[Jordan]

So I've gone on a couple of 4 or 5 day hikes in my time and I can't seem to get my pack much lighter. I have decided to lighten up on the sleeping bag portion although am worried about not getting any sleep because of the cold. I usually carry around a regular old bag that I can't fit in my pack, weighs about 6#, and is for 15 degree weather. I only camp in the deep summer and this year I have decided to just take a thin blanket and one of those shinny survival blankets for a second layer to keep in the heat. Does anyone have any suggestions about what they use as sleeping gear in the summer to lighten the load. Does anyone bring just a tarp instead of a tent.

[Conrad]

If your current bag is 6#, that sounds to me like a car-camping bag, not a backpacking bag. It sounds like you haven't looked at the backpacking sleeping bags in any outdoor store. They will keep you a lot warmer for a lot less weight. A lot of people here on nwhikers will tell you to spend several hundred dollars on a bag, but you can get a basic synthetic-fill backpacking bag which will be a lot better than what you have now for as little as $70-$100.

[bobbi]

$$ talks for me, these are my gear western mountaineering highlight sleeping bag...1 pound msr hubba (1 person) under 3 pounds also, big agnes seedhouse (2 p) under 4 pounds osprey backpack aura 65 small under 4 pounds gees, that's 8-9 pounds, not including food/bear canister if required/clothes/water&bottles/stove/filter/camp shoes/other essentials like headlamp, first aid, etc./camera anyway...i try to keep it under 25 pounds total

[Backpacker Joe]

Jordan, this can take some time, but Ill try not to..... I have a number of sleeping bags. My favorite manufacturer is Western Mountaineering. I have a few of them The two summer bags I use are the MityLite 1.5 pounds, and the Highlite. 16ozs. These are down bags and not only are they light, but they pack down very very small. As to tents, I have a few tarp tents, a Bibler I-Tent and a Stephenson 2X. They are all light tents. Again, not only are they light but they pack very small. I use a titanium stove and a titanium pot. I typically bring those Mountainhouse single person meals. When it comes to a light hiking mind set everything works together to keep your weight down.

[Bedivere]

I've been guilty of carrying gross amounts of weight at times, but I have the potential to go pretty darned light, though not as light as some of the previous posters. Mainly because I have one, do-it-all sleeping bag - a Mountain Hardware Down bag with a water-resistant breathable membrane outer shell. It's a little heavier than a lot of down bags but there are times when I like to lay out in a meadow or on a rock shelf and watch the stars while a heavy dew soaks everything. This bag is rated for 15 degrees, packs down really small (800 fill power down), and weighs about the same as my old synthetic bag that was worn out. It was ridiculously expensive, but is the best bag I've ever owned and will last a long, long time. Much longer than a synthetic bag because down doesn't lose it's loft as quickly from being compressed. I'm also going to be doing some winter camping & ski touring and expect this bag will work well for that. In your case, if you just want a lighter, smaller bag that will still keep you warm and don't want to spend a bunch of money then the suggestions above are great. A decent synthetic hiking bag that weighs under 4 lbs (usually not much more than 3) can be had for not a lot of money. If you go with a little warmer temp. rating, say 30-40 degrees, you can get under 3 lbs easily. I also carry a water filter while some folks who want to go really light only carry iodine or chlorine dioxide tablets, or just risk it and drink the water untreated. My tent is a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight that weighs just under 4 lbs with stakes and tie-outs. Back in my youth I hiked without a tent but nowadays I won't do it. The ability to escape from bugs inside a tent is a must, plus I've been caught in surprise storms several times and a tarp would NOT have protected me without a whole lot of rigging & tying down which might not be possible, or at the least highly inconvenient in an alpine camp spot. One truly memorable night at Fern Lake during an August blizzard sealed the deal on tents for me. We had a tarp setup as a shelter so we could sit under something as the rains started. We had that tarp tied down at every guy-loop, anchored with big rocks and propped up with trekking poles. The winds that night shredded that tarp. By the middle of the night it was flapping horribly in the wind but it was too cold, wet, and windy to get out of the tent to deal with it. In the morning, once the 4 inches of snow that fell melted off, we discovered it was garbage, the rings pulled out of it and one corner nearly torn off. My poor little Clip Flashlight endured that storm admirably. The winds practically laid it flat down on top of us several times but it sprang right back up, none the worse for the wear. It has endured similar freak storms in the middle of summer several times, a tarp would not provide that kind of protection. If you hike solo a lot then a one-man tent or bivvy would be a great, lightweight choice. And, as mentioned, there are lots of other ways to reduce weight from your cookset/stove to the clothes you carry, to the kind of food you bring, and more. I'm expecting my packed weight for this weekend's 2-nighter without my camera but including all food and a quart of water to be right about 25 lbs. With my big 'ol camera and a small tripod it will be a hair under 30.

