Gear Review: Feathered Friends Osprey 30

OVERALL

4.7

WARMTH

4.3

VENTILATION

4.3

COMFORT

4.3

PACKABILITY

4.8

[ultralight , ultrawarm]

If your highest priority is going light, price be damned, then put this bag at the top of your list. “When I closed my eyes, I almost couldn’t feel the weight of the bag on top of me,” said one tester after a trip in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. “It was like I was floating inside this force field of warm air, safe from the subfreezing temperatures outside.” Feathered Friends has a reputation for conservative temperature ratings, and the Osprey is no exception. “I was comfortable even down to 18℉,” stated one admittedly warm sleeper after a series of cold spring nights in the Whites. Credit the 900-fill down and efficient, streamlined cut that doesn’t leave any room for dead (cold) air. Compressibility also received high marks. “I could squish this bag down to 9 x 6 inches–half the size of other similarly warm bags I’ve used,” says one tester. The Pertex Endurance shell breathed extremely well on warmer nights in the 40s, and despite being see-through thin (11-denier), it effectively shed moisture from soaked tent walls and blocked wind during open bivies on the northern end of the Appalachian Trail. “The 15-denier nylon inner lining felt as smooth to my weary body as high thread-count bedding,” says one tester. But the crew had mixed reviews on the hood’s single drawcord; warm sleepers liked the simplicity and found it effective enough for the temperature rating, while cold sleepers couldn’t get it to cinch down comfortably to a blowhole. Downside: The thin shell requires typical ultralight TLC (one tester ripped a small hole in it during some rough handling in the Tetons).
$389; 1 lb. 9 oz.; featheredfriends.com