully, between a pack cover, bag liner, sil-nylon stuff sack and a turkey basting bag, I will not worry about the sleeping bag in the back pack. I will have to worry a bit about the bag and condensation from my breath and from the bag brushing up against the walls of my tent. I understand this is not a huge problem due to the water resistant fabric and any moisture that will seep in will generally dry out in an hour or two in the sun....at least that is what I have been told and read on the internet.
The other drawback is that I am scared I will like the bag so much, I will have to begin hunting a new lightweight summer bag as well. Have no fear, the deal maker is up to the challenge if need be.
So, I am waiting patiently for the UPS guy to show up today. Hopefully with the temperatures dropping and winter around the corner, I will get to see if this Western Mountaineering sleeping bag is the "Bee's Knees".
If you would like more information on the Western Mountaineering Sleeping Bags check out their website at www.westernmountaineering.com. Hopefully I will have a first impressions review shortly.
Fire Starters.
What is in your backpack for emergency firestarting especially if the tinder and wood you are finding is damp. Can you find dry tinder to start a fire? I can but it can be time consuming to get this type of fire going. Imagine, it is cold, wet, the wind is blowing and you are hypothermic. You need to start a fire quickly. What do you do?
Well, check out this website. It shows an extremely light way to carry emergency fire starter using candle wax and makeup remover pads. Apparently, these should burn for 4 minutes allowing enough time for the kindling to ignite and start a fire. This could be a life saver for the hiker that is hypothermic and wet! They are so light, it should be no problem putting 5 or 6 in your first aid/emergency kit.
Check it out!
http://jjmatheshikes.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-like-fire-and-im-always-interested-in.html.
Well, I checked out the UPS tracking site and it shows that my sleeping bag has been delivered and at the front door of the house. Time to walk over there and check it out.
Till next time, go take a walk in the woods.
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