Feathered Friends Hummingbird 15º Down Sleeping Bag

 

§         Name: Chris Parton

§         Age: 29

§         Email Address: colnagodriver@yahoo.com

§         Height:  5’9”  (1.75 m)

§         Weight: 152 lb. (69 kg)

§         Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas

§         Report Date: 12/5/02

 

Backpacking Background

 

I began backpacking at the age of 12.  My dad took me on my first trip in the Ouachita National Forest west of Little Rock, Arkansas.  Since then, I’ve been on numerous backpacking trips in the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, and even a few trips in the Cascade Mountain Range of Oregon.

 

I generally backpack with my wife, although I still get to go on an occasional trip with my father.  Our backpacking is confined to the months of October through March.  Around the first of April, temperatures begin to warm up, bugs come back to life, and the first hints of heat and humidity in the south begin to appear.

 

I have embraced the lightweight philosophy over the last year.  My base pack weight without food and water for winter backpacking in the Ozarks is now down to a modest 11 pounds (5 kg).  For those who have never backpacked in the Ozarks in the winter, you can expect high temperatures on average to climb into the middle to upper 40’s (7º to 10º C), and lows at night to average between 20º and 30º F (-7º to –1º C).  We do get occasional snows, but nothing long-term to be able to test snow-oriented equipment.

 

Product Information

 

• Manufacturer: Feathered Friends
• Model:  Hummingbird in Regular Length
• Year of Manufacture:  2000
• Web Address:  www.featheredfriends.com
• Listed Weight:  27 oz. (765 g.)
• Actual Weight:  29 oz. (822 g.) (I went with the 2 ounce overfill)
• MSRP:  $255 base price with additional cost for customizing exterior fabric, amount of overfill, etc.
• Similar Products Tried:  Sierra Designs Wild Bill synthetic sleeping bag, Western Mountaineering Puma and Antelope sleeping bags

 

 

 

Field Information

 

• Locations where tests were conducted:  All along the Ozark Highlands Trail in Arkansas, numerous backpacks in Colorado, Wyoming.  It’s been used no telling how many times while car camping at various locations in Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Oregon.

 

• Description of Locations:  Locations of tests range from alpine forest hiking trails and old wagon trails in the Rockies and Cascades to mature hardwood forests in the Ozarks to developed and primitive campgrounds in state and national parks.  Elevations range from 1,200 (365 m.) to 2,000 (610 m.) feet in the Ozarks and from 4,000 (1220 m.) to 10,000 (3050 m.) feet in the Rockies and Cascades.  Have car-camped in various state and national parks while fishing, kayaking, having fun, hiking, etc.

 

• Weather Conditions:  I’ve used this bag in a fairly wide range of temperatures and conditions – temperatures ranging from upper-teens (-7 c.)  to mid-40’s (7 c.), rainy nights, clear & cold nights, damp and foggy nights, etc., but no snow, yet.

 

• Backpacking experience with this product:  I’ve carried this bag on several overnight backpacking trips.  I’ve used it extensively at base camps for hiking, while on fishing trips, etc.

 

• Style:  This is a mummy-style down sleeping bag designed with lightweight, three-season backpacking and camping in mind. 

 

Report

 

I purchased this bag a couple of years ago when I was beginning to make the transition to lightweight/ultralight hiking.  I was looking for a lightweight down bag, and I had narrowed my choices down to either a Western Mountaineering or Feathered Friends sleeping bag.  At the time, I owned a Western Mountaineering Puma, but it proved to be WAY too warm for the temps we normally experience in this part of the country, and it was way too heavy for my sub-2 pound (1 kg.) desire.

 

I settled on the Feathered Friends Hummingbird for two reasons:  the Hummingbird is rated a bit lighter, 6 ounces (170 g.), than a comparable Western bag (the Versalite), and they allowed you to somewhat customize your bag by choosing exterior fabric type, overfill amount, 750 or 800+ fill power down, and exterior color.   I don’t know if they still offer these options, but at the time it was a nice feature. 

 

The stock off-the-shelf Hummingbird is rated at 20º F (-7ºC).  With the additional two ounces overfill I requested and the 800+ fill power down, the temperature rating is supposed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of a 15º F (-10º C) bag.  I can’t say that I’ve dropped below this reading to truly test the bag’s ratings, but I’ve been awfully close a few times.  I’ve never been cold in the bag, although when sleeping on my side, my posterior section has become a bit chilled from pressing against the side of the bag.  But for the most part, I find myself unzipping a few inches of the bottom zipper to get a bit of draft on my feet.  I’m a very hot sleeper who normally sleeps in simple boxer shorts, and as a result, I usually wake up clammy on all but the coolest nights. 

 

I’ll have to say that overall I’ve been very happy with this bag.  The almost-feather-like weight is a very nice quality, as well as the compressibility.  The hood is ample enough to cover the head on cooler nights.  The draft collar snugs up nicely around the shoulders to prevent cold air from chilling you down.  The continuous baffles that allow you to shift the down from front to back or vice-vers are also nice for warmer or cooler nights. 

 

But like everything, this bag isn’t perfect.  It’s a bit on the small side for me.  I tend to be a bit on the claustrophobic side, and as a result, I wish I’d gone for the larger Swallow, which gives a little more girth/width at the price of 6 ounces (170 g.).  I also wish it had a draft collar, but again, that would only add ounces.  But the biggest drawback is the zipper.  Before I purchased this bag, I read that Feathered Friends’ zippers were horrible.  I can say that, regrettably, it’s true – they suck.  The zipper tape is very lacking, presumably to save ounces, and consequently the interior fabric adjacent to the zipper becomes entangled in the zipper constantly.  This can be a major pain when you’ve disrobed for bedtime, and you’re trying to insulate yourself from the cold temps outside your bag. 

 

Overall, I’ve been very happy with this bag.  If only it had a better zipper, I’d give an excellent rating.  I’d recommend Feathered Friends to anyone.  Their customer service is top-notch.  They’re very friendly, and like I said earlier, allow you to customize your bag just about any way you want.  A very good product for an average market price for a high-quality down bag.