I finally visited Algonquin Park last fall and saw something that made me rethink my whole sleeping bag setup

So I was at one of the backcountry sites along the Western Uplands trail in October. Temps dropped to about 28F that night. I had my 20 degree bag and was freezing my butt off. Then this guy in the next site over had this old school canvas bedroll with a wool blanket inside. He said he was perfectly warm. Got me wondering if all these fancy down bags are worth the hype or if we're overthinking things. Anyone else run into old gear that works better than the new stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron67717d ago

Try swapping your bag for a wool blanket inside a bivy sack, works way better than any down bag for wet cold.

hannah_williams17d ago

and honestly I tried that exact setup last winter in the Pacific Northwest and it was a game changer. I had a cheap synthetic bag that just got soaked and clumped up no matter what I did. But throwing a heavy wool blanket from an army surplus store inside a lightweight bivy kept me warm even when everything was damp. The wool still insulates when it's wet, which down just can't do. Plus it's way easier to dry out if you need to air it out during the day. I think people overthink gear sometimes when simple stuff like this works better.