Western mountaineering caribou 35* Long 6'6" (Appalachian Trail Thru-hike)
This was my first expensive, high quality sleeping bag. I spent $300 on this bag, and thought I was being stupid. Experience however, has instead, proven me wise. Western Mountaineering is an excellent company, that makes top-of-the-line traditional sleeping bags that can be purchased from a variety of brick and mortar stores, and online venues. Here is what I think about this bag, from having spent about 700 miles of my 2011 Appalachian Trail thru-hike in it.
LIKES:
NOTE: Photo below is a stock photo from the WM Website and shows the box-baffle design that keeps the bag from getting unevenly warm as the down shifts around in the bag.
LIKES:
- High quality materials and good craftsmanship equals a winning product.
- Extremely compact, very lightweight and true to its temperature rating. A true high end mummy shaped, hooded sleeping bag.
- 1 lb 8 oz. for the Long 6'6" Size
- Roomy enough to not feel like a coffin. I could turn over at night and roll inside the bag without it moving with me.
- They used box-baffle stitching to keep the down from moving around in the bag. I found this design to allow more wind through the fabric than a continuos baffle design like they use on their Summerlite bag. When pushing the bag into low temperatures the box-baffle design does not let you move the down around with your hands so that you can have more down on top of you and less underneath.
NOTE: Photo below is a stock photo from the WM Website and shows the box-baffle design that keeps the bag from getting unevenly warm as the down shifts around in the bag.