GearFlogger

Marmot Alpinist Bivy

Yea, we have seen the light! The fast and light, that is, and woe unto those who travel with too much crap on their back, for they shall wail and gnash their nasty teeth and beat their sunken chests. Go forth and get a bivy, we say.

The Marmot Alpinist bivy is about as minimalist as possible. Constructed from Marmot's 40D Nylon Membrain waterproof breathable fabric, and with fully taped seams, the Alpinist weighs in at less than a pound. It rolls up the size of a quart bottle, although it will also flatten in your pack so it can be crammed in anywhere. Feature-wise it has a three-way zipper and... well, that's all. It's big at 36"x86" so you won't have any problem stuffing a sleeping pad inside; that will also keep it from rolling too much so you can find the zipper easily. This is definitely not for the claustrophobic, however.

The 3-way zipper allows for one or two openings, starting above your pointy little head and going down the left side far enough to get in or out with just a little wrangling. There's a good storm flap that with a little forethought allows for multiple venting configurations. Probably not a good idea to zip it all the way up, although we didn't test it that way. Again, the key word is minimalist: there is no mesh and no pole. It would be nice to see a little of each, but then that would add to the weight. The Alpinist is a tough little sucker too, with a slightly heavier fabric on the bottom to resist wear and tear. For ski touring, big walls and just-in-case use the Alpinist will score big with those who follow the gospel of St. Fastenlite. And in perfect GearFlogger orange, no less.

$148.95 at Backcountry

Big Agnes Insulated Air Core sleeping pad

Sawing logs and counting sheep are two of my favorite things, and they're both a lot easier at altitude with my phat ass parked on top of a beefy sleeping pad. The Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Mummy Pad can take the thunder, especially for you side sleepers out there like me who hate having your bony hips bottom out whilst tossing and turning.

I'm a big believer in the two-pad system for extreme cold: an inflatable parked on top of a closed cell foam pad will usually do the trick, and then you're also protected against pad failure. The Big Agnes Insulated Air Core series has long been a GearFlogger favorite, and this time up the mountain we packed the mummy version, size regular; it's also available in short and long versions. It performed flawlessly. Comfort was excellent, although larger folk with floppy limb syndrome might want to consider a wide version, unfortunately not available in mummy format.

The mummy is the lightest in this series at 21oz for 20x72in. Although I was a little concerned about having two extra corners, there were absolutely no problems aside from getting my lungs to work to inflate the big bastard. The extra air is needed to inflate the mummy to its 2.5 inches of glorious butt-absorbing goodness. Despite the beefiness the mummy compacts down to smaller than a 32oz Nalgene for excellent packability. Whichever Air Core you choose you can't go wrong.

$79.95 at REI

Sierra Designs Wicked Hot 45 sleeping bag

It's Earth Day, time to remember that green is not just a color for seasick puppies, St. Patrick's Day beer or that stuff in the back of your fridge. It's how companies like Sierra Designs are approaching gear design, and if you're sleeping with Mother Earth you darn well ought to be looking at an eco-sensitive bag like the Wicked Hot 45.

The ultralight 23oz Wicked Hot is, as you might suspect, rated to 45F, perfect for summer outings or a safety bag. It gets there using a bouncy 10oz of PrimaLoft Eco, which combines 50% recycled fibers with the virgin stuff. It stuff down to smaller than a quart bottle, so there's no excuse to leave it at home.

There's no hood on the Wicked Hot, which is fine for the temp rating. It's got straps on the back to keep you on your pad, and a cinch cord around the neck. The best thing is the fully separating zipper that goes all the way around the foot box, so you can use the semi-rectangular Wicked Hot as a comforter. That's no small thing, and makes it even handier to keep around say in the back of your car. Available in regular and long.

$179.99 at Moosejaw

Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite sleeping pad

An update to an old favorite, the Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite pad is back and better than ever. The accordion-style design is still insanely useful and not just for sleeping. And svelte too, at under 15oz and a packed size of 20x5x5.5 for the size regular 20x72. A size small at 20x47 and 10oz is also available.

