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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Sierra Designs Glow and Volt > Coy Starnes > Long Term ReportSierra
Designs Volt
(sleeping bag) Long Term Report Sept 5, 2006  The Volt ready for another good nights sleep
Tester Bio I live outside a small town in northeast Alabama. I also enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing, and most other outdoor activities. Backpacking is my favorite pastime. I consider myself a knowledgeable backpacker but I am not an expert. I enjoy hiking with my friends and family or solo. I limit my hiking to areas fairly close to home, usually within a day's drive of home. I hike throughout the year and actually hike the least in the hot humid months of summer. My style is slow and steady and my gear is light. However I will sacrifice weight for comfort and durability. A typical 3-season load for me is around 20 lb (9 kg) not counting food or water. I usually sleep in a hammock and cook with an alcohol stove. My backpacking trips are usually 2, 3 or 4 days in length. Product Information
Product Description The Volt came with a large mesh storage bag and a stuff sack of thin translucent like material, which looks like silnylon. Sierra Designs describes the Volt as Warm to 15 degrees with PrimaLoft Sport for maximum compressibility, this synthetic ultralight goes from base camp to rock ledges without worrying about a thing. The Volt is in the Ultralight series which consist of both down and synthetic bags. The Volt uses PrimaLoft® Sport for insulation. From the manufacturer's website PrimaLoft Sport is the perfect combination of high performance insulation and value. This technology combines ultra-fine and multi-diameter fibers for specific performance characteristics. The specially treated ultra-fine fibers help to form a water resistant insulating structure, while the multi-diameter fibers help to build loft. Performance Traits PrimaLoft® Sport is the most compressible synthetic insulation available. The Volt I am testing is the long version which is 2 in (5 cm) roomier at the shoulder than the regular version. The Volt features: * 1/2 Zippers * Draft Tube * Foot Box Venting * Jacket Hood * Removable Pad Locks * Shingled Construction * Snag Free Zipper Tracks Long Term Testing Locations and Conditions I used the Volt 2 more times during the past two months which brings the total testing time to nine nights. The coolest night-time temperature during the entire test period was 44 F (7 C) and the warmest was 77 F (25 C), and both nights and my hike on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia are covered in my Field Report. For my most recent testing, I returned to Georgia to the Cohutta Wilderness for a three day hike. Overnight low temperatures were 68 F (20 C) and 66 F (19 C) and camp site elevations were 1800 ft (549 m) and 2710 ft (826 m) respectively. It rained all day and then until after midnight (not sure when it stopped) on the second day on this hike. I also crossed the same river 18 times, another river twice, and a few other creeks several more times. Long Term Test Results To be honest, it got so hot and humid during early July that I gave up hiking. However, I did manage one 27 mile (43 km) hike into the mountains (the Cohutta Wilderness) in mid August which was a bit cooler, but I still got sweaty and dirty. One good thing about this hike was that I was able to take a river bath (no soap involved) on the first night. This cooled me off before bedtime and also made me cleaner than normal using the Volt. The overnight low was only 68 F (20 C) but as on earlier trips, using the Volt over my hammock proved to be more comfortable than I anticipated. The following night was at a higher elevation and included a rain that started at lunch and lasted until after midnight. I was so tired from the big climb earlier in the day that I barely felt like fixing supper even though it stopped raining long enough to do so. Since I was exhausted and it started raining again, I turned in about an hour before dark and went straight to sleep. It dropped to 66 F (19 C) this night but again, I stayed comfortable with the Volt zipped up. The combination of the hammock holding the zipper in the footbox slightly ajar and the way my hammock kept the Volt loosely around me worked well for the mild temperatures encountered on both nights. Each time I moved around in the bag I could feel the head end and footbox opening letting air move in and out. I was warmer than I preferred but not so much that I couldn't get a good nights rest. However, the culmination of using a winter bag nine nights in warm conditions was beginning to show in the form of a slightly smelly sleeping bag. Cleaning the Volt This brings me to this point. After returning home from this last trip, my pack was damp and all my gear had a damp smelly odor. I basically hosed off everything and let it dry in the sun. But my first task was washing the Volt. I started the job early in the morning so that I would be able to let things dry during the hot part of the day. I debated going to the laundry mat and using a front load washing machine (do not use a top loader with a normal agitator) to wash the Volt or hand washing it. To save time (and money), hand washing won out. I found a clean bucket big enough for the job. I took the 7 gallon (26.5 L) white plastic bucket and proceeded to fill it with water and a little hand dish washing liquid (Palmolive Wild Berry Blossom to be exact). I just mashed the bag down into the water and worked it around a few minutes and followed this with three rinses with fresh water, squeezing out as much soapy water as possible before the first and subsequent rinses. I then hung the Volt over a built in bench on my deck in full sun (until late afternoon) to dry. I turned the bag over and inside out several times throughout the day. By nightfall, some 11 hours after I first hung it out, the Volt was dry except for a small damp area at either end which hung the lowest. I left the bag out overnight and it was dry by morning (no dew fell). I checked the loft and could not tell any difference than when new. In other words it still has approximately 4.5 in (11.4 cm) of loft. The scented dishwashing liquid also left a very pleasant smell to the bag. It was pretty simple as the following pictures show.
Summary The Volt served me well even though I used it in rather warm temperatures. I can not say how well it would perform at its rated temperature. I will say that it lofts more than my 20 F (-7 C) synthetic bag and less than my 5 F (-15 C) down bag. Durability wise, the bag is made of ultralight materials but has held up fine. My biggest thrill is how well the Volt has worked over my hammock. Not many stock sleeping bags will work in this manner without some modifications. In fact I have had several e-mails questioning me on how the Volt really works over a hammock. I was able to report back that my findings were very positive and I felt confident in recommending the Volt for this application. I would like to thank Sierra Designs and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to participate in this test and hopefully my findings will be useful. Read more reviews of Sierra Designs gear Read more gear reviews by Coy Ray Starnes Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Sierra Designs Glow and Volt > Coy Starnes > Long Term Report | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
