|
Initial Report | Field
Report | Long-Term Report |
Tester Information
Name: Will
Rietveld
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft (183 cm)
Weight: 170 lb (77 kg)
Email: (willi_wabbit at
bresnan dot net)
City & State: Durango, CO
81301
Location for Testing: Southwestern
US (Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico).
Backpacking Experience—I
have been an avid backpacker for 50 years. Backpacking is my
passion. I backpack the year around in the Southwestern United States
(Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico).
Backpacking Style—I have
been a lightweight backpacker for 35 years and an ultralight backpacker
for 9 years. My wife and I give presentations on lightweight and
ultralight backpacking in our local area, and have developed a website
called Southwest Ultralight Backpacking (http://home.bresnan.net/~swultralight/)
to share information.
Initial
Report (February 28, 2008)
Product
Information
Manufacturer:
GoLite
Manufacturer Website: http://golite.com/
Product Tested: Men’s Adrenaline 20 Sleeping Bag
Year of Manufacture: 2008
Size Tested: Men’s Regular
Temperature Rating: 20 F (-7
C)
Color: Poseidon (blue) and
Grease (dark grey); interior lining is dark grey
Length and Girth: Size
men’s regular fits to 6 ft (183 cm), size long fits to 6 ft 6 in (198
cm); both are 60 in (152 cm) shoulder girth. Women’s sizes are also
available.
Weight: Measured weight 31.2
oz (885 g); manufacturer weight 30 oz (850 g)
MSRP: $325 US
The GoLite Adrenaline 20
Sleeping Bag is insulated with 800 fill-power down, has a 1/2
length top zipper, and features panels of Pertex Endurance
fabric at the head and foot to resist wetting from contact with
wet tent walls. (photo from GoLite website)
|
Product
Description
From the GoLite website: “A premium 800-fill goose
down, 20º F (-7 C) sleeping bag that offers superior warmth, unmatched
comfort and versatility, coupled with lite-weight construction and a
male-specific fit. The waterproof Pertex® Endurance Arid Zones™ at
the head and foot of the bag protect against condensation in critical
areas. A trimmer mummy shape offers a closer fit with warmth efficiency
and the half-length top zip provides the most efficient core temperature
regulation.”
Features (Compiled
from the GoLite website and hang tags on the bag)
-
800-fill
goose down
-
½ length
top zipper, single pull
-
Waterproof/breathable
Pertex Endurance fabric at head and foot ends
-
Shell is
20-denier mini-ripstop nylon with DWR
-
Lining is
22-denier polyester microfiber
-
6-inch
(15 cm) baffles; baffled hood
-
5-inch (13
cm) loft (double layer), with 50:50 down distribution top and bottom
-
Insulated
draft tubes along zipper and front of hood
-
Close
fitting SkullGlove hood
-
Drawcord
adjustors on left and right side of hood
-
Zipper
guard (to prevent zipper from snagging a beard)
-
Interior
and exterior hang loops for drying
-
SilLite
stuff sack
-
Cotton
storage sack
Initial
Impressions
The GoLite sleeping bag line was re-designed for spring
2008. The Adrenaline 20 replaces their previous Feather bag, which also
had a 20 F (-7 C) temperature rating and a ½ length top zipper. The 800
fill power down and 5-inch (13 cm) loft are also the same as the former
Feather sleeping bag. Other than those similarities, the Adrenaline is a
new design. The outer shell is no longer Pertex Quantum, and is now a
similar weight nylon mini-ripstop with a DWR (Durable Water Repellent)
finish. The former Pertex Quantum lining is replaced by a lighter and
softer polyester microfiber fabric. GoLite no longer makes their
sleeping bags in three different girths to fit different body shapes.
The Adrenaline has a 60 in (152 cm) shoulder girth, which is considered
trim. GoLite specifically states that this bag has a trimmer fit for
better thermal efficiency (you don’t have to warm up extra space).
