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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > GoLite Feather Sleeping Bag > Heather Oakes > Initial ReportInitial Report GoLite Feather Sleeping Bag October 12, 2005 Tester Information:
Name: Heather Oakes Palmer Backpacking Background: I consider myself an intermediate hiker and beginning backpacker for over five years; my longest backpacking trip being only three nights. Day hiking and weekend backpacking comprise most of my weekend warrior experience averaging one backpacking trip per month and two day hikes per month averaging between 10-15 miles (16.1- 24.2 km) per day. I tend to backpack in warm, humid climates, with a good amount of hiking in the southern Appalachian Mountains and I have rarely hiked in below freezing or snowy conditions yet. I am a lightweight backpacker and buy my gear accordingly, often splitting various objects and amounts of weight with my husband. Product Information:
Manufacturer: GoLite Description: “Lite as a feather and ready for adventure, the Feather sleeping bag is an ultra-lite connoisseur's dream! Utilizing premium 800 fill goose down as well as an ultra-lite, breathable, and water repellent shell fabric made of the luxurious 22 denier Pertex Quantum nylon with a Shield DWR coating, the Feather is available in SmartFit™ bag sizing and comes with a 5 piece ergonomic hood and FootVent™ (patent pending) for ventilation. The Feather is guaranteed to keep you warm and comfortable during your next overnight adventure.” Initial Impressions: Arriving in a large brown box, the first thing I noticed was how light the box and its contents were. The bag itself was packed in its cotton sack with tags and stuff sack attached. The tags contain most of the same information from the GoLite website including: a SmartFit ™ sizing chart, an image of the bag, features, weight, and plenty of GoLite company information. My first order of business was to check the tags for the correct size, then shimmy into the bag and make sure it fit.
The bag fits me well; leaving plenty of extra room around the chest and shoulders with a snug but not tight fit lengthwise. Getting into the bag is a different experience than I am used to. As the zipper is in the front and does not travel down to the bottom of the bag, I can’t just lay it down unzipped and roll into it. I had to unzip and pull the bag up like a pair of trousers, then lie down to make sure it was in position before zipping it. The zipper caught on the light material a couple of times so I will have to remember to zip slowly and not force it. The fabric feels light and comfy. The shell fabric reminds me of delicate looking silnylon with its slightly slick but not moist feel. The interior of the sleeping bag feels pretty much the same, only slightly less slippery. The whole bag is so gossamer light it feels like it couldn’t possibly keep anything warm, but in under less than a minute in the bag during the day around 88 F (31 C) I was sweating. The seams on the outside of the bag are a visible yellow against the blue of the bag, but the stitching seems uniform and sturdy. The FootVent ™ is really just a hole in the bottom of the bag with fabric overlapping the area so the hole is not visible unless you stick your feet out. Two black straps of unknown purpose complete the view of the foot area on the bag. The bag is very easy to pack down into the black silnylon stuff sack, also very light and slick with no need for compression straps. Without a compression sack, the Feather packs down smaller than my old bags which often had to be beaten into the compression sack and then pounded some more until they were small enough for my pack.
Field Conditions: I plan on testing the bag primarily on overnight car camping and backpacking trips in the Georgia and North Carolina Mountains. The average elevations I will be hiking in will range from 2000 – 5500 ft (610-1676 m); fall weather will fluctuate wildly with temperatures from the 50’s- high 90’s F (10- 37 C) during the day, and maybe as low as 40 F (4 C) at night up in the higher elevations. Winter weather temperatures can drop to the 20’s F (-6 C) overnight with day temperatures hovering between 50- 70 F (10- 21 C), and I could see rain, ice, and tiny snow flurries all in one day. In October, I plan on taking a week long trip to Arizona where I will both car-camp and backpack in various areas for four to five nights total. The plans have not been finalized but some of the kinds of environments we are looking at vary from riparian canyon, sub-alpine forests, and two different types of desert. The altitudes will range from 2600 – 9000+ ft (792-2743 m) with temperatures from the 20’s- low 90’s F (-6 - 32 C). I will also test this bag during our annual ‘get away from crazy drunk people’ New Years Eve backpacking trip, Test Plan: Fall and winter are the best camping seasons here in Georgia for me since the humidity and temperatures drop down to a more manageable level. I would test the sleeping bag on about one overnight backpacking trip per month in north Georgia including a much anticipated group car-camping trip that will hopefully convince about five scientists to take on a backpacking trip next time, a trip over New Years Eve to escape the city, and a four to five night period in which I will be both car-camping and backpacking depending on logistic issues in Arizona. Some of things I will be testing for will be: Comfort: I have never used down: how does it feel? How does the Pertex nylon feel: scratchy, itchy, or sticky? Warmth: will I be warm around or below freezing without my liner? Will I stay warm without needing long underwear and socks? Will humidity (I would be testing in both very high and very low) affect how warm I feel in the bag? Will the FootVent ™ cause my feet to get cold because the area is not completely sealed but really just a hole with fabric covering it? How roomy is it for someone who tosses and turns? Ease of Use: This bag has a shorter zipper and different kind of opening, how easy will it be for me to shimmy into this bag? I like the idea of being cocooned and not wasting space in a bag, but will I feel constricted without all the extra space? How easy is it to shove in its stuff sack? I’m rather intimidated by the thought of five new ways to strangle myself while I sleep, so how easy is it to operate the 5-piece hood? What is a FootVent ™ anyway? How do I use it, or will I be able to use it given how cold my feet get? Packability: How heavy is it? How well does it retain its shape after being crammed in its sack? Will it need fluffing? Is a stow sack compressible or will I need to buy a compression sack? How well does the compressed size fit into my pack? Durability: The bag is advertised as having a water repellent coating so I would be very interested in testing whether or not it will stay dry in a damp climate like Georgia in my tent when I create condensation. How long will it take to dry if wet? Does it retain bad smells? How long does it need to air out trail funk? How well is it sewn? How will the visible seams look in the long term (will they look like they are fraying, broken, etc)? Does the zipper continue to get easily caught by the fabric, will this get worse in the long term? Does the zipper get stuck in colder weather? Will use of the FootVent ™ cause instability in the stitching around the foot area of the bag?
Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > GoLite Feather Sleeping Bag > Heather Oakes > Initial Report | |||
