Great above freezing bag

By J. Troxell Ranked #10 - 55 to 30 Degree Down Bags October 27, 2011

I was originally turned on to Big Agnes when I was shopping for 4 person tents and found the Copper Spur UL4 (which is fantastic too!). While surfing the BA website, I saw their sleeping bags and the no-down-on-the-bottom concept and thought it was... novel... But I did like the idea of the integrated sleeping pad and the integrated pillow sack. The next two times I was sleeping with the kids in the tent I woke up multiple times off of the sleeping pad with my pillow no where to be found - clearly I am not the soundest of sleepers. While laying awake in the middle of the night, I started obsessing about how good of an idea the integrated sleeping pad would be. Combined with the facts that I have a 50 degree bag that I don't trust below 60-65 and an older 15 degree bag, and I decided to give a Big Agnes bag a try for the fall season.

I actually looked at both the Heart Mountain SL and the Horse Thief SL - I really don't think you could go wrong with either. However, I can't keep both (although I almost talked myself into it), and since I'm paying more attention to keeping my pack weight down (I'm carrying gear for four right now) and that I really don't expect to be out when the temperature is anywhere close to freezing, and the Horse Thief SL won out.

Things I really like about the Horse Thief SL:
1) No hood; honestly, I barely ever use the things anyway, especially when I'm sleeping on my stomach. For the temperature range that this bag will be used for, at the most I just need a lightweight cap.
2) Half-length sleeping pad sleeve with insulation on the bottom of the legs; this is a great design. The half length sleeve keeps you on the pad with complete freedom to move your legs about. I originally thought the semi-rectangular design of the Heart Mountain was better, but now that I've used the Horse Thief a few times, this design has really grown on me
3) Excellent weight / size - the specs for the bag are right on - my regular weighed in at 1 pound 11 ounces. I know there are lighter bags out there, but I'm willing to trade a few ounces for the frame of mind that I will...
4) Never roll off of the sleeping pad again. The integrated sleeve for a sleeping pad is really what attracted me to BA bags in the first place and it really is the best feature of all.
5) The passive draft collar around the neck works very well
6) The Pertex Quantum shell fabric feels great - I'd say the fabric feels nicer than the microfiber shell on my 0 degree Western Mountaineering bag.

Of course, nothing is perfect, so here are my complaints:
1) I wish the regular length was 6 feet and not 5'10". I'm 5'9", and everything is great until I sleep on my stomach and my toes dig into the bottom of the bag. It gets annoying if there is a slight downhill slope towards the foot of the sleeping bag.
2) No draft tube. Obviously #1 and #2 are aimed at keeping the weight down (which I do appreciate). I ended up sleeping out one night when the temperature got to 35F inside the tent, and I was very comfortable until I rolled over on my side at which point a cold spot developed along the zipper of the bag. It really is only a problem when you're on your side - it seems that when you lay on your stomach or back the bag lofts over the zipper. But when you are on your side the bag is stretched more and the zipper isn't covered any longer. I had no problems at 50 degrees, but it was definitely noticeable at 35.
3) The girth through the hips is just a little tight. I've been using the Horse Thief with an Exped Synmat UL7 which inflates to a thickness of 2.8" (as opposed to the 2.5" that is standard). I also have wide hips for my size. With the Exped pad fully inflated, it gets tight when I roll to my side in the bag. I've started inflating the pad only about 75% full and it is much better this way - fortunately the pad is still plenty warm at 35F.

I know the negatives sound somewhat serious - I could see for some people that a couple of these could be deal-breakers - but I've had several great nights of sleep using this bag and I don't regret my choice in any way. If I were trying to stretch the lower temperature limit, I would definitely recommend going with the Heart Mountain SL or the Zirkel instead - I think the absence of the draft tube and the absence of a hood really start limiting the abilities of this bag at the lower temperatures. However, for my money the features provided by this bag combined with the fantastic weight makes it a definite winner in my book. Maybe the best testimony is that I'm asking for a BA Pitchpine SL bag for Christmas to use for my summer sleeping bag.

When using the BA bags, the sleeping pad has to be factored in when evaluating how warm the bag is. I've been using this with the Exped Synmat 7 UL which has an R value of 3.1. If you look at sleeping pads on the BA website, they recommend pads with an R value of 1.0 for temps down to 35F, and pads with an R-value of 4.1 down to 15F. The night at 35F I spent in the Horse Thief, I was wearing lightweight wool leggings and long-sleeve shirt (I think both were approx. 200 weight icebreaker), along with a lightweight wool cap and a pair of liner socks. When I've slept in the 50s or warmer in the Horse Thief, I've always used shorts with either a short or long-sleeve t-shirt. I explained the limitations of the bag not having a draft collar above, and that is inherent in the design of this bag - it could easily affect other people more or less than it does me.

View Details: Big Agnes Horse Thief SL Sleeping Bag: 35 Degree Down

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