Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Marmot Never Summer > Marmot Never Summer sleeping bag - Rebecca

I live in the San Francisco Bay area of California, and work as a technical consultant for a large software company. I split from the Bay Area every weekend and head to one of the many beautiful places California has to offer. Unfortunately, due to job restrictions, my trips are usually 2-3 day weekends and not longer, but it is very rare that I do not spend my weekend out running around somewhere in the mountains. I have been an outdoors addict for approximately 3 years and backpacking for about 2, so I can be classified as a beginner/intermediate. I have also been a car-camper since I was a baby. Some of my favorite outdoor activities include hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing.

The Marmot Never Summer is a 600 fill-power down sleeping bag, rated at 0 degrees. I am reviewing the bag with the regular nylon shell. For a higher price, it is also available with a GoreTex DryLoft shell.

Last year my husband and I decided that we wanted to expand our 3 season backpacking into the 4th season, winter. This meant that we had to reevaluate much of our gear, especially our sleep systems. The warmest (and only) sleeping bag I had was a 20 degree rating synthetic mummy bag, and I knew that wouldn't be enough to keep me warm during winter in the Sierra.

I wanted a bag with a 0 degree rating, preferably down, that was not outrageously expensive. To be honest, my husband started researching bags before I did, and one day he came home with a Marmot Never Summer. The first thing I thought when he pulled it out of the stuff sack was that it was ugly. The colors are nothing beautiful - it is black along the sides, and the top is orangy-yellowish. I convinced him to let me crawl into it, and as soon as it was zipped up around me I forgot about the color entirely. For lack of a better word, it was cozy. I could use lots of other words to describe it - soft, warm, fluffy - but cozy is the best descriptor I can think of. It was like being wrapped in a big down hug.

This was in my living room, and I was swealtering hot within seconds. I reluctantly crawled out of the bag and let my husband play with it.

I finally got around to researching bags that would be best for me, but I kept going back to the Never Summer. There were some bags that were cheaper, lighter weight, or better colors, but the memory of the down hug kept sneaking back into my head.

I used the Never Summer throughout the winter of 2001-2002 and into the spring, and it is difficult to find anything bad to say about it. Combined with a self-inflating mattress, it kept me incredibly warm when camped atop snow. Depending on the temperature outside, I would adjust my nighttime clothing as necessary. On really frigid nights I was comfortable in the bag wearing a Patagonia Expedition weight Capilene top and bottoms. I never got an accurate measure of the temperature on any night, but I can say that I am a cold sleeper and was very happy with how warm the bag kept me while sleeping on top of snow or while snowy weather whipped around the tent.

The bag has never gotten very wet, but there have been occasional mornings where a little condensation from the tent wall has transferred onto the bag. It has never been enough to soak the down, but the shell seems to hold some of the water. Marmot claims the nylon shell is water repellant, and I have seen water bead up and wipe off easily, but after a night against a wet tent wall much of the water gets in.

The feather leak from the bag is minimal. I rarely see loose feathers in my tent in the morning, and when an occasional feather pokes out it is easy to pull it back in.

When I think of what makes the Never Summer such a comfortable bag, I think the hood is the answer. Although the bag is roomy enough for me, it is still smaller than other sleeping bags that I have used and found less comfortable. The engineering of the hood makes this bag so much more comfortable in the upper region that it deserves a special mention. Somewhere long ago I read a comparison of the hood of this bag to the hood of a down parka. It is similarly designed. There is a 'collar' that keeps drafts out, and the hood is overstuffed enough to keep my head warm, even without a hat. There are two cords inside the hood - one cinches the hood around the face, the other cinches the bag closed around the shoulders, so that when combined with the collar the body is protected from any drafts. The cords are shaped differently so that when you are groping for them in the middle of the night you know what one to adjust. This is one of those 'now that was brilliant' type features that make this bag so great.

The bag is designed in such a way that I never have a zipper, drawcord, or piece of velcro near my face. The only thing I feel at night is soft down. The draft tube on the inside of the zipper is enormous and over-stuffed so that I am never rolling over onto a cold zipper at night.

There are very few things I would want to change about the Never Summer. If anything, some cosmetic changes to the color of the bag would be an improvement, but honestly the color is growing on me. I tend to buy purple and blue, so the bag originally stuck out of my gear closet like a sore thumb. Like all backpackers, I would like to see the weight of all of my gear lowered, but I am afraid that a weight decrease in the Never Summer would come with a decrease in the quality of the bag. I also have to be very careful to keep this bag dry, like I would with any down bag. I don't feel that the water repellancy of the shell is very good so I take precautionary measures to keep the bag dry.

Of all of my winter gear, this is the item that I am the saddest about moving into the back of the closet when summer arrives.

Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Marmot Never Summer > Marmot Never Summer sleeping bag - Rebecca