Monday, June 30, 2008

North Face Aleutian sleeping bag

I bought this sleeping bag a few years back for about $60, and I'm very conflicted about it. The weight-for-temperature-rating is nearly unbeatable at any price, and definitely so at this price. However, the temperature rating of 20 Fahrenheit is a little exaggerated. I've had this bag in 30 degree weather, and froze my ass off. The foot box can leak cold air, and there is no baffle around the shoulders to keep warm air in, so that you have to scrunch the hood really tight and close it up completely to keep the top air-tight. In addition, the bag suffers from an affliction common to all taffeta-based bags: it's loud! If you make the slightest move it rustles. I'm not so light a sleeper that light noises outside the tent wake me up, but if things are rustling right by my ear, I will wake up. This bag also has another weird property, to which I'm neutral: it creates a lot of static, to the point of glowing. This was initially a great source of amusement to me, but now I just ignore it. I remember on one occasion it even seemed to cause my indiglo casio from the 80s to phosphoresce longer when I checked the time. These days I've augmented the bag with a silk liner. This has taken care of the footbox air leak, and made the bag generally warmer and better-behaved. Unless you do as much backpacking as I do, in which case this bag's light weight will be a major plus, I would not recommend getting the Aleutian. Major points for the name, though!

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