I got into the bag on my living room floor and found that the length is
perfect for my 6 ft (183 cm) height, and the hood closes to a breathing
hole right at my mouth, which is perfect. Although the girth is trim,
there is still room for me to wear a medium loft down jacket inside to
extend its warmth when needed.
The Pertex Endurance fabric at the ends of the bag is intended to reduce
condensation inside the bag at those locations, and should help prevent
the bag from getting wet from brushing against wet tent walls. This
seems to be a very functional feature, and I will evaluate how well it
actually works.
Overall, my initial impressions of the Adrenaline 20 sleeping bag are
very positive.
Assessment
So Far
Materials and Construction—The
outer shell fabric is 30 denier nylon mini-ripstop with a DWR finish.
The lining is a soft 22 denier polyester microfiber. Although these
fabrics replace Pertex Quantum (which has an excellent reputation) in
the former Feather bag, the fabrics in the Adrenaline 20 appear to be
comparable in quality (I will assess this over the next four months).
The outer shell is nylon, which is considered to be more durable than
polyester. The very fine ripstop pattern suggests that it should be
snagproof and downproof, but field testing will be needed to provide a
final answer on those factors.
Interestingly, the zipper is sewn in so the normal outside of the zipper
is on the inside. Presumably the purpose is to make the zipper operate
more smoothly when zipped from the inside. It’s a high quality coil
zipper with a single pull that operates from the outside or inside.
There appears to be good promise here that the zipper will operate
smoothly with minimal snagging; field testing will provide a clear
answer.
The quality of construction is superb. All stitching is tight with a
high number of stitches per inch (about 12) and no puckering. I examined
the sleeping bag closely and did not find any flaws.
Size and Fit—A size
Regular sleeping bag normally fits sleepers up to 6 ft (183 cm) tall
(although a few manufacturers choose to make their Regular bag a
different length). I am 6 ft (183 cm) tall so I should expect the
Adrenaline 20 to fit without being tight in length. It does. The bag
fits me perfectly (with a little bit of length to spare) without
compressing the down at either end.
As mentioned in my Initial Impressions, the Adrenaline is designed to be
trim to maximize thermal efficiency. Although I prefer about 62 in (157
cm) of shoulder girth (my shoulder girth is 47 in (119 cm), I believe I can get along with the Adrenaline’s
60 in (152 cm) of shoulder girth okay; I tried wearing a down jacket
inside the sleeping bag and found it roomy enough to accommodate the
extra volume without compressing the down, but there is definitely no
extra interior volume to spare. A larger person may find this bag to be
too tight (especially if he wants to wear extra clothing inside the bag
to extend its warmth), and should definitely try it out before
purchasing it.
Loft—The Adrenaline 20
sleeping bag is insulated with 800 fill-power goose down. I measured the
double-layer loft of the bag at 4 7/8 inches (12 cm) in the chest area
and 5 ¼ inches (13 cm) in
the knee area, which agrees with the manufacturer’s specification of 5
inches (13 cm). The bag has six inch (15 cm) baffles to hold the down in
place, with equal distribution of down in the top and bottom of the bag.
The baffles run length-wise in the top upper half of the bag (bottom of
zipper to hood) and width-wise in the top lower half and full bottom
side of the bag. Baffled construction is more thermally efficient than
sewn-through construction, and is expected for a high-end ultralight
down sleeping bag.
The GoLite
Adrenaline 20 sleeping bag stuffed in its stuff sack measures 14
in long x 6.5 in wide (36 cm x 17 cm).
|
Features—The
bag’s feature list is provided in the Product Description section
above. Basically this is a high-end ultralight backpacking bag, so the
goal is to provide essential features that provide functionality, while
omitting features that simply add weight. The bag has only a one-half
length zipper to save weight, but it is located on the top of the bag
for ease of entry and zipping it closed. The Pertex Endurance panels at
the ends of the bag add a little weight, but they ensure that the bag
will not absorb water if it contacts wet tent walls. The hood has two
one-handed adjustors to adjust the hood from inside the bag. The bag
does not have features like sleeping pad straps, a foot vent, an
interior pocket, or a pillow pocket.
