I examined the brand new Marmot Col -20-Degree sleeping bag in true expedition situations over 35 days within the Alaska Range.
My journey encompassed a private climbing journey out to Mt. Huntington in pursuit of some technical aims at decrease elevations. I adopted this with a 25-day patrol with the Denali Climbing Rangers of the West Buttress route on Denali. This was as a volunteer for the Denali Rescue Volunteers program.
These adventures culminated within the excellent journey to place the Marmot Col -20-Degree sleeping bag via the wringer for over a month straight in an acceptable setting.
In brief: The Marmot Col -20-Degree proved worthy of the situations in Alaska’s excessive ranges. It offered acceptable heat with consolation not often discovered on this class of sleeping luggage. And the substantial roominess and have set added to livability in expedition settings.
Marmot Col -20-Degree Review: The Perfect Trip
For the primary a part of our journey, two pals and I flew into the east fork of the Tokositna Glacier. We arrange a base camp for 10 days on the backside of the west face of Mt. Huntington.
Less-than-ideal climate allowed us solely two tried climbing outings. We spent many days in base camp. I used to be usually cuddled up within the Marmot Col -20-Degree sleeping bag late into the mornings.
For the second a part of the journey, I equipped with the Denali Climbing Rangers. I accompanied them on a 25-day West Buttress search-and-rescue patrol. This foray was a part of the Denali Rescue Volunteers program.
We spent a couple of week making our method up from base camp to the 14,000-foot camp and spent 10 days acclimatizing there. After adjusting to the altitude, we pushed to a 17,000-foot camp. We shortly moved on to a profitable summit day because of the splitter climate throughout this spring Denali season.
I had the possibility to make use of the Marmot Col -20-Degree for all 10 days on Mt. Huntington and 25 days on the patrol and was pleasantly shocked with its consolation and heat. Below are my ideas after spending roughly 35 nights whole sleeping within the Marmot Col -20-Degree.
Specs and Features
The Marmot Col -20-Degree sleeping bag is an 800-fill-power down bag with a water-proof and windproof Pertex Shield because the outer material. Weighing in at 4 kilos 7.3 ounces, the Marmot Col isn’t the lightest bag for the temperature vary. But its consolation and helpful options improved the general livability. This bag is constructed with expeditions in thoughts. It offered a heat, secure haven to retreat to after infinite days on the glacier.
With the Regular measurement coming in at 83 inches in size and a shoulder circumference of 64 inches, the Marmot Col was spacious. It comfortably accommodated me, plus any gear or layers I needed to maintain heat. A beneficiant cinch collar across the neck and huge draft tubes guarded all zippers, which ensured a comfy seal that saved heat in.
The beefy middle zip was one of many smoothest zippers I’ve ever used, nearly by no means snagging. It allowed straightforward entry and exit into the bag.
Two further zippered arm/vent holes let me put on the bag whereas bivying or as a method to vent the bag if it received too heat. One gripe about these two arm/vent zippers is that there was no method to entry the zipper from the within. The zipper pulls are solely on the surface — to vent the bag, I needed to undo the principle zipper and attain across the outdoors of the bag. A little bit of a disappointing design on an in any other case helpful characteristic.
The Col additionally has a couple of inside pockets for smaller objects. A small zippered pocket close to the neck housed my headphones, earplugs, and a sleep masks for the infinite daylight in Alaska.
On the alternative facet are two rectangular pockets seemingly meant for a cellphone and a battery charging pack. These pockets, nonetheless, haven’t any closure system. My cellphone and battery pack at all times fell out regardless of what number of instances I attempted to maintain them safe. Unfortunately, I discovered these two pockets basically ineffective.
Down close to the waist, there are two stretch mesh pockets designed for bigger objects, becoming a 1L Nalgene bottle or a big 16-ounce isobutane gasoline canister completely. I discovered these pockets tremendous helpful, they usually saved these bigger objects heat and prevented them from rolling round into uncomfortable locations.
Comfort
After spending over 35 nights within the Marmot Col -20-Degree this spring, my favourite attribute was merely how comfy it was. The interior lining of the bag is a bit thicker and softer than supplies discovered on ultralight sleeping luggage. It was a lot nicer in opposition to the pores and skin than related luggage. No extra sticky, oily-feeling material in opposition to the pores and skin resulting in an uncomfortable night time’s sleep.
If the scale of this sleeping bag don’t provide you with an thought of its measurement, simply know that this bag is spacious! I’m 6’0” and 150 kilos, and the dimensions Regular felt like residing in a small resort.
At 83 inches lengthy, there was ample room within the footbox to retailer objects I needed to sleep with, resembling further layers, gasoline canisters, heat bottles of water, or battery charging packs. A few nights earlier than early alpine begins, I slept comfortably with each of my measurement 43 SCARPA Phantom 6000 double boots within the footbox.
The ample chest width of the bag meant that I might layer up simply contained in the bag if wanted, even with a big summit parka. The sleeping bag was so spacious that I felt it was typically too roomy for my skinny body.
My resolution was to layer one in every of my jackets on high of me to take up a number of the inside quantity. And I nonetheless had tons of room to roll and rotate all through the night time. For larger-framed people, simply know there was no scarcity of inside area!
Packability
The draw back of the mandatory loft and beneficiant inside area was packability, as may be seen within the picture above (Nalgene 1L bottle for scale). Similar to different expedition-appropriate luggage, cramming the Marmot Col -20-Degree right into a pack might be difficult.
The included stuff sack doesn’t have compression straps, which might shrink the monster bag to a extra manageable measurement. But Marmot gives a compression sack with present fashions (ours was a pre-production pattern).
Warmth
As far as heat goes, the decrease temperature restrict of the bag at -20 levels Fahrenheit appeared about proper. Multiple nights within the -15-degree F vary had me barely chilly, however that was sleeping solely in thermals. At 14,000- and 17,000-foot camps on Denali, I slept in a lightweight artificial layer resembling a Patagonia Nano-Air Hoody so as to add heat.
But this was doubtless essential as a result of the bag could be very spacious, and I’ve a small higher body. I think about a physique kind that fills out the bag higher would have higher heat.
Marmot Col -20-Degree Sleeping Bag: Conclusions
After over a month of sleeping within the Marmot Col -20-Degree bag (MSRP $829) on each the Tokisitna Glacier and all through a climb of Denali’s West Buttress, my basic impression of the bag was superb. I beloved how comfy in opposition to the pores and skin and plush it at all times felt, serving to me obtain an excellent night time’s sleep.
The zipper and pockets had been all typically high-quality and helpful, apart from my gripes concerning the exterior vent zippers and the cellphone pocket.
The spacious inside was extraordinarily helpful for sleeping with something I wanted to maintain heat.
Even although the Col will not be the lightest bag in its class, I believed it was an ideal selection for expedition-style climbs the place it is going to doubtless be carried in a sled 90% of the time. The difficult packability and quantity could be much less noticeable.
The Best Backpacking Sleeping Bags of 2022