BAGS & PADS

Whether you sleep hot or cold, up high or down low, there’s a system here that will unlock the ZZZs.

- William M. Rochfort, Jr.

QUIVER-KILLER

BIG AGNES TORCHLIGHT UL 20 OUR TAKE

Warm summer nights turn three-season mummies into boil-inbag situations, while cool fall nights make for shiverfests in summerweight bags. Who knew that all we needed to bridge the gap between the two was an extra pair of long zippers? Opening the zips on the sides of the Torchlight releases two baffles of down-filled fabric, expanding the typical 60-inch circumference of a mummy bag to 70 inches (a separate head-to-toe zipper opens the bag itself). Use the additional space for elbowroom or to accomodate a puffy on colder nights, like our tester did with temps in the teens in the Eastern Sierra. Bonus: Even with the extra zips the 850-fill down sack still packs smaller than a soccer ball.

THE DETAILS

The Torchlight’s hood fits snugly, like a puffy jacket’s, and retains heat so well— even without being fully cinched—that one of our testers ditched his usual nighttime beanie at the temp limit. $400; 2 lbs. 2 oz.; 20°F; m’s regular and long, w’s petite and regular.

LIGHTEST

THER M-A-REST VESPER 45 OUR TAKE