Over the next four months I will continue to evaluate the above factors
as well as the factors listed below in my test plan.
Test Plan
Test Period—March
2008 through June 2008.
Test Locations—Southwestern United States (Colorado, Arizona,
Utah, and New Mexico).
Testing Conditions—The GoLite Adrenaline 20 Sleeping Bag is an
appropriate bag for some winter conditions, as well as colder spring and
summer conditions. I live in the Southwest Colorado Mountains, and will
use the Adrenaline 20 initially on high elevation winter camping trips
where I will camp in below freezing temperatures in igloos we have
constructed. Although the temperature is below zero outside, the
nighttime temperature inside the igloo is a “warm” 20-30 F (-7 to -1
C).
In March, April, and May I will use the GoLite Adrenaline 20 Sleeping
Bag on numerous backpacking trips and car camping trips in Arizona,
southern Utah, northern New Mexico, and southwest Colorado where
nighttime temperatures can easily get down into the 20’s (-7 to -1 C)
or colder.
This concludes my initial report; please check back in about two months
to read my Field Report, and four months to read my Long Term Report.
Field
Report May 5, 2008
Amount
of Use
During the first two months of testing, I slept in the GoLite Adrenaline
20 sleeping bag on nine trips for a total of 16 nights, summarized as
follows: (table)
Type
of Trip
|
Number
of Trips
|
Number
of Nights
|
Mountain Cabin
|
2
|
5
|
Winter Camp in Bivy
|
1
|
1
|
Winter Camp in Tent
|
4
|
4
|
Winter Camp in Igloo
|
1
|
1
|
Rafting
|
1
|
5
|
Totals
|
9
|
16
|
Type
of Use
Testing conditions were diverse from mid February through April, which
is good for a sleeping bag test. On two 9 mile (14.5 km) ski trips to a
friend’s mountain cabin we slept on bunks overnight, with a woodstove
keeping the cabin warm until it went out late at night. Lows were in the
40’s F (4-9 C). On one winter camping trip I inserted the Adrenaline
bag into an Integral Designs Penguin Reflexion Bivy (which I am also
testing) and slept under the stars on a 20 F (-7 C) night. My four
winter camping trips in a tent (two nights in a double wall tent and two
nights in a single wall tent) was overnight snow camping in the
southwest Colorado mountains at 9000 ft (2743 m) elevation with
overnight lows of 25, 18, 16, and 17 F (-4, -8, -9, and -8 C),
respectively. On the three coldest nights I slept with the Adrenaline
sleeping bag inside the Penguin Bivy for extra warmth. I camped in a
mountain igloo at 9500 ft (2896 m) one night in March, and the low
inside the igloo was 25 F (-4 C). Finally, I took the Adrenaline bag on
a six day rafting trip in southeastern Utah, where we slept in a double
wall tent in temperatures ranging from 30 to 45 F (-1 to 7 C). All
temperatures were measured with a Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker.
Side sleeping in the GoLite Adrenaline 20 bag in a single wall tent.
|
Performance
Fit and Roominess—A men’s
regular Adrenaline 20 bag is sized to fit a person up to 6 ft (183 cm)
tall. I am 6 ft (183 cm) tall, and the size regular bag I am testing
fits me perfectly, without my feet or head pressing the ends of the bag.
I found the bag to be proportioned well in the shoulder, hip, and foot
areas, providing enough room in each area. I really like the bag’s
hood; it surrounds my head well, covers my face, and places a breathing
hole right at my mouth where it should be.
The Adrenaline 20 is intentionally snugger in girth,
60 in (152 cm) at the shoulder, for increased thermal efficiency. I
had some concerns that the bag would not be roomy enough to wear extra
clothing inside to extend its warmth, but that turned out not to be a
problem, at least for wearing mid-weight insulated clothing. I wore long
johns plus a synthetic insulated jacket and pants inside the bag and had
room to spare.
