Zpacks 10 ℉ Sleeping Bag Review

After all the trips we took last year, I feel really hooked on wilderness camping and hope to keep taking my family deeper into the wilderness. To help facilitate that, I’m looking to lighten my pack, especially for some backpacking. As a big (ok, fat) guy, it’s not easy to find an appropriately sized, lightweight sleeping bag. Fortunately, though, it’s not impossible. I picked up a Zpacks 10 ℉ sleeping bag over the winter and thought I would provide a brief review.

Zpacks 10 degree bag in Ventum ripstop nylon

I ordered an X-wide, X-long 10 degree bag in the blue Ventum. The bag is reportedly 66 in. wide and will fit around the neck of someone 6’4” tall. I measure 56” around my shoulder and 5’10” tall, so I hoped this bag would provide just the right amount of room for me. As you can see from the pictures, it’s a hoodless bag, so I wanted a little extra length to be able to pull it up around my head. I think it would have been fine to got with the long, but I don’t regret the extra length as I can fit my head in the bag, although I find it a bit suffocating to do for more than a few minutes at a time. The total length of the bag is right about 6 ft laying relaxed and lofted, and I measured the widest part of the bag to be 66" on the inside. The final measurement I made of the bag was a loft of about 6", although it was difficult to get an exact measurement. I’ve never had a high-quality down bag, and I’m pretty impressed with how the 900 fill power down lofts in these bags.

Full length zipper option

Close-up of zipper at last baffle

The other options I went with on the bag include a full length zipper and a draft tube. The basic bag is designed to essentially be zipped quilt, and Joe Valesko (founder of Zpacks) suggest sleeping with the zipper under you so that a draft tube is not necessary. However, I wasn’t sure how I would like that as I have not used a quilt before and am a restless sleeper. So I ordered the bag to be more like a traditional sleeping bag. I did find it a bit difficult to keep the zipper directly under me, but I’m not sure these additional options were necessary. Another reason I went for the full-length zipper is that it can be opened from the bottom to act as a vent. I plan on using this bag for all but the warmest months, so I wanted to have some additionally flexibility. When the zipper was kept toward the bottom, I didn’t notice any drafts, but when it was on top, I noticed that the draft tube did not exactly cover the zipper. It’s not incredibly stiff and is fairly narrow, so it doesn’t give the best coverage of the zipper. Obviously, the upside is that it’s not heavy. The bag, along with the cuben fiber dry bag, weighs 30.5 oz, so remarkably, I was able to find a sub-2 lb, 3 season bag to fit my large body.

I used the bag two nights inside a double wall tent (REI Half Dome 4) on an Exped Synmat 7 LW with temperatures down to about 27 ℉ according to Accuweather. On the first night, I slept without virtually no insulating clothes on except for my Merino wool socks, and I ended up being more than warm enough by the end of the night. However, I did have a bit of trouble warming up after catching a chill the first night. It probably took me an hour to warm up, but I don’t think that’s the bag’s fault as my skin was quite cold when I climbed in. I started out with a Polartec balaclava but found myself overheating after a few hours. I suspect that with some insulating underwear or additional light clothing I would be comfortable in this bag into the mid to upper teens. I don’t think I would push it to 10 degrees without some additional layers, though. I did expect the bag to bit a bit warmer than it is, but I should note that I don’t really have my system dialed in for 10 degrees, so it’s hard to judge exactly. I can say that it’s warmer than my Big Agnes Summit Park 15 ℉ bag, so I’m pretty satisfied with its performance.

I was initially concerned with the ultralight materials used in the bag, but I’m coming around to think this is the way to go. Zpacks offers this bag in two ripstop nylon fabric options, green Pertex GL or blue Ventum. I emailed Zpacks to find out the difference, and Joe told me his gut feeling was that they were very similar. Shortly after that, Richard Nisley reported on backpackinglight.com that indeed they are quite similar in both air and water permeability.

