Bushwalk Australia

http://www.golite.com/Product/proddetai ... SS7500&s=1

Hey all- what do you think of this bag? It's basically a down comforter that straps onto a sleeping pad, but has only a top, no bottom. I guess the idea is that you don't get much insulation from the bottom anyhow.

It's pretty light- at sometihng under 600g, and rated to -7, though I'm not sure if this would really equate to -7 in the real world.

I could use it with an ether mat, or a downmat if it needed it.

What do you think? Ever seen one in action?

G'Day
I think Tony and Under 10k use quilts so you should look them up. Top bags are very popular in the US but i think i roll around too much myself. Macpac made a top bag yeas ago i think. I have a few bits of golite gear and a feather lite bag and its very good quality stuff. I have never seen that bag in particular though.
Hope that helps
Darren

It does- thanks!

Hi TCP,

I haven't used the golite quilts specifically but my other half and I use quilts from Jacks'r'Better and love them. There are also synthetic filled quilts from MLD if you prefer that over down. In general, I think the single person quilts are better if you are a back sleeper - they can be a bit small for side sleepers. I measured up how wide a quilt would need to be to cover me lying on my side and the single person quilt from JRB didn't quite cut it. So I got one of the large size quilts from JRB (the large size from MLD would work too) and that works wonderfully.

I prefer being able to thrash around under a quilt in a way I can't in a bag, but of course that can let cold air in, so it's a trade-off. I do find in more flexible though. In warm weather my partner and I can just drape one quilt lightly over us and be plenty warm. In winter we have two quilts over us and tucked in on the sides. Together the quilts weigh less than 2kg.

Hope that helps.
Alliecat

Very interesting- thanks Alliecat!

I Just tried one out.

Overall it is excellent for a really lightweight setup. I used it with a thermarest prolite 3/4 length that. The 3/4 is perfect as the bag has a fully enclosed foot bag, all you need is your pack or spare clothes under your feet.

As for how warm, it's pretty borderline. Over a few nights at around 0 with decent windchill and no tent. I was just warm enough. on the last night I borrowed my mates down jacket and wore that inside the bag. With the jacket it was pretty warm.

The quilt system works fine, even better than a bag because you can roll over without you bag getting tangled!