Long Term Report:
BASK Trekking sleeping bag

Report Date: November 15, 2005

This is the third report of three
My Initial Report may be viewed here
My Field Report may be viewed here

Navigation Reviewer Background Product information in brief Field and test information Product Use and Performance Summary

Reviewer Background

I enjoy walking in all its manifold forms, from a simple stroll in the woods to multi-day backpack excursions. Though by no means an extreme ultra-light enthusiast, from spring to fall my preference is to carry a pack weight (before food and water) of 12 lb (5.5 kg), more or less. In recent years, I've rapidly moved to a philosophy of "lighter is better," within the constraints of budget and common sense.

Reviewer Information

• Name: Edward Ripley-Duggan
  
• Age: 52
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m)
  
• Weight: 215 pounds (98 kg)
  
• erd@wilsey.net
  
• Catskills, New York State
  
  

Product information in brief Information as provided by manufacturer Manufacturer: BASK Company, Ltd. URL: http://www.baskcanada.com (North American distributor) Product: Trekking Down Sleeping Bag Year of manufacture: 2005 Size XL MSRP: $299 Canadian (from website) Manufacturer's stated weight: 1.4 kg/3.1 lb for XL (from website) Manufacturer's stated length with hood: 235 cm/7.7 ft Manufacturer's stated length to shoulder seam: 203 cm/6.7 ft Manufacturer's stated width at opening: 84 cm/2.8 ft Manufacturer's stated width at foot: 55 cm/1.8 ft Manufacturer's stated packed size: 23 cm/9.0 in diameter, 49 cm/19.3 in height (without compression) Stated fill power: 650 +/- 5% (hang-tag) Stated fill material: Goose down (grey), 85% down, 15% feather Stated fill treatment: Nikwax wash Zip: left, YKK, two-way, mateable Shell: Nylon Ripstop Tactel (Sofinal, Belgium), from tag and website Outer Color: Black Inner Color: Gray Temperature rating (Comfort): +15/-5 C (60/23 F) from website Temperature rating (Extreme): - 15 C (5 F) from website Information as observed Measured weight of bag (analog scale): 1.45 kg/3.2 lb Measured weight of compression sack: 124 gm/4 oz Measured length with hood: 235 cm/7.7 ft Measured length to shoulder seam: 203 cm/ 6.7 ft Measured width at opening: 84 cm/2.8 ft (stretched tight) Measured width at foot: 36 cm/1.2 ft (maximum footbox width) Measured diameter in manufacturer's compression sack (uncompressed): 22.3 cm/9.0 in Measured height in manufacturer's compression sack (uncompressed): 50 cm/19.7 in Measured height in manufacturer's compression sack (compressed): 25 cm/ 10 in Average loft (middle of bag), one hour after compression: 13 cm/5 in + Drawstrings: Two, one at draft collar, one at perimeter of hood Full-length draft collar, tape-stiffened zip Full (circumferential) down collar

Field and test information

I have used the Bask Trekking Sleeping Bag from the middle of May until the middle of November 2005. The summer had a rainy start, and autumn also had a wet spell, but the weather has generally been warm, with several prolonged dry periods. Daytime temperatures ran as high as 90 F (32 C) over the summer, but are at present rapidly cooling as winter approaches. In fact, we have already had snow at elevation (up to 18 in, 46 cm), as well as cool temperatures, enabling me to test the bag in the open at approximately 20 F, -7 C, in extremely windy conditions. This was fortunate, as otherwise the weather has not been especially obliging, at least in so far as testing the lower limits of the bag was concerned.

