Mountain Hardwear Switch 5 Sleeping Bag: 5 Degree Synthetic - 2009 BCS

I bought this bag for winter camping. It's very warm and there is plenty of space. I'm 6'1" and 300 lbs, I fit fine in this bag. Big guy approved.

Wow, I cannot say enough good things about this sleeping bag. I had a terrible spring camping sleeping experience a few years ago where we had so many people and were rushing to go that we literally forgot to bring any blankets or anything. The day was maybe 60 degrees so we thought with our winter jackets we would be fine with that. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Not only were we freezing all night, but it rained and two of my buddies got soaked and had to sleep in the car. By morning I had to follow them and moved in the car and used the floormats for warmth.SO, after that experience I vowed to get a sleeping bag that would keep me warm. After looking around this site for a while I eventually decided on this one. I took it with me to Yellowstone for a week and it not only kept me beautifully warm, but since it was summer I usually was hanging half way out of it because it was too warm.Not being satisfied with that test, I took it to Mohican State Park in December in the middle of a big snow and slept warmly through the night in 10-16 degree Fahrenheit weather. Although, the air was still ghastly cold, so if you've never camped in that type of weather before (which I hadn't) just know you need something to cover your face with and the cold air is constantly trying to seep into your warm cocoon.It packs up to a decent size, but is by no means very portable (it comes with two sacks, one big mesh one for storage that you just toss it into, and a small cylinder that you have to stuff it into). You'll need to have space to strap it onto your pack or it will take up most of the inside space. In fact, the packing size is the only downside to the bag, but if you need to stay warm, there's really no way around it.I should also mention I'm someone who is constantly freezing when everyone else says they are hot. I generally don't use the air conditioner unless the temperature in my house gets to 80 degrees. So keep that in mind, because this bag might actually be TOO warm for you.

I dont like mummy bags, have a hard time with them. Ive used rectangle bags, and paid the price in terms of wieght and packed size. I needed something that would pack smaller, so I looked at the MH switch bags, the Marmot trestles semi-rec, and the big agnes semi-rec bags. This bag was ideal, I can unzip the expander and get the shoulder room I need to sleep comfy at night. There is no loss of fill in the expander, no cold spot if its unzipped. The BA and marmot bags had better foot room, but its the shouders thats most important for me. The marmot wieghed about the same, but was only rated to 20F, and I didn't end up liking the integrated pad system of the BA.
I would have liked this bag to come with a compression sack, but wasn't a big deal to pick one up, the bag compresses well.
The draft collar cinches up, has a seperate cinch cord for the top and bottom collars (which can also velcro together at the edges), as well as a seperate cinch cord for the hood. It has a small pocket for a watch or glass/contacts at the shoulder, a bonus. The zipper was easy to operate, and on the occasional snag, was really easy to un-snag.
*note: the description says you can get 8 extra inches from unzipping the expander, but that must be for the long bag, I have the regular and it gives you an extra 6 inches.