Become a Savvy Sleeping Bag Shopper

Another option to look into is a "blanket" style sleeping system. The Big Agnes Backcoutry Blanket and The Kifaru Wobbie are good choices. Im 6'0 and i have the Woobie and use it every night in Iraq and i cannot say enough about it. It actually does get pretty cold over here, into the 20's and it's super warm, water resistant and has a sewn on stuff sack and several loops of 550 cord around it's perimeter to tie it into a bag shape or for shade/protection. I had a red bull break open in my assault pack with my Wobbie inside, everything was soaked in sticky stuff but i only rinsed off the Woobie that was in it's stuff sack, dried it off and everything inside was safe and dry still. If your doing an activity other than sleeping, sitting up reading or cooking, useing it as a blanket draped over your shoulders is possible because it's large and pretty tuff to take some abuse. Also the Woobie has two colors of material(foliage green/olive drab) on either side if not getting spotted is on your agenda. For the Rockies i would suggest a synthetic in the summer for sure. But if only winter you can use a down with confidence. I like the safty factor of synthetic, everyone's stuff eill get wet at some point, even in a desert with no clouds in sight.

If your on a budget, there are some companies that offer hybrid sleeping bags which have synthetic bottoms and down tops. These bags, when damp on the bottom, still insulate and they have the warmth of down on the top! I barrel bag is a good compromise between mummy and the coleman style you speak of. I'm from Canada and MEC.ca sells a hybrid mummy bag. REI.com has an ultralight synthetic bag that I hear is pretty good for the conditions you need. Other than that, Marmot has one some awards each year for there bags. Check out their site

My E-mail address is cbwallym1@yahoo.com.

I am 6' 1" tall and like a lot of tall people
I can not hardly sleep in a mummy sleeping bag
but a standard bag (like a Coleman) is usually
much more bulky and heavyer which is clearly
something you don't need more of while backpacking. For typical camping with the
possibility of rain and cold of the Rockies, which
type of bag would you recomend and it's insulating
material? Please include some brand names and
places to order them. Thank you.