One thing that really concerns me, especially as a canoe camper, is keeping my gear dry. Cuben seems almost too good to be true, so I wanted to test out the dry bag that came with the sleeping bag. I recruited my 7 year-old daughter to help me with an experiment, and we decided to stick the sleeping bag in the dry bag in the shower for thirty seconds to see if any water would get in. I stuffed the bag in, closed the velcro, folded the closure three times and buckled it. We directed the water spray on top of the dry bag and adjusted it a couple times to ensure the water had plenty of opportunities to enter the dry bag. After taking it out of the shower, we dried the outside with a towel and inspected the sleeping bag and dry bag. The sleeping bag was dry without any noticeable moisture. However, we did notice that the velcro closure was wet, so I don’t know how much longer it would have kept the sleeping bag 100% dry. Nonetheless, I’m pretty happy with the results and am confident enough to continue using the cuben dry bag in my pack. I think I’ll give it another test toward the end of the camping season.

 

Soaking the dry bag

After the shower

My initial impression of this bag is extremely positive, and I don't see much that's not to like about it. Probably the biggest downside to this bag was waiting the five weeks it took to receive it. Plus, any bag with 900 fill down is not cheap. The upside, however, is that the warm to weight ratio of this bag is amazing. There are obviously trade-offs for the ultralightness. For example, you give up a hood, but a hood is not always necessary, and when it's cold a fleece or down balaclava can be worn. Another trade-off is in the durability of the materials. Although the 0.7 oz/sq. yd. ripstop nylon is likely durable enough, it's not going to be as strong or abrasion resistance as a heavier fabric. Even the drawstring used on the Zpacks bag is an ultralight option; I think it's about 1.5 mm in diameter and seems adequate for its purpose, but it's definitely smaller and feels less substantial than drawstrings on some of my other heavy weight bags, which range from 3.5 to 6 lbs. I'm also not in love with the draft tube, but it does seem to reduce drafts, especially when the zipper is toward the bottom. 

Ultralight drawcord and cord lock.

I look forward to putting this bag to this test in the northwoods this year and hope to report back after dozens of nights in it.

Gearing Up (part 1 - the gear bag)

In anticipation of our upcoming trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, I have begun (possibly prematurely) packing our gear and thought I would share. I guess I would proclaim to be a gearhead as I get pretty excited about tools and equipment, especially related to canoeing and camping. I think I read every thread on the bwca.com gear forum. Anyway, maybe others will be interested in seeing my gear. Today, I'm just going to show what I pack in the equipment bag. Hopefully, I'll get around to showing our sleep systems and food in subsequent posts. I might as well post my entire canoe camping list. The items in the equipment bag are in bold.

CANOE

 paddles

 PFDs

 painter

 bailer

 portage pads

 thwart bag

 seat cushion

TENT

 poles

 stakes

 tent

 fly

 footprint/tarp

SLEEPING

 sleeping bag

 mat

 pillow

TARP

 rope bag

TOOLS

 axe

 saw

 knife/multi-tool

 lighter/firestarter

FIRST-AID KIT

CLOTHES and PERSONAL GEAR

 underwear

 long sleeves fleece

 rain pants

 rain jacket

 hats (sun & warmth)

 shirts (long and short sleeve)

 socks

 camp towel

 sunglasses

 day pack

 sandals/camp shoes

 watch

LIGHTs

 headlamps

 lantern

CHAIRS

WATER

 bladder(s)

 purifier/filter(s)

FOOD and COOKING

 stove

 fuel

 pots

 cooking utensils

 eating utensils

 cup

 dry food

 snacks/energy bar

 

TOILETRIES

 deodorant

 tooth brush

 tooth paste

 soap/shampoo (biodegradable)

 pain reliever

 antacid

 toilet paper

BATTERIES

 AA

 AAA

 charger

MISC

 garbage/grocery bags

 ziplock bags

 bug spray

 sunscreen

 emergency kit (in pfd)

 camera

 bug net

 weather radio

PLANNING

 maps and guides

 reservations

 money/ID/wallet

 compass

 phone (with waterproof case)

 Our tent, which I've shown in previous blogs is an REI Halfdome 4. I essentially bought this for myself for my birthday last year, and it's been a good purchase for us. We upgraded from one of those 50 lb big box store tents that could sleep a small army.