If you've ever fought with a rolled pad you'll appreciate the folding design; getting it from pack to tent and back again is much simpler. The egg-crate design traps air for warmth for an R-value of 2.2, and it also gives a little more than a closed cell flat pad for you side-sleepers out there.

It's versatile, converting to a 3/4 length pad with double-thickness under your bony hips easily. It makes a great chair too, doubled for two people or quadrupled for one. Storage is simple: creatively folded it can go anywhere on a pack, in or out. The high-visibility Limon color is bright and cheery, just like you'll be as you watch your campmates try to reverse curl their old-school pads whilst you lounge on your Z-Lite.

$39.95 at REI

Adventure Medical Kits Thermo-Lite 2.0 bivvy sack

Someone once said that adventures are nothing more than bad planning. By definition, no one ever intends an emergency bivy. But you can plan for it, and the Thermo-Lite 2.0 bivvy sack by Adventure Medical Kits is seven ounces of prevention that can last a lifetime.

The sack, as I shall call it, doesn't take up much space: it's smaller than a quart bottle in the stuff sack. There's enough room to stow a few more essentials in with it, maybe your entire survival kit if you pack efficiently. The bag itself is a basically a 36"x84" weatherproof space blanket with a few trick features. The side opens halfway with Velcro tabs, and the footbox opens as well. This helps manage the inevitable condensation that builds up in what is basically a vapor barrier liner.

It's definitely easy enough to get into and out of, just be careful you don't reef on it. The sack is really meant to be an emergency item and repeated use will tear it up unless you're abnormally careful. It says it can reflect up to 80% of your body heat, and that sounds about right. If you bring an ultralight pad, even a 3/4 length, you'll vastly improve your comfort and heat retention. The Thermo-Lite 2.0 is a nice, inexpensive piece of kit that can epic-proof your outings.

$33.00 at REI

Big Agnes Red Rider kid's sleeping bag

There are a few critical items necessary to an enjoyable outing with the LittleFlogger. Key among these is a good sleep system, with the criteria for good being: synthetic fill (for spilled liquid, either from internal or external sources), roomy and warm. The Big Agnes Little Red +15F hits them all out of the park.

The Little Red is a rectangular polyester-fill bag with a DWR nylon shell that will house up to a 4ft 5in LittleMonster. The clever 2lb 9oz design incorporates mummy-bag features to maintain warmth: a cinchable hood, draft yoke around the neck and a beefy full-length draft tube backing the zipper. Two more features make this an ideal bag for kids: an internal pillow sleeve fixes the head support in place, and an external pad sleeve accomodates any 20"x48" pad, such as the Big Agnes 3/4 length Air Core. No rolling off the pad, and really this feature alone makes this an awesome bag.

There are holes in the head corners that allow the pad to be inflated/deflated without removing it. The extra room allows for the normal kid night-long biathlon of tossing and turning, and there are internal loops for sleeping bag liners. The best thing to do is to set it up before you go camping and let your kid become familiar with it at home. The LittleFlogger will be jumping in and out of it in no time; don't force it, it'll happen. Once they've made friends you can hit the road, and you'll both be in dreamland instead of fighting with your gear. Highly recommended.

$89.95 at REI

Therm-a-Rest Trekker Lounge

If you're feeling a little "leisure suit Larry in the land of the lounge lizards" the Therm-a-Rest Trekker Lounge camp chair is your ticket to ride. Or recline, as the mood suits you.

The sleeve design of the Trekker fits over an entire Therm-a-Rest inflatable sleeping pad or equivalent, and is available in either 20in or 25in widths. It will add 18oz to your load but if you anticipate any significant down time this accessory is guaranteed to make being tent or campsite bound much more comfy-cushy.