Product Use and Performance

As noted in the Field Report, I had occasion to test the bag at one point with an initial nighttime temperature of about 70 F (21 C). It was, unsurprisingly, far from ideal in such conditions. I've since had a number of occasions to use it at cooler temperatures, and it has proved comfortable within a tent at an upper outside temperature of 50 F (10 C) or so. Venting the bag from the foot of the three-quarters zip is a help in maintaining comfort when sleeping at the upper end of the thermal range of the bag. Anything much above this temperature, and for me at least the bag has to be left totally unzipped much of the night. My experience is roughly in line with the bag's stated upper rating of 60 F (15 C). There is, of course, considerable personal variation where all such sleeping bag ratings are concerned. The rating of bags to individual physiologies is very far from an exact science. So much for the upper limit of the bag's range, in any case.

Fortunately, the weather obliged during the last week of October by dumping snow on my local peaks. I was delighted, as I was leading an AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) group on an "Introduction to Bushwhacking" excursion. It looked like it would be a fairly mellow "Introduction to Winter Camping" for them at the same time! At elevation (we were camped at 3500 ft, 1066 m), the temperature dropped at night to 20 F (-7 C) or possibly a little colder, with a strong wind. In order to properly test the bag, I slept outside without a tent, with the bag protected against the worst of the wind and any wet by a Bibler Winter Bivy. This latter is a thin, breathable shell made of Epic fabric, and is unlikely to have significantly raised the bag's effective performance by much. I also had a silnylon poncho tied as a tarp over me, to keep the worst of the blown snow off. I was sleeping on a Z-Rest for insulation. The wind was gusting (at an educated guess) to 40 mph (64 km/hr), raking from the west across a narrow lightly wooded ridge.

I hopped into the bag wearing a light wool shirt and an ultralight down sweater, which I'd been wearing around camp. Otherwise, I was just wearing wool leggings and a pair of vapor barrier socks. I left the slit of the bivy mostly open to prevent condensation. Despite feeling rather cold initially (I was feeling slightly chilled when I hopped into the bag, and I threw a couple of chemical hand warmers in to help bring it up to temperature fast), I was fairly quickly toasty-warm. This was despite rolling off my sleeping pad onto the snow periodically (I was sleeping on a platform I had dug, not very carefully, into a slight slope). I wish I could also say I slept well, but it was so noisy outside over the night that I'd periodically stick my head out to see if my tarp had blown away (it didn't).

Given the rather adverse conditions, I was delighted by the performance of the bag. I was certainly not at all acclimated to winter conditions, as I will likely be come December, and to be able to sleep as warm as I did was, in my estimation, a real testament to the qualities of the Bask bag. In fact, given the relatively generous dimensions of the interior, I'm sure I could use the bag at considerably lower temperatures by wearing layers. This is a big plus, to my mind, for anyone intending this as an all-purpose sleeping bag.

I do have one significant reservation about the construction of the bag. Though the bivy helped cut the worst of the wind, I noticed a bit of a draft in the region of the generously sized draft tube. I explored this region carefully with my hand, and concluded that the draft tube did not sit flush against the zip all the way along, as it should. The reason for this is appears to be that the zip is somewhat puckered (something I remarked upon in the Initial Report). Where the zip curves into the body of the bag it displaces the draft tube, leaving a small unprotected cavity where cool air can seep in.

Because of the substantial size of the draft tube, this is not the serious issue it might otherwise be, but it is a significant defect in an otherwise well-crafted and well-engineered bag. This same puckering in the zipper makes the pulls slightly more difficult to slide than I would consider ideal. I'm not totally clear what is causing the zip to distort, but I have at least an inkling of an idea. When the bag is unzipped, it's clear that is is the upper section of the zip that shows this curvature, and it is the upper portion of the zip that is tape-stiffened to prevent snagging. I'm presently inclined to think that this tape is at fault in some way, as the zip itself appears to be correctly sewn.

