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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Sierra Designs Glow and Volt > John Waters > Field Report
July 7, 2006 Contents: Tester's Biographical Information Name: John R. Waters Backpacking Background My backpacking began in 1999. I've hiked rain forests in Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico, on glaciers in New Zealand and Iceland, 14ers in Colorado and the deserts of Death Valley. Currently, my wife and I hike or snowshoe 6-8 miles (10 km-13 km) 2-3 times a week in the Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area (3800 acres) with other day long hikes on various SE Michigan trails. We also hike frequently in Colorado and are relocating there in 2006, which will increase our weekly hiking time and trail variety tremendously. My day pack weight currently is about 18 lb (8 kg) now, with overnights weighing in over 25 lb (11 kg). I'm aiming to reduce that weight load by 40% or more. Product Information and Picture (from manufacturer's website)
Features: Color: Gray and Orange Field Conditions/Completed Test Results I slept in the Sierra Designs Volt Men's Sleeping Bag under varying conditions. My overnights were done inside a single wall tent in Michigan with the tent fully open for venting. I slept only in a cotton tee shirt and cotton boxer shorts. Below are some sample nights. * 80 F (27 C) at 12 midnight, 68% humidity, dewpoint 67, 1010 mb, winds 5 mph (8 kph) This is a 15 F (-9 C) bag, so sleeping on a 80 F (27 C) night would be considered a challenge. It was too warm to sleep inside the Volt at 80 F (27 C). So I went to sleep on top of the bag until 3:30am when it got cooler and damp. Although the temperature fell only to about 77 F (25 C), it was very damp. The Sierra Designs Volt sleeping bag was fine and did not show any sign of affects from the high humidity, and even though it was still a little warm and I was sweating in the bag, being inside the Volt was better than being exposed to the damp weather. At no time could I fully zip myself up and get into cocoon mode because it was just way too hot to do so. So I slept with the 1/2 length side zipper completely open and would have preferred at this temperature to have had a full-length zipper. When I reached down to open the foot vent I had trouble finding the zipper and had to contort myself to search for it. A zipper tab pull would be a welcome addition to help locate the zipper since it gets covered by the fabric and is difficult to find. The Sierra Designs Volt fits tightly, so I have to completely unzip the side zipper in order to reach the foot vent. It was a challenge that took a few minutes to get accomplished. At that temperature though the foot vent didn't help much. Actually, I'm not sure how open the vent stays anyway, since the fabric is loose and folds back over itself. If I want to cool my feet for sure, I need to stick them out the vent to keep the hole open. It was comfortable sleeping once I was situated. The foot of my sleeping bag was damp from touching the side of the tent, but no water or dampness entered the inside of the bag, even though there were droplets of water on the exterior. * 67 F (19 C) at midnight, down to 57 F (14 C) at 6am, 62% humidity, dewpoint at 57, 1021 mb, winds 3 mph (5 kph)
Rolling on my left side is easier to do since I can pull the top part of the fabric down and hold it down with my right hand. My left side is my preferred side for sleeping anyway, so it worked well for me. However, on cool nights I found that it was too warm to completely zipper the Sierra Designs Volt sleeping bag to closure and too cool to roll over to the right, so there were times when I was fussing around trying to find a point that would work best, and it was always to lie on my left side. If the temperature were to be much lower than when I was using the Volt and I needed to close the bag completely, then rolling around would work well, especially if the Volt were not strapped to my sleeping pad. * 55 F (13 C) at 11pm, down to 53 F (12 C) at 6am, 57% humidity, dewpoint at 41, 1023 mb, winds 4 mph (6 kph) At this lower temperature I was getting closer to what the Sierra Designs Volt was designed for. Now I was able to fully zip the bag to my neck and cover my head. At this temperature and humidity I needed to escape the dampness more than the temperature. I was very warm, but not sweating as badly as the other two nights. Again though, after getting fully zipped up, I decided to use the foot vent and that is something I need to think about before I get zipped up and comfortable. I have to get the hood and side zipper completely undone in order to reach down and open the foot vent. I suppose if I were one of those performers from Cirque Du Soleil, maybe I could do otherwise. Once I was completely enclosed though, I was able to sleep well at this temperature and humidity and I was able to roll around well since I did not strap myself to my sleeping pad. * The Morning After! The Sierra Designs Volt sleeping bag dries quickly. After each night, I hung the bag outdoors for less than 10 minutes before the Volt was dry enough to stuff into the included stuff sack. I was worried that my sweating on the warmer nights and the condensation on the bag from touching the tent walls would be an issue. But if I open the bag and drape it out to dry while having breakfast and breaking down camp, that is more than enough time to adequately dry it out to pack it back in my backpack.
* General comments/Summary to Date I'm finding that I do not like being confined when I sleep, so I find the tight cocoon bag somewhat claustrophobic, especially if it is difficult to locate the zippers for a fast exit. With the Sierra Designs Volt sleeping bag, I do have to contort to find the zippers and it was difficult to get my right arm around to the left side to find the zipper. There just is not a lot of room to move around. In retrospect, I think I would consider getting the next larger size bag so I can move around more, but that would mean adding a little weight. There was no time that any of the zippers caught on fabric. The pull strings and Velcro closures worked flawlessly. The Volt is soft, smooth and very comfortable. Just for the heck of it, on the cooler evening, I added a cotton shirt and cotton pants to test entry and exit and I had no trouble sliding in and out due to the smoothness of the interior. Continuing Test Plan For my next sequence of tests, I'll be headed to Colorado for some desert camping where the humidity will be in the low teens and the temperatures will be in the low 50 F (28 C) range at night. I'd like to see how the bag performs at these dryer climates. I already noticed that at 68% humidity, running my hand across the fabric in the dark tent created a nice blue light show - kinda phosphorescent - and was enough to amuse me for several minutes (and no doubt again and again later on). My concern that the nice light show at 68% humidity will turn into a shocking experience at 5% humidity. This is something I'm curious about. I will also report any other issues that arise during the testing period. Thank to BGT and Sierra Designs for the opportunity to test this product! John R. Waters Read more reviews of Sierra Designs gear Read more gear reviews by John Waters Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > Sierra Designs Glow and Volt > John Waters > Field Report | ||||||||
