Sleeping Bag Review: Feathered Friends Egret UL 20 vs Sea to Summit Traverse XtII

My Feathered Friends Egret UL 20 sleeping bag arrived from Seattle today a fortnight after I first ordered it. There it was, an inocuous brown package, awaiting me on my work desk as I walked through the door this morning. Needless to say I had the scissors out to secure the bag's immediate - but careful - release the moment I was seated.

Comparing the fabric:

The bag is, at first inspection, of a higher quality than the Sea to Summit Traverse XtII bag.  The fabric of the Egret UL 20 appears to have a tighter smoother weave to it. The non waterproof inner is particularly softer. There is also more reinforced double stitch around not just the zipper like the XtII but also the inner baffle as well as the inner and outer boxing of the hood. The XtII has velcro at the top of the zipper and in the footbox, something I have never liked. There is no velcro on the Egret UL 20. Conversely the press stud and hood draw cord do not seem as sturdy as the XtII. The Egret UL 20 has only one draw cord to the XtII's two, but the I prefer the do hickey on the Egret UL 20's draw cord. It appears easier to pinch between two fingers than the little ball on the XtII.

The Egret UL 20 draw cord:

The Egret UL 20 has a footbox 22cm deep compared to the XtII which is only 16cm. There is no zip through the footbox so it cannot be opened as with the XtII and therefore sacrifices some versatility for greater heat efficiency and weight savings. The down in the footbox seems to loft better without the zipper compressing it. Additional down appears also to have been included in the footbox.

Sea to Summit Traverse XtII  (left) and Feathered Friends Egret UL 20  (right):

The zip baffle is appreciably plumper as well although the strip of material under the zipper is noiser. The XtII has a thicker neck baffle however this does not necessarily make it more comfortable. The Egret UL 20's continuous horizontal baffles allowed movement of down to wherever it is needed including from front to back. The XtII lacks this versatility.

Inside the Egret UL 20 I have the room to draw one leg up on both my back and side. I can only draw my knee up on my side in the XtII and with far less room. The roomier footbox is also noticeable.

The Egret UL 20 did appear to have better lofting when compared side by side on the floor however this comparison was made within an hour after my compressing the Egret UL 20 into its stuff sack to be weighed while the XtII had been in its far more sizeable storage bag.

A comparison of the manufacturer's specifications is contained in an earlier blog.

Weighing only 805 grams without its 22 gram stuff sack, my new sleep system has been reduced from 1460 grams to 940 grams for a (not so) measly cost of AUD $676.

I cannot wait to try the Feathered Friends Egret UL 20 in the coming weeks.

Reviewing the Big Three - Part 2 The Sleeping Bag

Contrary to the first of the big three, my Aarn Featherlite Freedom 50 litre pack with the additional 12 litre balance pockets, I am not satisfied with my current sleeping system.

I made a rookie error in the purchase of my sleeping bag. I had researched a sub-zero degree Celsius bag for my Nepal trek months before my brother withdrew from our plans and I decided to go on a fully supported trek. However in my research, I believe now that I focused on what I wanted to read about that bag rather than what I needed to read.

The Sea to Summit Traverse XtII seemed fine in print. It had an EN13537 temperature rating of -5°C for comfort. 520 grams Ultra-Dry Down 850+ loft European goose down. Relaxed mummy convertible style and 3D NanoShell to repel water and manage condensation. It's reviews in the backpacker online magazines seemed positive. Sure, there were some dissenters on the bushwalking and backpacking forums but nothing was said that I had known would concern me.

The 170cm small bag has an advertised weight of 1175 grams. It weighs over 1200 grams in its stuff sack. That is rather heavy for its temperature rating, I have come to discover. It also has a 60/40 fill ratio providing greater warmth on top of the bag to better insulate back sleepers when I am, in fact, a side sleeper. It does not provide continuous baffles to allow me to correct that fill ratio. There is also a question as to the quality of the make of the bag. I have not owned a better quality bag to make comparison but in the forums, some posters opined that there were definitely better quality bags available.

The weight and fill ratio were not adequately considered in my early appraisals of that bag. Now I know a little more, they are important considerations now.

Feathered Friends is a Seattle based company specialising in down sleeping bags, clothing and quilts. Very few stores carry their gear so it is not so convenient to try their bags however I am satisfied with their listed bag dimensions and am prepared to wait for delivery. Bags can also be fill customised to allow for more down to be added to the bag for a price. The bags are often likened in reviews as similar quality to Western Mountaineering sleeping bags.

Feathered Friends Egret UL 20 is an 800 gram bag rated down to around -6°C. The 175cm medium has 491 grams of 900+ goose down. A womens' specific bag, it has a mummy shape that is narrower at the shoulders and feet than mens' bags but wider at the middle so one knee can be drawn up. Continuous horizontal baffles allow down to be moved to where it is needed. At US $469, the Egret UL 20 would slice 400 grams from my pack for a similar down weight and temperature rating as my existing bag.

The Egret UL 20:

The 20°F bag also comes in a non-ultralight version as well as three different men's fits in addition to the Egret: Hummingbird (skinny), Swallow (average) and Swift (wide). The Hummingbird 20 continues to be highly ranked by Outdoor Gear Lab.

These bags appear to be comparative in specifications to the better known Western Mountaineering Ultralight 20. The 180cm medium Ultralight has an 850+ fill down weight of 450 grams with a total bag weight of 820 grams and is rated down to around -7°C. It also has continuous baffles to allow down to be moved horizontally throughout the bag. This bag retails at USD $484.95 but cannot be shipped internationally. In Australia it is currently retailing for AUD $729.95. As a tried and tested bag it appears to rank very similarly to the Feathered Friends UL 20 bags.

I confess that I first had designs on the Feathered Friends Murre Ex 0 when initially researching their company, intended for use in my higher altitude escapades. Specifically I had wanted the approximately -16°C rated bag for Mount Kilimanjaro. The male version, the Snowbunting received the Editor's Choice award in the Outdoor Gear Lab Best Winter Down Sleeping Bag Review conducted 2011.

The Murre Ex 0 175cm medium contains 723 grams 850+ goose down and weighs on average 1276 grams. A similar weight to the Sea to Summit Traverse XtII which is rated for comfort at 10°C higher and has 200 grams less down.

Bags for cold sleepers like myself are often more comfortable in temperatures 10°C - 15°C higher than their rating.  That same bag can be too cold at the rating given without intervention. I assure you that I froze in the XtII at temperatures of approximately 5°C which were in fact 10°C above its comfort level rating. I gave in to using my space blanket for retaining warmth as I had not yet owned a down jacket and down booties and it did not occur to me to try to trap heat with my eVent shell gear.

I would not be so concerned now using -6°C rated bag in the middle of a Victorian winter with the additional insulation measures I have since established. Camping in the high country or Tasmania would warrant a lower rated bag but until then a -6°C bag will suffice. Preferably one that weighs less than my current configuration with a silk sleeping bag liner instead of the Sea to Summit Thermoreactor Plus liner to shed extra weight.

Today I placed my order for the Azure (blue) Feathered Friends Egret UL 20. The AUD is trading fairly low at the moment so with shipping USD $509 came to AUD $676 which is still significantly better than the comparative Western Mountaineering Ultralight currently retailing for AUD $729.95 at Paddy Pallin. I also purchased a silk liner last weekend at half the weight of the Sea to Summit Thermoreactor Plus liner originally acquired.

Now all I need do is wait ever so impatiently for delivery of my new bag and to trial my completely new sleep system in the weeks following the its arrival!