I bought this bag for a recent trip down to Patagonia. It's heavy, which I expected from a synthetic at this price range. But it's hard to overstate how bulky this thing is. Maybe it was my bag, but this was a real pain to pack. However, for the price, you can excuse that. What I can't excuse is the dishonesty in the temperature rating. I consider myself about an average sleeper in terms of warmth, but in the teens/twenties, I was wearing almost all of my layers in order to get through the night. I wouldn't dream of taking this into single digits. Save yourself undue frustration and fork over some extra bucks for a better quality bag.

This jacket is probably good for walking around town in. But backpacking for extended periods of time in heavy rain is not its forte. Not only does it not breathe well, but the inside of the jacket got wet just hanging around camp in the rain. On one particular day while we were moving alot (9 hours) in continous rain, the thing was completely saturated. The pockets are also positioned in a way that makes this jacket uncomfortable to wear when you have a heavy pack on (they dig into your hips). I'd look elsewhere if you plan on being exposed to some serious precipitation for long periods of time. It was a running joke around camp that the jacket got its name because it would only work in a rain shadow.

I'm a sweaty dude who has been at war with chafing "down south" for my entire life. That's why a good pair of boxers are crucial. After twenty days straight of wearing this bad boys through some heavy exertion, let me tell you, these things are the real deal. Not only are they practically odorless, but they were never damp, and held chafing at bay. Frontcountry or backcountry, I wouldn't leave home without a pair of these.