Warmth and Comfort—I slept
in the Adrenaline 20 on five nights where the low temperature was near
the bags limit (25, 18, 16, 17, and 20 F/-4, -8, -9, -8, and -7 C). On
three of those nights the bag was enclosed in a bivy. On the 25 F (-4 C)
night, I stayed warm all night wearing wool long johns and a heavy
polyester shirt inside the bag. On the 18 F (-8 C) night, wearing the
same clothing, I got chilly at 5 AM and remained chilly the rest of the
night. On the other nights, I wore wool long johns plus a mid-weight
synthetic insulated jacket and pants inside the bag (within a bivy) and
stayed warm all night. Overall, I’m a warm sleeper, and my assessment
is that the GoLite Adrenaline 20 bag’s warmth is close to its
temperature rating of 20 F (-7 C), but the bag is definitely not warmer
than its rating.
Features—I like the
Adrenaline’s half-length top zipper. I’m a side sleeper, and it’s
nice not to sleep on a zipper. The top zipper is more convenient to
reach and zip than a side zipper, and it zips straight up to the hood,
with no tight turns to bind the zipper. That said, I found that the
zipper is not totally snag-proof; it operates more smoothly than the
zipper on many sleeping bags, but the inside lining of the bag does snag
in the zipper some.
The drawcord on the hood has two anchored cordlock adjustors that work
well. Basically, I adjust the hood opening by pinching the cordlock and
pulling on a loop of cord. Once adjusted, the drawcord does not slip and
I can leave it adjusted in my desired position.
Water-Resistance—I had
varying amounts of frost inside my tent and bivy on below freezing
nights, but the frost was not a good test of the Adrenaline’s
water-resistance. As I continue testing the bag into the spring, I hope
to encounter conditions that produce lots of liquid condensation inside
a single wall tent, which should be a good test of the bag’s Pertex
Endurance fabric at the head and foot ends.
Long-Term
Report (July 15, 2008)
Amount
of Use
During the second two months of testing, I slept in the GoLite
Adrenaline 20 sleeping bag an additional 11 trips for a total of 26
nights, summarized as follows: (table)
Type
of Trip
|
Number
of Trips
|
Number
of Nights
|
Spring Car Camping
|
3
|
4
|
Spring Backpacking
|
2
|
3
|
Spring Snow Camping
|
2
|
2
|
Rafting
|
1
|
6
|
Summer Backpacking
|
3
|
11
|
Totals
|
11
|
26
|
My total usage for the four-month test period is 20
trips where I slept in the GoLite Adrenaline 20 sleeping bag 42 nights.
Type
of Use
During May I went on three backcountry car camping trips at elevations
of 6600 to 9500 feet (2012 to 2896 m) where nighttime temperatures
ranged from 28 to 39 F (-2 to 4 C). On those trips I slept in either a
single wall or double wall tent. I also made one backpacking trip to the
badlands country of northern New Mexico, where I slept in a single wall
tent and had a nighttime low of 31 F (-1 C) and lots of wind. Also
during May I went on two snow camping trips at 11,700 ft (3566 m) where
I slept in a double wall tent and had nighttime temperatures of 28 and
32 F (-2 and 0 C). On my first snow camping trip I had 4 in (10 cm) of
fresh snow with a 15 mph (24 kph) wind which blew some spindrift into
the tent.
In late spring I went on a 100-mile (161 km) seven-day rafting trip in
southwest Colorado, where I had a lot of rain and some snow the first
two days. Low temperatures ranged from 36 to 54 F (2 to 12 C). On two
cool, damp, rainy nights during that trip I had a lot of condensation
inside my tent
During June and early July I went on three backpacking trips in
southwestern Colorado where I slept in either a single wall tent or
double wall tent and experienced nighttime low temperatures of 30 to 45
F (-1 to 7 C). The elevations of my camps ranged from 11,200 to 12,500
ft (3414 to 3810 m). On four nights, where the temperature dropped down
to about 30 F (-1 C), I had a lot of condensation inside my tent.
All temperatures were measured with a Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather
Tracker.
