Experience: I've been hiking since my youth. I've also taken at least a dozen multi-day canoe trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), starting in Junior High School. I started backpacking about 13 years ago, and have taken a yearly pilgrimage to the mountains since then (most often Wind Rivers, Tetons, Beartooths; I've also been to Mt. Whitney & Yosemite, and Mt. Rainier/North Cascades). I'm somewhat of a "gearhead", owning three packs, three sleeping bags, four sleeping pads, three stoves, etc., and I enjoy trying out, comparing, and improving camping gear (feeds my software engineer's mind and outdoorsman's heart).

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer:	Big Agnes
Year of manufacture:	2002
Manufacturer's URL:	http://www.bigagnes.com
Bag weight:	28.2 oz (790g) - 1 oz over listed weight
Pad weight:	20.1 oz (563g) - right on listed weight
Stuff sack weights:	bag 1.8 oz (50g), pad 1.2 oz (34g)
Bag dimensions:	girth 67" (170cm) at shoulder
Pad dimensions:	72" x 20" x 2.5" (183 x 51 x 6.3cm)
Bag stuff sack dimensions:	14" long, 8" diameter (36x20cm)
Pad stuff sack dimensions:	10" long, 5" diameter (25x13cm)

MAIN LIKES/DISLIKES OF BAG/PAD COMBINATION (DETAILS BELOW)

Likes:

- workmanship and materials are excellent
- most comfortable pad for backpacking I've ever slept on
- bag and pad both store compactly
- bag seems quite adequate for rated temperature

Dislikes:

- pad doesn't have much insulation
- bag is tight at shoulders when sleeping on side (see caveat below)
- bag doesn't "drape" very well when sleeping on side
- pillow sleeve seems useless to me
- zipper is less than full-length, so it works less well as a "quilt"

DETAILS OF LONG-TERM TEST

I'm not going to repeat any information that was covered by my Field Test, so this will be a short report. I've added a couple of likes/dislikes to my list above, and will be giving details on the ones I haven't previously covered.

First, a caveat. When ordering the bag, I asked for a regular size (being a "regular guy", and assuming the regular size covered up to 6' (183cm)). In fact, the regular size is supposed to go up to 5'10" (178cm), and I'm about an inch over that. The bag felt roomy enough for me in my default sleeping configuration (on my back), so I kept the regular, even though Big Agnes offered me a large size.

I tested the bag in my back yard on a few occasions, on a Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) canoe trip at the end of May, on a backpacking trip to the Bighorns of Wyoming, and on a short backpacking trip in Minnesota with my 5 year old son (his first trip!) On trips after my Field Test report, my opinions of the bag haven't really changed.

First, the "likes". The bag shows no signs of wear after use, and still looks brand-new to me. The fabric doesn't leak any down, and all materials and workmanship are top-notch. After fixing an early leak in my REM Air Core pad, I haven't had any other leakage problems.

I still love the comfort of the Air Core pad, and have found it to give the best sleep of any of my pads (and that includes a Therm-A-Rest Deluxe LE mattress).

I appreciate the compactness of both the bag and pad. For the comfort of the combination, its volume is very small, and its weight is quite reasonable. There are lighter bags and pads that are warmer, but all of them that I've seen are either less roomy or less comfortable for sleeping.

Now, the "dislikes" (or perhaps the weaknesses of the design). I believe the bag is quite reasonably rated for temperature, but the pad is not. I definitely felt the cold of the ground in temperatures lower than 40 degrees (4 degrees C). I ended up cutting an REI 3/8 inch (1 cm) blue foam pad to fit the pad pocket of the Horse Thief bag, and used that pad on top of the REM Air Core pad. That made the pad even more comfortable, and seemed to alleviate my insulation problems, although the extra foam pad weighed 6.6 oz (190 gm).

The pad-sleeve design of the bag works quite well for back sleepers (which I am if I can stay comfortable). I noticed that the "structure" the pad adds to the bottom of the bag would cause the bag to feel tight when I slept on my side, and would also open up air gaps where the pad met the bag (i.e. the bag wouldn't "drape" around me well). Since I was comfortable on my back, I didn't do much testing in the side configuration, so I offer this only as an observation.

As I noted in my Field Test report, the pillow sleeve seems like a good idea, but put the pillow too far out from the end of the bag to be useful to me. In fact, I started sleeping as far down in the bag as I could, and would have most of my head inside the bag, even though the bag is hoodless.

Lastly, during a couple of warmer nights, I wished the Horse Thief's zipper was full-length rather than about two-thirds; I normally use my bag as a "quilt" in warmer temperatures, and the length of the zipper made this somewhat less useful.

Even with the above concerns, I intend to keep using the Big Big Agnes Horse Thief bag and REM Air Core pad. It's very comfortable for the weight and bulk, and seems well-suited for my favorite kind of camping (summer mountain backpacking). Many thanks to Big Agnes and BackpackGearTest for allowing me to test it.

Read more reviews of Big Agnes gear
Read more gear reviews by Jim Nordby

Long Term

All material on this site is the exclusive property of BackpackGearTest.org.
BackpackGearTest software copyright David Anderson