A portion of the zipper, showing puckering

I found the 360-degree draft collar very effective and (in cold and windy conditions) very useful indeed. I had it cinched so that the bag was sealed against my neck, and this unquestionably contributed to a warm night. Given that many sleeping bags of this rating have no collars at all, the substantial collar on the Bask Trekking is a big plus. It is easily enough adjusted, although as in the majority of sleeping bags the control cords are, if I am rolled on my side (I am a side-sleeper), slightly awkward to reach. It's also easy (and this is again a common issue) to confuse the cord for the collar with the cord for the hood. Both cords, which are elasticized, are easily tightened and released. When fully cinched the length projecting into the bag with either cord is substantial, and though I am not concerned about garroting myself, I have had a cord get tangled with the cord on my hat (and also in my pony-tail, the latter a mildly painful experience).

The hood is adequate for a bag of this rating, but I did find it difficult to get the curvature and positioning correct in order that my head was thoroughly covered. Indeed, that's why I was wearing the hat I mentioned in the last paragraph! The hood is flat, rather than differentially cut. To get it to conform to my head was, I found, a trifle challenging, as the top of the hood sometimes tended to fall across my face. It worked reasonably well, but I was slightly disappointed with this aspect of the bag.

The lining is pleasant to the touch; I very much like the fabric used for this purpose by Bask. The exterior fabric is, I should note, not quite as waterproof as I would ideally like. On another night, under more temperate conditions, I was sleeping in a silnylon tent when a heavy mist arose. This tent (as with many single-wall silnylon tents) tends to get damp walls when the ambient humidity increases. I noted many streaks of moisture running along the threads in the fabric at the foot of the bag, where it had brushed up against the tent wall.

I couldn't easily determine if the down had been affected (a relatively small amount of moisture was involved) but this experience has made me a little more cautious about how I position the bag in the tent (though I tend to be a pretty mobile sleeper, so it's impossible to totally avoid this occurrence). The DWR coating is actually pretty good. Direct applications of water just rolls off, with any residue beading up as it should. I believe that the problem with water entering the shell arises only when the fabric is in prolonged contact with a damp surface (such as the tent wall).

Summary

At this point, having discussed the various issues that have come up over the period of the test, I'd like to review the various questions that I posed in the Initial Report.

Fit: The fit is quite spacious, sufficient to allow plenty of layering, but not so extreme as to create large air voids to warm. The length is such that I was able to store my water and some clothing down at the foot of the bag at lower temperatures. I did not have occasion to use my down liner in the field (not cold enough), but I have confirmed that there is adequate room.

Use: The bag lofts adequately quickly after compression, and the bag in general is quite "lofty." There's a lot of down in there! The bag vents adequately at the foot, when this is required at warmer temperatures. Though the anti-snag tape (mostly) prevents the zip from snagging the surrounding fabric, some problems are caused by the irregularity of the zipper noted above. The draft tube is generally very effective, but it is slightly compromised by the same defect. The draft collar is a fine feature; the hood, to my mind, less so, because the fit was adequate, but not ideal. In the best of possible worlds, the cords would be re-engineered so they don't intrude so far into the bag when fully deployed. The bag is accurately rated, at least for me, and I wouldn't hesitate to use layers of clothing to push the bag to the "Extreme" limit of 5F (-15 C). With enough clothing, I'm reasonably sure I'd be quite cozy at the extreme lower limit of the bag, though I'd certainly not want to flirt with hypothermia by using it without such "insurance layers."

Materials: The Tactel shell seems well nigh down-proof. I don't believe I had more than a feather or two escape during the duration of testing. The down is as odor-free as any I have encountered. There is a slight tendency for the fabric to get a little wet under some conditions, although (in all fairness) any bag without a shell of a specifically water-resistant material is likely to get a damp surface under the conditions I describe. I've noted no tendency of the down to redistribute or clump in the baffles. In fact, the bag is still in terrific shape despite a busy six months.

Pro

• For me, good to at least the stated temperature ratings
• The 360-degree down collar is a great feature
• The interior fabric used is delightful

Con

• The puckering along the zipper is a real detriment
• The hood could be a bit better designed
• The drawstrings for hood and collar seem uncommonly lengthy when deployed, and are difficult to distinguish
  
  

I thank BackpackGearTest and BASK, Inc. for permitting me to participate in this most interesting test.