PSA: Your sleeping bag's temperature rating is a lie if you don't have the right pad under it.

I see this all the time. Someone buys a 20 degree bag, sleeps on a cheap foam pad in 30 degree weather, and then posts a review saying the bag is junk. The rating is for the whole sleep system, not just the bag. The ground will suck the heat right out of you. I learned this the hard way on a trip to the White Mountains last October. Shivered all night on a 3-season pad with my '15 degree' bag. Upgraded to a proper insulated pad with an R-value over 4, and now the bag works like it says. What's the coldest temp you've actually been comfortable in, and what pad were you using?

2 comments

2 Comments

schmidt.troy1mo ago

Yeah, that's the real survival rating. My pad was basically a napkin.

-1

faith_torres831mo ago

My first apartment had a mattress on the floor and a milk crate nightstand.