Initial Report

Initial Report: Slumberjack Ultimate +20 Sleeping Bag

My e-mail: bpskids@gmail.com
Name: Jodi Cornelius
Age: 42
Height: 5'4"/1.6 m
Weight: 198 lbs/90 kg
Gender: Female
City: Derrick City
State: Pennsylvania
Country: USA
Date: October 25, 2004
My area of the country: Mid-Atlantic States

My Background: I have been backpacking for 2 years now and before that I car camped quite a bit. I consider myself somewhat new to backpacking and am on my way towards becoming a lightweight packer. I tend to use a Hennessey Hammock since my only tent is a bivy tent. I prefer the hammock to a tent as the hammock leaves me swinging gently in the breeze with no hard spot from rocks on the ground. Nor do I need to dig troughs for my hips and shoulders (side sleeper) so I can practice LNT (Leave No Trace) much better.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Slumberjack
Manufacturer URL: http://www.slumberjack.com/
Year of Manufacture:2004
Product: Slumberjack Ultimate +20
Size: Regular Right
MSRP: $69 to $89 US
Weight as received (see below for website claims): Sleeping Bag - 3 lb/1.4 kg, Stuff Sack - 4 oz/113 gm, Total Weight - 3 lb 4 oz/1.47 kg

Features from the Website: Fill: DuPont Thermolite Extreme Insulation
Outer: 227T Nylon Diamond ripstop outer shell
Liner: Polyester Taffeta liner
Construction: Double offset with differential cut construction
Other: Fully contoured hood with flip-over option / Insulated draft tube with anti-snag zipper protection / Easy-grab pull tabs / Trapezoid design with ventilated foot box (Patent pending)
Color: Navy (Blue) / Pine (Green) / Rage (Burnt Orange)
Maximum User Height 5’ 11” (180cm)
Size 32” x 82” (81cm x 208cm)
Fill Weight 1lb. 8oz. (680g)
Carry Weight 2lbs. 13oz.(1270g)
Carry Size 6" x 16" (15cm x 41cm) Compression

Initial Impression: The sleeping bag arrived via the Brown Dude (UPS). Inside the box was the sleeping bag stuffed in the compression sack along with an invoice, registration card, and a cardboard description card. When I got the sleeping bag home, I pulled it out of the compression sack. Upon first examination of the compression sack, I was slightly confused by the number of straps and buckles (there are 4 strap and buckle sets equally spaced around the sack). Then, after examining the stuff sack, I realized that the compression straps will help compress the sleeping bag to a smaller size. I find, after some thought on that, I do like that idea. It's nice to be able to get the sleeping bag into a stuff sack without squishing the bag but should I need to compress further, I can without changing sacks.

I decided to sleep in the sleeping bag in my hammock in the house to test it initially. After climbing into it just to check it out, I was very pleased with the fit. A fabulous, in my opinion of course, option that is on this sleeping bag is the vented foot box. There is a zipper that opens the foot of the sleeping bag exposing a fine bug-proof mesh that allows my feet to breathe. I can open it just a little for some ventilation in cold weather or I can open it the whole way for the most ventilation possible. The zipper is covered by a draft tube which closes off any drafts through the zipper. This is also found on the half-length opening zipper. I did find some hitches when zipping and unzipping the half length zipper as, since I always seem to have this problem with zippers, it catches on the fabric on the inside of the sleeping bag, but I am hoping that as I use the bag, the "stickiness" of the zipper will go away.

The contoured hood fits tight to my head and, if I cinch the drawstring tight, it closes nicely around my face, leaving my eyes exposed or, if I am still cold, I have plenty of room to duck my head inside and cinch it tighter.

One thing I was interested in was how much room I would have inside this bag. I am a side sleeper and I do NOT like my sleeping bag to be so close-fitting that I have to make sure the sleeping bag rolls with me. I much prefer room to roll over inside the bag leaving the bag somewhat stationary. My shoulders measure at 49.5 in/1.6 m and I have plenty of room without swimming in the bag. I am also, as you can see from the above bio information, 5'4"/1.6 m tall and fit well inside the sleeping bag.

I will be testing this bag for the following: Temperatures here drop far lower than the 20 F/-7 C that the bag is rated for. I am also aware that this bag is rated at that temperature for tent hiker/campers who have the added ground insulation that I, as a tree swinger, do not have. I will be testing this bag for how low a temperature I can go inside my hammock with the 4 Season Hennessy Hammock Supershelter attached to it before I have to use a bag liner. Just for information, my bag liner is really a sleeping bag made by La Fuma. It is a 60 F/16C degree ultra-thin sleeping bag that fits nicely inside the Slumberjack. Again, this is only for informational purposes so I can know, personally, along with giving some general information for other tree swingers (one who uses a hammock for those who don't know what a tree swinger is), what to expect, temperature-wise, in this bag.

Overall I am impressed with this bag and I cannot wait to take it outside for my first experiment. I have found nothing to dislike about this bag.

Things I like: The vented foot box, plenty of room for me to move around in.

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