Gear Review - Marmot Hydrogen Regular

I bought this sleeping bag about a week before Mantrip to replace my 18 year old summer down bag (The North Face Blue Kazoo). My old bag had served me well, but was due for retirement - it was just worn out. I guess that's what several hundred nights will eventually do to a sleeping bag.

Anyway, I had saved some money for a new bag and after quite a bit of comparison shopping, I bought the Marmot Hydrogen (regular size). I wanted something in the 30 degree range for 2-3 season use. I have a 5 degree Western Mounatineering bag that will keep me warm in the winter, so I didn't need something super warm - just warm enough for summers and falls in the Rockies (where it can easily get down to 30 degrees - even in July or August). I also wanted something ultra lightweight - I'm really trying to move myself into the Ultralight category with all of my gear.

The Hydrogen is a 30 degree bag with 900 fill down. Quantum Pertex shell. Very light - 1 lb, 5 oz (without the stuff sack, which adds another 1 oz). Extremely compressible (just a little larger than a standard 1 liter Nalgene). It is also fairly roomy, which is nice for an ultralight bag. It comes with a half zipper and draft tubes around the hood. This bag is a little pricey, but then again so are all high performance down bags. Besides, if it lasts me another 18 years, then it will be worth it.

On the first night out in Colorado, I was very comfortable until around 4 a.m. Then my feet started to get a little cold. We ate dinner early the night before and the temperature got down below freezing that night, so I don't really blame the bag. Every night after that I wore a pair of clean socks and was always plenty warm. I'm a bit of a warm sleeper anyway, so the 30 degree rating should work great for me.

I'm planning on taking this bag to Colorado at the end of September. The temps will probably drop into the low 20's then, so my plan is to add a silk liner, which is supposed to give me another 10 degrees of insulation, bringing the system to 20 degrees. Liners only weigh about 5 oz, so at a total of 1 lb, 10 oz, I should still have an extremely lightweight and warm sleeping system.