One of my favorite pieces of gear is our new Cooke Custom Sewing silicone coated nylon tundra tarp. For two or three years, we were using various canopies for our car camping trips, but they kept getting destroyed in storms. The CCS tarps are legendary among the canoe camping community, so I picked one up at Canoecopia with the expectation that it will endure harsher conditions than the canopies. Plus, it's something we can portage! By the way, I got the 1.9 oz 12.5 ft x 14 ft version. I also pack about 300 ft of 1/8" polyester utility cord in various lengths. You might notice that some of them are reflective, and I try to use those for lines that need the most visibility and that may pose a hazard for someone not paying attention. I've yet to run out of rope, so 300 ft is probably excessive, but it's not very heavy and worth carrying, in my opinion.

I got a 21" Sven folding say for Father's Day and had a chance to use it on our Sylvania trip. It works pretty well, at least on 3-6" downed logs. I didn't care for how it handled smaller branches, so I try to break them by hand or with the hatchet. I also have an Ozark Trail multi-tool. This is pretty much the only thing I've ever gotten from Ozark Trail that was worth anything. Surprisingly, this tool is fairly well constructed, and the edges are not too bad. I usually also carry a Swiss army knife in my pocket when camping.

I also like to bring a fire starting kit with multiple flame sources and various fuels. I found Vaseline-soaked cotton balls to work pretty well, but they don't seem to catch fire as easily as regular cotton balls, so I bring both. I've let Amber start some fires using the fire steel, and she can only do it with regular cotton balls that have been pulled apart. I don't think Mom would ever let her play with fire like that, but hey, what are dad's for? I also like to bring some of the commercial fire starter blocks for those days when fires don't come so easily, such as when it rains or when the available wood is all wet. I put the kit in a Sea to Summit 2 L dry sack (thanks, honey!).

Despite not being very exciting, a first aid kit is kinda mandatory, especially since I'm responsible for taking care of my family. Grandma (my mother-in-law), with the help of my wife, got me this REI backpacker's first aid kit. I left everything in it, and one of these days, I'm going to replace the tweezers with a nicer pair. I also added a small bite and sting relief pack, as well as some water purification tablets as a backup to our filtration system. Oh yeah, I'm working toward putting together an emergency repair kit for our gear and boats. So far, it consists only of gorilla tape.

 

Speaking of water filtration systems, my wife came through big time with this Father's Day gift. She picked up a Sawyer 0.02 µm complete water filtration system. Although the reviews at rei.com are not that great, it worked flawlessly for us. 

 

One of the advantages to canoe camping over backpacking is the ability to bring a number of comfort items. Other than our wonderful sleeping pads, no other piece of gear adds more comfort to the camping experience than a good chair. The strong, lightweight Helinox Chair One and REI flex light chairs certainly make for a more pleasurable camping trip, and they have performed really well for us so far. They do tend to sink into soft ground, but a number of people have reported some fixes, such as putting racquet balls on the feet.

We also bring and LED headlamp for each of us and a small Black Diamond Voyager lantern, which can also be used as a flashlight.

 

I just put fresh batteries in the headlamps, but we do have some other electronics I want to keep charged. We have a weather radio that can burn through batteries and bring a point and shoot camera, and I also use my smartphone as a GPS. Therefore, I picked up a Goal Zero Guide 10 plus solar charger kit that allows me to charge batteries or devices. It works pretty well, but it's kinda heavy, especially with the batteries. It does provide some piece of mind to know that we can recharge our batteries and electronics, and as I mentioned earlier, gear makes me happy! I put it in an 8 L Sea to Summit dry sack.

I put all this into an old school Camp Trails internal frame backpack from the late 90s. To keep everything dry, I use a 6 mil polyethylene liner (M-215 from Duluth pack). 

I also attach some carabiners and gear ties to the pack as they serve multitudes of purposes. The only other item that will likely go in the pack are my camp shoes. In theory, I like the idea of using sandals, but they often leave me exposed to bugs and hazards, and they make my feet feel dirty after a day in camp. I also don't care for wearing socks with sandals, so I've landed on using some slip-on  deck-type shoes. They're pretty comfortable as long as they stay dry. 

Anyway, that's the gear bag. I'd be glad to talk gear, so leave a comment if you have questions or suggestions.