Valandre Bloody Mary

It packs down as small as a summer bag and weighs just two pounds, so testers greeted this mummy with skepticism: Few dared to take it to its 15°F limit. But the Alpini wowed the ones who did. “I stayed warm at its rating, and would trust it down to 5°F,” reports one tester who used it during a snow-cave campout at 10,000 feet in Colorado’s Park Range.

The Alpini achieves its impressive warmth-to-weight ratio with 850-fill down sandwiched between ultralight, 15-denier Pertex Quantum fabric. Plus, offset baffles stagger the stitching on the outer and inner shell to prevent cold lines on the seams. The draft tube running along the full-length zipper uses two seams instead of one to create a fat U shape that effectively traps heat.

The hood is “snug but not confining, so I warmed up fast without feeling stifled,” reports one tester, and the opening is trimmed with a down-filled tube (instead of an elastic band), which feels softer than elastic and helps further trap warmth.

Durability is excellent; we dragged it over rocks and sharp tundra grass in Iceland’s Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, and the Alpini never snagged or lost a feather.

Bonus: A tiny interior pocket holds lip balm. Caveat: Side-sleepers and big guys found the hyper-efficient cut a bit tight.

$369; 2 lbs.

15°F; reg. and long;

brooks-range.com
Hand stuffed with premium French goose down,each baffle in this bag is anatomically formed and made of highly water-repellent Asahi-Kasei Ripstop Polymide imported from Japan. Our Marie Antoinette collar cinches around your neck while sleeping and around your waist while sitting up making that morning brew. There are two interchangable collar choices that can be zipped in and out making this our most versatile bag. When the weather’s cold, use our warmest collar, if temperatures rise, our medium collar is the ticket. On warm evenings leave the collar in the convient storage pocket sewn right into the bag.
An excellent three season bag for any backpaking or outdoor adventure.