There's an integrated pillow pocket, the straps adjust easily without having to move your moneymaker, and they unclip when it's time to get horizontal. You can double over the pad for added seat cushioning, or leave it extended for true lounging goodness. When it's time to fly just remove the four plastic seat stays, tuck them into a pocket at the foot, roll the whole thing up and buckle it. Just call it a pound of prevention.

$39.95 at REI

Therm-a-Rest Women's ProLite 4 pad

Experienced campers know that when it's time to bungle in the jungle - or the mountains, or wherever - a little extra padding goes a long way. Therm-a-Rest comes to the rescue with the SheFlogger-approved Women's ProLite 4 inflatable sleeping pad.

Built for the fast and light, Y chromosome-free crowd, the ProLite 4 is a 20in wide, 1.5in thick, 1.5lb four-season pad available in regular 66in or large 72in lengths. It packs up small in its own color-matched .9oz Stuff Sack 4. It self-inflates about halfway in a few minutes and blows up quickly from there.

Cold sleepers will appreciate the added insulation in the foot and torso areas, adding up to an R-value of 4.1, and anyone will appreciate the light weight, low packed volume, and slip-reducing sticky dot bottom. The only caveat for using these fast and light pads is your weight: if you're heavier than about 120lb and/or you're a side sleeper you'll want a higher-tension, thicker model to keep your bones from bottoming out. Remember that inflatable pads have some shape memory, so store unrolled and valve open in a dry environment.

$94.95 at REI

Mountain Hardwear Banshee sleeping bag

I had to Google Banshee to remind myself exactly what it is; turns out it's "a female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die." Oooo-kay. Sign me up for that!

Now it's true that excessive exposure to wailing female spirits - in particular Ann Coulter - can make you wish you were dead, you will be blissfully oblivious as you snuggle up in this zero degree bag from Mountain Hardwear. Stuffed with 800-fill down and covered with a welded, box-baffled, waterproof and highly breathable Conduit SL laminate shell, it packs down small and sheds everything short of a full-on deluge. No worries about condensation here.

The Banshee weighs in at just under three and a half pounds, with a pound and a half of that being fill weight. It has an ergonomic mummy cut, draft tube and collar and two small pockets You'll pay for all this wonderfulness, but if you need a fast and light waterproof nookie bag at this temperature rating you'll be happy when the fit hits the shan. In general the temperature rating seems about right with all the usual caveats: get a good pad, be hydrated, fed and not tired, and all the other things that are impossible in your average epic.

$450.00 at REI

REI Nooksack UL +30 sleeping bag

I did it all for the Nooksack! The Nooksack! So you can take that cookie, and shove it up your... wait; isn't that pastry abuse? Why waste a perfectly good cookie is all I'm saying, when you could eat it in the comfort of your very own Limp Bizkit-approved sleeping bag.

REI's Nooksack is an ultralight bag for women weighing in at just under two pounds (the bag, not the women). It uses Primaloft MXL, a variant developed exclusively for REI, with all the normal benefits of synthetic fill, most importantly the ability to maintain insulation value when wet. The Nooksack compresses well, although you'll need to buy a separate compression sack. The differential layering varies the fill weight to concentrate more where it's needed, less where it ain't, and the hood, full-length zipper draft tube and dual drawstring for the face opening all add warmth. There's even a much-appreciated internal zipper pocket that for some reason isn't mentioned in the product description.

So how SheFlogger-friendly is the Nooksack? Like almost all sleeping bags the temperature rating is optimistic. If you're a warm sleeper and/or you don't mind sleeping with a layer or two on you might be comfortable at the +30F rating. If you're used to sleeping au natural and/or you're a normal to cold sleeper think more in the 40 to 50 degree range. Always remember to add the pad: it doesn't matter what your bag is rated to if you're sleeping on the heat-sucking ground. Two honorable mentions: REI makes the best zipper pulls out there, with a sticky little rubber nub, and the bag is velcro-free so your base layer won't look like a rat's nest after a couple nights.

$114.99 (on sale from $169.00) at REI