[Trail Angel]

I've always been a sleep under the stars girl, myself~ until, one day I brought my still- in -the packaging- tent that I'd had for a few years~ it was great!!! No bugs, no worries about waking to a black bears nose sniffing me. Tarps are super cool cuz they are versatile, but there's something about the coziness of a tent. So, bottom line~ it depends on if it's bug/bear season or not. Tarps are great ~ and so are tents

[Dane]

Jordan - how much are you willing to spend on a sleeping bag? An investment in a top quality down bag is something a backpacker rarely regrets, but if you're not ready to make that kind of purchase you have plenty of other options. Drastically reducing your sleeping bag weight is not going to be hard at all given the monster you have now. Tarp camping is awesome, you should definitely give it a shot. Be aware tents are far more convenient - the advantage of tarps is in the weight, the joy of pitching them, and the connection you maintain with your surroundings all night. You'll need to learn how to pitch a tarp and deal with bugs, wind, and rain. Typically bugs aren't a problem after dusk and before dawn, and I've had good success in the past with taking no bug precautions at all. I'd start with a little DEET and a headnet, though. I would simply avoid camping in windy places until you can reliably get taught, nearly wrinkle-free pitches. Lots of stakes and guylines should be used - I bring twelve stakes when I expect it to be windy. Rain can be a problem - the best solutions are to bring a larger tarp and/or bring a bivy. Without a bivy I'd want a tarp around 7ftx9ft. With a bivy your tarp can be any size or non-existent, depending on how comfortable you are in bivies and how much room you need to shelter your gear. Learning to pitch a tarp on your own can be difficult - I found little help in books and websites, mostly learning by trial and error. This is not something to try and learn out in the woods. I can recommend "The Ray-Way Tarp Book" by Ray Jardine - there is a lot of good information on the basics of tarps, but it is by no means a complete source and Ray is notoriously biased and dogmatic. My first tarp was one of the heavy, bulky blue ones you see all over the place. Don't bother with these, they're the tarp equivalent of a 6 pound sleeping bag My second was a poly tarp. You can buy a roll of 3-mil polyethylene for cheap at practically any hardware store, and from this you cut out a peice of the right dimensions (for a beginner I'd recommend 7x9 for one person, and 8x10 for two - no larger because it's hard to get good tension with a poly tarp). Tie a line between two trees, drap the tarp over this line to create the tarp's ridgeline, and then use a double sheet bend to stake out the corners. Use taught-line hitches on your lines to adjust tension. The polyethylene also makes a good groundsheet to put your sleeping pad and bag on top of. If you want a tarp made specifically for camping, Oware makes great flat tarps. If you prefer the idea of a shaped tarp that touches the ground on all sides check out offerings from Black Diamond, GoLite, and Oware. Hope I didn't throw too much information at you or discourage you with complexities. Pitching a tarp is a lot of fun, and once you learn the basics you'll have it down for life. The connection you maintain with the wilderness is a really special experience, one that I think tent campers are robbing themselves of. My favorite experience under a tarp was a cold and rainy November night near Leavenworth - I woke up in the night to find a brave squirrel taking refuge from the wet and cold, sharing not only my shelter but my warmth as it dozed on my sleeping bag.

[Obi Tony Kenobi]

I have two sleeping bags, one for cold-cool weather and one for cool-hot weather. I use my Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina +32 Sleeping Bag for cold weather and it's light and warm. It only weighs 31 oz. and it is really warm. If I go somewhere that is colder, I just throw in a linner, but haven't have had to do that yet. It was $180. For warm weather I use my recently aquired REI Travel Sack +55 Sleeping bag and it weights 27 oz. and it packs to the size of a football. The best part is it only cost $59 and it comes with a lot of cool features. My tent is a REI Quarter Dome T2 weighs 3 lbs. 12 oz. I could have gotten the T1, but I need space to spread my arms since I find single tents to restrictive. Somehow, my pack still ends up heavy, but I think it comes down to the weight of water.

[Bedivere]

[geophagous]

Money is really the question to ask yourself. How much do you want spend? Do you anticipate doing much backpacking? If so buy better more expensive and lighter gear. If you are a bit handy you can make some of your own gear for cheap and light. A tarptent can be made from a pattern that Henry Shires has on his website. Very light, under 2 pounds, and if you choose to sew in the floor you really have a single wall tent at that point. You can also make a quilt for under 1.5 pounds and about $60. Check out the REI deals right now with their special sale. Might find something that works. Otherwise Campmor has some great deals on sleeping bags. If you stick to summer you can likely get away with a 30 degree bag. Like others pointed out going with a tarp does take some more precautions and skill, so a tent can be a nice simple way to start out. I now have a Gatewood poncho that doubles as a shelter. 11oz and about $135. A Montbell SuperStretch #3 good to 35degrees is about $300 and weighs about 25oz. So my shelter and sleeping bag are about 2.25 pounds. Think about where you go and what you like to do. Lots of alpine in the shoulder seasons probably means a better tent and bag. Lower elevation in mid summer a lighter bag and less shelter is likely fine. Good luck.