Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > REI Polar Pod > Owner Review by Matt Willis

Background
My name is Matt Willis, I am a Boy Scout from Oregon and have been backpacking for the past four years. I have over 70 backpacking nights and have gone backpacking in Washington and Oregon. I have climbed Mt. Washington, Mt. Adams,  and have done the Bowron canoe circuit in B.C.
age: 14
height: 5’ 11’’
weight: 143 lbs
email: mwillis@viclink.com

manufacturer: REI
size: long
price: list $109
weight: 3lbs 8oz
comfort rating: +20F
fill material: polarguard HV
style: mummy

Description
The Polar Pod is insulated with polarguard hv and the covering is made of nylon. The bag is 86in long and 60in at the shoulders and is  rated to +20F. When compressed it’s 8in x 18in and with the stuff sack weighs 3lbs 8oz. It has one draw string around the head.  REI has stopped selling these, but you can still buy them at other online stores.

Review
I bought the REI Polar Pod in great condition at one of the REI parking lot sales for $34. The only reason it was marked down was because the zipper pull had broken off but it still zipped fine. One reason that I decided to buy the bag was that its weight seemed pretty reasonable to me, 3lbs 8oz, for  a 20 degree polarguard fill sleeping bag. The first backpacking trip I took it on was to Duffy Lake in Central Oregon in November for two nights. My first problem I encountered was the bag’s size, when it’s compressed it’s 8x18 inches, and that takes up 2/3rds of the room in my 2500 cubic inch internal frame pack, which didn’t leave me much room for my other gear.

The first night the temperature went down to +30F and I stayed nice and warm in the Polar Pod. The zipper worked all right too, snagging only once. Since I didn’t have the zipper pull I just grabbed the whole zipper, and pulled it that way. On the second night I put the comfort rating to the test, the temperature dropped to +21F and I slept outside so I could see a meteor shower without leaving my sleeping bag. The bag didn’t do as well as I hoped, I had to wear my polypropylene tops and bottoms and fleece jacket to stay warm.

When I woke up in the morning there was dew all over the bag but I stayed dry inside the sleeping bag because of the water resistant shell . The bag has plenty of shoulder room to move around in and plenty of leg and feet room for me to roll around in at night. The collar on the bag, though, kept pushing up and blocking the air hole when the hood is cinched up, doing me no good,  and was a trouble to push it back down to where it should be around my neck.

I think this bag would be perfect for someone with a tight budget, large pack,  and goes backpacking where it rarely drops below 25 degrees. For $109 it’s hard to find much better.

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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > REI Polar Pod > Owner Review by Matt Willis