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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Sierra Designs Utopia 15 > Owner Review by Denver Bauter
SIERRA DESIGNS UTOPIA 15 DEGREE SLEEPING BAG
TESTER INFORMATION
My husband has backpacked his whole life and has been getting me into it over the last two years. We've done many local over night trips as well as some week long backpacking trips in the Uinta Mountains. We spend a lot of time camping in the summers and in winter we stay in yurts to get to the really good skiing lines. I usually carry the lighter pack mostly clothes, food, and water while my husband carries the bulk necessities (ie tent etc...) I'm really loving it even though it still kicks my butt each time I go. PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Sierra Designs FIELD USE I have taken this bag camping in many situations. I've owned the bag for about a year and It's been my sleeping bag in yurts, tents, hammocks, through snowy cold winter with lows of 20 F (-7 C) and warmer summer nights of around 60 F degrees (16 C). Because I live in Utah, most of my camping in this bag has been in an altitude range from 6,000 to 11,000 ft (1800 - 3400 m). Also being in Utah, this bag has seen everything from clear, cloudless nights to stormy tempests of rain, snow, wind and/or lightning. I've used it for week-long excursions as well as overnight camping near my home. Overall I've probably spent about 40 to 50 nights in this bag. BACKGROUND INFORMATION I am a very picky sleeper, if I'm not comfortable I don't sleep well. I am also a very active sleeper, I move a lot in my sleep so sleeping bags for me are usually a chore because I just can't stand the constricted feeling when I can't move my legs and arms well. On top of that, I am just about the worst when it comes to thermo regulation at night. I'm always too cold or too hot (usually more on the cold side, thus the 15 F (-9 C) degree bag). I also use a sleeping bag often as my husband and I frequently go on quick overnight trips to make our days off seem longer as well as taking weekend camping/backpacking trips. We do have a few long backpacking/yurt camping/back country skiing trips per year which require us to have sleeping gear that is not only comfortable but also light and small enough to be easily carried in our packs. THINGS I LIKE
I really love the material that this bag is made of: it's soft and smooth and feels good to sleep in and the best part for me is that it stretches! Not a ton of stretch but just enough so I can comfortably roll over, bend my legs, curl in a ball, straighten out, and so on as I sleep. This is one of the most comfortable sleeping bags I have ever been in. THINGS I DON'T LIKE
Being a 15 F degree (-9 C) bag also has its drawbacks: it's light enough because of the material it's made of but when I said before that it's nice and fluffy, I really mean it's quite large! I have a 55 L (3400 cu in) bag and it takes up about 1/3 of the space in it! Not really a problem for overnight trips but when it comes to week long trips, the space in my pack gets a little tight and I end up strapping things to the outside to make up for it. Once again, kind of obnoxious but since I usually go with my husband and we split our gear up among 2 packs and have a pretty good system down now, it hasn't been a huge problem. I can definitely see, however, that if I were to go without him and had to carry all my own food, water, clothing, stove, tent, tp and all the other necessities, I could run into trouble. This is definitely something to think about when I'm choosing which gear to pack for a trip. SUMMARY
I liked: SIGNATURE
Denver Allen Read more reviews of Sierra Designs gear Read more gear reviews by Denver Bauter Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Sierra Designs Utopia 15 > Owner Review by Denver Bauter |