 I'd say he's being serious. I have two PHD bags and wouldn't rave about them anymore, lovely down but the standard shell ain't up to much, the zip is pretty much unusable as it jams every time. The Drishell outer on one of them is ace however.
|
| Edited: 20/12/11 17:03 |
 Glad I went zipless & drishell for my PHD bag! Bags with zips that jam too easily are a PIA. My Marmot is good in this respect.
|
 |
 Well have to say I'm a touch surprised at that.
|
|
 Not had any problems with the shells of my PHD bags either normal or drishell. The zip does jam, but I jam the zips on all sleeping bags whatever the make, Nanok, Vango, Alpkit, I jam 'em!
|
|
All zips jam to an extent. My experience is that the lighter the fabric the more likely the zip is to jam.
|
|
 Western don't seem to shout about the zip tape - the info is tucked away...towards the end of a 'Design Features' section...
'A Dacron stiffening tape is sewn alongside each zipper to prevent snags'
http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=about&page=Product-Details
I think this is a great feature as hanging up the zip in extremis (desperate for a pee perhaps) is no fun. You can feel the tape yet it is not overly stiff and does not affect packability.
|
|
/\ what he said matters.
|
|
 .. Stiffening tape is genius...it really does work>> The other attention to detail really optimise's down loft/warmth... especially baffle construction near the shoulders and around the neck and head.. The material on the ultralite range is the dogs...
|
|
 I've never had problems with the shells on any of my PHD bags, standard or drishell, or problems with snagging zips... but then all my bags are zipless  . Seriously, who needs zips in sleeping bags?
|
|
You can't get in 'proper' mummy bags without at least a short zip. My Lithium being one. They do have their uses for ventilation if you use the bag over a range of temps rather than have a bag for every eventuality.
|
| Edited: 20/12/11 20:24 |
Matt - I use my Minim 300 from high summer to just above zero quite happily but only because of the full length zip.
|
|
I did my first 15 years of backpacking, year round, with just one 3-season down bag (from a manchester company called Slaters), with no zip. I guess in part it's what you get used to....
|
|
Yeh, maybe Matt. I don't mind no zip in winter but in summer I get a bit sketchy zipped up. Comes from my days as a patient in a mental health facility I guess!
|
|
Same here Matt but not Slaters. I had a down filled hat from them - used to wear in the bag sometimes in really cold weather. As I say, with my current winter bag you couldn't get in it without a short zip due to the way it's shaped
|
|
 Zips will get stuck. Stiffened edges help, but don't eliminate the problem IME. c.f. tent doors and lightweight jackets with stormflap. Seriously, who needs zips in sleeping bags? "Need", no, "want", definitely. Zipping two bags together works a lot better with a, errrr, zip (or better still, two), and being able to vent more evenly than rolling the whole shooting match down to one's waist is nice, especially with warmer bags used in relative cold where I end up with hot legs and cold shoulders. I don't miss it much on the Dewline but I use the zip on the Lightline a fair bit and when I had an Iceline it would have been pretty much unusable most of the time without one. Pete.
|
|
.JPG) Seriously, who needs zips in sleeping bags?
Not you, but the majority of other people? Certainly most manufacturers seem to think so. People who need to vent? People who don't have a whole raft of PHD sleeping bags to match umpteen different temperature 'windows'? I guess in part it's what you get used to.... or what you need to get a comfortable nights sleep? A friend gets 'uncomfortably hot feet' and finds he can't sleep if he doesn't have the lower part of his bag open, even in fairly cold conditions. If I ever could afford a custom bag, I'd get extra zippers put in so I could have a vent halfway down the zip at waist/groin level, as that's my 'hotspot' ! As it is, I prefer a quilt now for 2 season use. Much more comfortable for me. Seriously, who needs a fully enclosed sleeping bag in warm conditions?
|
|
Seriously, who needs a fully enclosed sleeping bag in warm conditions? Not me, I just don't need a zip to find ways of cooling off
|
|
It's that big head of your's radiating heat Matt  Pete, my Western zips have never got stuck in around 200 outings - the tape strip is not comparable to the edges of tent doors and jacket stormflaps...all of which get stuck - especially my Scarp door. I'll no doubt regret saying that next time I'm out....but you'll never know as I'll be entombed in a downy prison.
|
|
