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LONG-TERM REPORT
Sierra Designs Rock Creek Sleeping Bag
by Lynne Durham
NAVIGATE THIS REPORT
PRODUCT INFORMATION
| Item name |
Sierra Designs Rock Creek Sleeping
Bag |
| Manufacturer |
Sierra Designs |
| Manufacturer's
Web site |
http://www.sierradesigns.com/ |
| Year of
manufacture |
2005 |
| MSRP |
USD189.95 |
| Size |
Women's Long |
| Manufactured |
Made in China |
| Claimed
temperature rating |
35°F (2°C) |
| Zipper side |
Right (only). No mention is made of
the bag being mateable. However, I called Sierra Designs customer
service and they said that the women's long bags are mateable with any
Sierra Designs men's regular bags. It seems the men's all zip left, the
women's all zip right. She also mentioned that the men's Osage was the
male mate to this bag if I wanted to find one that had similar features. |
| Available sizes
(per the Web site) |
Women's Regular and Long (the men's
version is called Osage) |
| Insulation |
Powerfill 600-Fill Goose Down |
| Fill weight |
18 oz (510 g) |
More information can be found on the Sierra Designs Web site. Care
information, actual weight, stuffed size and more can be found in my Initial
Report.
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REVIEWER BIO
| Name |
Lynne Durham |
| Gender |
Female |
| Height |
5' 10" (1.78 m) |
| Weight |
153 lb (69 kg) |
| Age |
43 |
| Email |
lynnedurham AT yahoo DOT com |
| Location |
Benton Harbor, Michigan USA |
BACKPACKING EXPERIENCE
I have hiked and car camped all of my life, mostly in the relative
flatlands of the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan, but also in
areas east of the Continental Divide, such as South Dakota, New
England,
Kentucky, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, and more. I have been backpacking
since 2002 and did my first solo backpacking trip in 2004. I keep my
pack weight to 25% of bodyweight or less but I always bring optional or
comfort items. My other outdoor experience includes trail running and
snowshoeing. I am a novice adventure racer and I have competed in
several, including both sprint- and expedition-length races.
My Sleeping Style
I tend to sleep "cold" -- that is, when everyone else is warm, I'm
putting on a sweater. My preference is to sleep with as little as
possible on in the way of clothing, but if conditions warrant it, I
will sleep in heavy fleece from head to toe!
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SUMMARY
The Sierra Designs Rock Creek is comfortable, roomy and very close to
true in its temperature rating. It compresses well for packing, yet
lofts back up nicely to enhance warmth. The fleece footbox is soft and
comfortable. The glow-in-the-dark zipper pull is useful, but broke off
near the end of the testing period.
FINAL IMPRESSIONS
In my last report, I mentioned that I had several important areas for
further analysis:
- Evaluate the pad-lock features
- Evaluate trueness of temperature rating in colder conditions
- Evaluate how the bag stands up to recommended care
- Evaluate overall durability of the bag over time
During the final months of this test, the Rock Creek has seen 6 nights
in the field, 2 nights in the backyard and 3 nights of use inside
buildings in addition to the usage presented in my field report.
Temperature Comfort Level
Overall, I'd say the Rock Creek is close to true on its 35 F (2 C)
temperature rating. I was comfortable sleeping in the bag without
clothing or lightly dressed (silk-weight long undies) into the high 30s
F (around 3 C).
According to Weather Underground, the coldest night the Rock Creek has
seen was around 28 F (-2 C) with a dew point of 29 F (-1 C) and
humidity somewhere between 82% to 100%. The sleeping bag was
used in a tent that night. I wore yoga pants (a kind of stretch jersey
material) and a long-sleeve T-shirt. I simply wasn't warm enough that
night, but then the temperatures fell much lower than I had expected
them to. The bag would have still served me warmly had I worn my usual
cold-weather fleece to
bed.
The highest temperature in which the bag was used during this stage of
testing was around 65 F (18
C). The bag is simply much too warm for that high of a temperature for
my liking. So
I used a silk liner and kept the bag unzipped, tossing it on and off as
I heated up and cooled down. The bag worked fine at this temperature in
that manner.
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Pad-Lock Feature
In my field report, I mentioned that I had not yet attempted to use the
pad-lock feature. During the final months of the testing period, I
devoted myself to exploring this feature. These are more or less
webbing loops on the underside of the sleeping bag. They are adjustable
via a slide-type buckle, but do not come undone. So my perception was
that it would be needlessly difficult to slide a pad into place.
That is, however, simply not the case. I've now used the pad-lock
feature with both my foam pad and my self-inflating pad. In both cases,
the pad slipped easily into the fully extended straps. I then tightened
the straps. The pad locks helped keep the bag well centered on the pad
as I thrashed about during the night.
A Surprise in the Night
A surprising development occurred on my final night in the bag prior to
writing this report. When pulling the zipper up, it became caught in
the lining. I sat up, gently pulled the lining with one hand and pulled
the zipper pull back down with the other hand, to remove the lining
from the zipper track. I was not pulling excessively on the zipper, yet
the pull broke off into my hand. I was able to continue moving the
zipper without the pull and removed the lining from the zipper track
with no problem but I was surprised the pull had come off. I do not
feel I was using uncalled-for force -- in fact, I felt I was pulling
relatively gently because I didn't want to get more lining stuck or
tear the lining.
Washin' Care
During the last months of the test, the Rock Creek was laundered once
according to the manufacturer's instructions. To recap, the
manufacturer gives information
for both dry cleaning (only use dry cleaners who are experienced with
down and will guarantee their work) and laundering. The laundering
instructions include the following:
- Use soap only, not detergent...soap made specifically for down
is recommended
- Do not wash in agitator-type machine
- Wash on gentle in water temperature recommended for the soap
being used
- Rinse thoroughly to remove all soap
- Drip dry or tumble dry in cool dryer
- Do not use harsh detergents or bleach
- Do not iron
I've always heard that one should never
dry clean down because it strips the natural oils from the down and
that helps take away its ability to insulate, so I followed the
laundering instructions. Because my home washer is an agitator-type
machine, I grabbed a good book and headed up to the local laundromat. I
used a product made specifically for washing down. I also brought three
clean tennis balls with me to throw in the dryer with the bag which is
how I usually dry down comforters, coats, etc., to help break up the
wet down clumps and loft it up.
I put the bag in the commercial dryer on its lowest setting, put in the
tennis balls and let it do its job. I kept checking the dryer
because I was worried the dryer would get too hot, but it did not.
After the first full cycle, the bag still felt a bit clumpy in some
areas. I ended up putting it through three complete dryer cycles. After
the final cycle, it felt dry, fluffy, well lofted and ready to go to
work in the field once again.
The post-laundering examination revealed no loose threads or any other
issues. There was a feather or two of down poking through the lining in
a couple of places, but nothing more than one would expect when
laundering a down garment.
The Sierra Designs Rock Creek has performed well throughout the entire
test.
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THIS IS COOL
- Zipper runs smoothly, seldom gets caught in the shell
- Zipped chest pocket bonus feature holds my sports watch
close at hand
- Fleece footbag is soft and comfy on my bare feet
- Glow-in-the-dark zipper pull works well, is visible at
night
- Lofts well after laundering
THIS COULD BE IMPROVED
- Zipper pull unexpectedly broke off when I was removing bag lining
from being caught in the zipper
Thank you to Sierra Designs and BackpackGearTest.org for allowing me to
test this sleeping bag.
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Read more reviews of Sierra Designs gear
Read more gear reviews by Lynne Durham
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