Performance
My Field Report assessment of the GoLite Adrenaline 20 sleeping bag is
basically unchanged. I will add a few more comments in this section to
expand a little more on the points I made earlier.
Fit and Roominess—A men’s
regular Adrenaline 20 bag is sized to fit a person up to 6 ft (183 cm)
tall. I am 6 ft (183 cm) tall, and the size regular bag I am testing
fits me perfectly, without my feet or head pressing the ends of the bag.
Although the Adrenaline 20 is snugger in girth
[60 in (152 cm) at the shoulder] than other sleeping bags, I found that
the bag has adequate room inside to wear extra clothing to extend the
bag’s warmth.
Warmth—I typically wear
some clothing inside a sleeping bag, at least some lightweight long
johns, to keep the bag clean. On several
cold nights just above or below the bag’s 20 F (-7 C) temperature
rating I wore medium weight insulated clothing inside the bag and stayed
comfortably warm. Overall, I found the bag’s 20 F (-7 C) temperature
rating to be realistic.
Durability—After a total of
20 trips and 42 bag nights, the Adrenaline still looks like it did when
it was brand new. I consider my use “normal”; I am not hard on
outdoor gear. Besides my sleeping in the bag 42 nights, the bag was
stuffed and unstuffed nearly as many times, and it was also dampened and
dried on many occasions. The bag has no damage (snags, punctures) or
other signs of wear from my use.
Loft—When the bag was brand
new, I measured the double-layer loft of the bag at 4 7/8 inches
(12 cm) in the chest area and 5 ¼ inches
(13 cm) in the knee area, which agrees with the manufacturer’s
specification of 5 inches (13 cm). At the end of the four-month test
period I re-measured the double layer loft at 4.25 inches (11 cm) in
both locations. From my use the bag lost about 0.6 in (1.5 cm) of loft
in the chest area and 1 in (2.5 cm) of loft in the knee area. From my
previous experiences, it is normal for a sleeping bag to lose some loft
from use, and I consider the loft loss of the Adrenaline to be
“normal” for the amount of use I put on it.
Zipper—In my Field Report,
I had some complaints about the zipper snagging easily. Since then I
have found that by gripping both sides of the zipper at the hood end and
pulling it tight (straight), the zipper will slide easily without
snagging. However, it frequently snags when I pull the zipper with one
hand without straightening it first.
Water-Resistance—The
Adrenaline’s waterproof/breathable Pertex
Endurance panels at the ends of the bag are just part of the story. The
Endurance fabric definitely sheds moisture from the ends of the bag to
keep those areas dry. However, on many very damp or rainy nights where I
had a lot of condensation on the inside tent walls I had moisture
contact the middle section of the bag. The shell’s DWR (Durable Water
Repellent) finish helped a lot to shed moisture, but it did wet through
on several occasions. The result was some dampening of the surface of
the bag, but the bag did not lose any loft or warmth. I was impressed
with the Adrenaline’s performance in very damp conditions.
|
After
an all night rain, it was so damp in my tent that I had a worm
crawling across the sleeping bag! Notice that the bag’s DWR
finish still causes water to bead up. |
Overall
Assessment
I am very impressed with the GoLite Adrenaline 20’s design,
construction, and performance. Its use of 800 fill down is appropriate
for a moderately priced ($325USD) lightweight sleeping bag (bags with
850+ fill power down cost significantly more). Although the bag is sized
to be trim for warmth and light weight, it is not tight, and there is
adequate room inside to wear extra clothing to extend its warmth. The
materials used effectively provide durability, water-resistance, and
light weight. The center half-length zipper is a feature that some
hikers may not like because it does restrict entry/exit somewhat, and
the zipper easily snags with one-handed operation. However, I easily
adjusted to those limitations and did not find them to be a problem. I
found the bag’s warmth to be close to its temperature rating, and was
impressed by its resistance to wetting and loss of loft in damp weather.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank GoLite and the BackpackGearTest Group for
selecting me to participate in this test.
Will Rietveld
|