Discussion: Sleeping bag for WPER2012

Hi,
what kind of sleeping bags you recommend for Patagonia? Requirement is comfort zone 0 celsius, and off course possibly light.

Western Mountaineering Summerlite has "Rating 0 Celsius /32F", but that confuses me, because I haven't found European Comfort rating for it...

I raced WPER in 2011 and used a 20F synthetic bag because I already owned it and didn't want to buy a new 32F bag just for this event. Once there I was happy I had the added insulation and it was only 8 oz heavier than the 20F bags I was looking at. The bag will get wet no matter how hard you try to keep it dry.
Perhaps more important however is a sleeping pad to insulate the bag/you from the ground. Every place you decide to sleep on will be like a wet sponge.

I did WPER in 2010, and my bag was not warm enough and I did not sleep at all! I brought a +3 bag and thought I would be fine and it was very lightweight (synthetic is recommended due to the dampness). Sleep will be your best friend, I would even go warmer than 0 C. My teammates used a lightweight emergency bivy to insulate them underneath and they had -5 C bags and slept like babies (perhaps too well, snoring was an issue!). We slept in snow squalls, rain and warmth, plan for it all.

I would err on the side of warmth/comfort instead of light weight and echo the sleeping pad note from Jason. This race isn't one where you shave grams and only carry shelter as mandatory gear . . . you will absolutely use the stuff, probably during multi-day legs where there is no hint of civilization. Everything will be cold and wet, that's inevitable.

We raced in 2008, went ultralight with Hilleberg Rajd, and spent our precious few hours of "sleep" shivering and watching the condensation seep through the ground and roof of the tent instead. We didn't die -- and to be fair the Rajd is just billed as an emergency shelter -- but we didn't get much "rest" either.

I would take a warmer bag and heftier shelter next time

We were using Black Diamonds Firstlight tents combined with light bags in 2010.
Mattress was Thermarest Prolight 4, not actually very light... We used emergency blanket to make avoid moisture to absorb fm the ground and otherwise our bags were on light drysack.
We managed to keep our bags dry with this combination and slept well.

Anyway, there will be a shitload to carry, even the first aid kit will be a size of an elephant so I guess the most important thing is you to know what will be "enough" for you to get a proper sleep after days and days of swamp examination.

Glad everyone has the same fond memories.

I love that quote Tuomas - "days and days of swamp examination" - but despite the hours of thigh-high moss and turba, a compelling adventure for sure!

I have a vague recollection of urthbuoy preparing to cover me in anything we had with a petroleum base and set a match to me as soon as I lost another 1/2 degree of body heat.... yes, good times....

I was saved by a $2 plastic poncho... essentially a garbage bag that became a permanent layer....

Put a christmas tree in your shower, turn the cold water on full and then figure out how to sleep in there.... now you have your sleeping system :-)

Hahhaa, unfortunately we are very lucky here in Finland as we do have a lot of swamp. Forest, lakes, swamp - yes, and that was what there is to say about Finland. So Patagonian bogs are not that unfamiliar terrain.

We were few weeks ago racing at 24h AR race in mid-finland.
Looking familiar to you guys?

Your pic is a pretty good approximation of Patagonia, Tuomas! You just need to add a lot more deadfall, like a constant layer of large dead trees everywhere, and then you'd really have it.

That's it exactly. So which tuft of grass did you set your tent up on?

But be prepared for anything... One of the last places we set up our tent at WPER...

Harps - I remember the moment when we saw your tent up there... :o)
We decided to rest below the snowline, just before the rigde headed up there. But, even these 2 pictures tells a lot about the race.
So finding a balance between light gear and gear that will be enough for these condition will be again "interesting".

I was in there and froze. I cannot stress enough, bring the right sleeping bag!!!

And find teammates who radiate more body heat. Remember, this poor girl was sharing a tent with Harps, who is famously cold-blooded.

Those of you who raced WPER any ideas what has been your backpacks total weight?

I didn't weigh my pack before the race but with the sleeping bag, tent and poles, trekking poles, helmet and 2 days worth of food I'm sure it was at least 15 kgs.

As the female mine was obvously not as heavy as the men on my team. We also had to pack 75 hours of food (which we learned after some big mountains I was too small to be carrying all the food also). So perhaps any team should plan on sharing some of the weight of another teamate (so keep this in mind when packing)

For the bikes we used racks that attached under our bike seats. This was KEY to get the weight off our backs. They worked well, we just took the heavy gear out of our packs and put in dry bag and attached to rack on bike.

for Raid in France I bought Cumulus X200, 430g down bag and it worked quite well, don't know about rain but it didn't catch air and sweat humidity as my earlier bags. I think I'll order some heavier bag from them.

Did you use bivi with bags and what kind of temperatures you had while sleeping?