Initial Report - Sierra Designs Cirque Sleeping Bag

November 21, 2005

Tester Information:

Tester: Andrew Claus

Age: 48

Gender: Male

Height: 5 ft – 9 in (175 cm)

Weight: 150 lb (68 kg)

Email: andrewclaus@yahoo.com 

Home region: Evergreen, Colorado (Front Range foothills of the Rockies)

Backpacking Background:

I live and play in the Colorado Rockies.  I have been backpacking, backcountry skiing, and bicycle touring for over twenty five years.  I have recently begun through-hiking and fast-packing.  I through-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004.  I’m not quite a fanatic ultra light packer yet but my pack base weight is as low as 10 lb (5 kg) if I don’t bring a stove and pot.  I use a tarp, a bivy, or no shelter at all.  I get out year-round on day-trips in all kinds of weather, especially weekly backcountry ski trips.

Product Description: 

Manufacturer:  Sierra Designs

Product:  Cirque sleeping bag (men’s regular)

Year of manufacture:  2005

MSRP:  US$339.95

URL: www.sierradesigns.com

The product arrived on October 28, 2005.  It arrived via UPS in perfect condition.

It came in a corrugated cardboard box and packed inside a large yellow storage bag.  A compression stuff sack was included inside the sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag has a slightly different appearance than that shown on the web site.  The shell color is darker, the lining color is lighter, and it is missing what appears to be a piping detail running along the top of the bag.

The bag color is dark blue with a gray liner.  There’s a small white trim added around the inside rim of the hood.

The shell is Sierra Design’s “DriZone” fabric.  The Sierra Designs web site describes it as a breathable water-proof laminated fabric.  The site says that the seams aren’t taped and it’s not listed as a water-proof bag.  It goes on to say that it’s suitable for dew and wind.

Insulation is 29 oz (820 g) of 800-fill down.  Baffles are side-blocked so down will not shift from top to bottom or vice-versa.  Baffle spacing is about 6 in (15 cm).  Baffles are square, not trapezoidal.

The bag has a draft collar and a hood.  Each has a Velcro closure and drawstring.  Each Velcro closure’s hook section can be folded over onto an auxiliary pile section to protect the hooks from snagging on hair, other clothing, etc.  Each drawstring has a spring-loaded plastic sliding catch.  

The full-length zipper has dual draft tubes.  The zipper also has “snag-free zipper tracks” and a glow-in-the-dark pull.  The zipper is a coil zipper.

The bag is equipped with “pad locks”--two straps on the bottom of the bag designed to hold a sleeping pad in place.

Listed weight is 3 lb – 10 oz (1.64 kg).  Listed packed size is 9 in x 19 in (23 cm x 48 cm) (in compression sack provided).

Weight as tested is 3 lb – 12 oz (1.70 kg).  The stuff sack weighs 6 1/4 oz (177 g).  Tested packed size is as listed.  My scale is a “Good Cook” model from WalMart.

Listed and tested length and girths are as follows:  80 in (203 cm) length, 62 in (157 cm) shoulder girth, 57 in (145 cm) waist girth, 43 in (109 cm) toe girth.  I measured the length from the toe box to the draft collar as 64 in (163 cm).

The attached hangtag is bilingual (English and French) and is essentially a sleeping bag catalog.  Care instructions are well detailed in English on a sewn-in label (professional cleaning is recommended).  An embroidered label at the foot reads “Cirque 800-fill 0 F -18 C.  The Sierra Designs logo is embroidered near the neck in two places.

Initial Report:

My first impression of the bag as I unpacked it was that it seemed heavy.  Maybe I’m too accustomed to through-hiking weights to readily accept a 3 3/4 pound (1.8 kilogram) sleeping bag.  But it seemed better after I removed the compression stuff sack and storage bag.

I got in the bag, zipped it up, and sealed myself in with two Velcro closures and drawstrings (draft collar and hood).  It seemed very warm even before the down decompressed to its full loft. 

The bag’s girth appeared to be on the large side when spread out on the floor, but the room inside the bag seemed just about right for my small-to-medium frame in the few minutes I spent in it that first time.  The hood is extremely generous, with 16 in (41 cm) of length from the draft collar to the inside top of the hood.  I could pull the hood completely over my head to cover my face.

The first time I used the zipper, it snagged on the draft tubes repeatedly, both closing and opening. 

I noted that the color seems dark for a winter bag.   I remember from my physics classes that darker colors radiate heat at night better than lighter colors.  I think a lighter color would be better to prevent unwanted heat radiation at night, especially since this bag is marketed for use without a shelter.

I was disappointed that the temperature in my area that first night was the warmest it’s been in a week, above freezing. 

Initial pluses are: a) it feels warm, b) it feels like a good fit, and c) it contains a good amount of high quality down.

Initial minuses are: a) it feels heavy to me (it weighs 2 oz (56 g) more than its listed weight), and b) the zipper snagged on the first try.

Testing Strategy:

I do not have any experience with the DriZone shell, or any material of its type in a sleeping bag.  I hope to put it through its paces this winter.  I will evaluate whether condensation and perhaps frost will build up on the inside surface of the shell.  I will attempt to use the bag in light precipitation with a back-up bivy.  I will also use the bag in my bivy, which has poor ventilation. 

In short, I’d like to see if I get sold on the idea of a laminated shell for a bag.  I’m not so sure it’s worth the weight.  But I’ve been wrong on gear questions before.  I’m concerned about how quickly it will dry if it does get wet.  I’m also concerned about how well it will breathe with normal perspiration.  I will evaluate these concerns in my test.

I’m interested to see what I feel about the side-blocked baffles.  I’m in the habit of shifting the insulation up or down depending on conditions.  Will I miss that feature?  On the other hand, it may be nice not to have to do that all the time.  

I’m working on a plan to bivouac on the summit of a nearby 14,250 ft (4,343 m) summit, a 15 mile (24 km) walk from my house, sometime in November.  This should be a good test for use in a cold wind.  Again, I will carry a back-up bivy.

I’ll use the bag for at least 10 nights, and should have no problem finding at least one night in the 0 F (-18 C) range.  I plan on using the bag mostly with no shelter, though I will carry an emergency bivy bag.  I may use a simple tarp with no floor or a small one-person tent in snow.  I’ll use a ¾ length Z-fold closed cell foam pad and/or one made from Reflectix duct insulation.  I’ll always use a Tyvek ground sheet.

I seldom have a chance to get dirty in my winter gear.  Snow in the Rockies tends to stay pretty clean.  So I doubt I’ll have a chance to evaluate cleaning the bag. 

I will pay more attention to the zipper snagging.  I hope there’s a way around that, and that the “snag-free zipper tracks” are not a waste of mass.

Not the least of all, I’m looking forward to an excuse to get out on more than my usual winter trips this year.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to test this sleeping bag.