The Outdoor Vitals Summit Sleeping Bag is one of a kind. This bag in particular, that my daughter and I were happily snuggled, is a -15 degree bag. This bag is for those really cold overnights in the backcountry. This is considered to be an ultralight bag due to its weight and how well it compresses down. The bag has quite a few features that I felt put it on the high end of the bag market as well.
Tapered Foot box
A middle zipper that goes down half the bag
Anti Snag zippers
Neck baffles that are boxed and connect in the center
800 fill down that is DWR treated (this is a big deal)
Dual Cinch cords in the hood
Horizontal and vertical baffles
Comes with its own roll top dry bag (saves you money not needing to purchase one)
Large Storage bag to keep it lofty when not in use
Check out the video
#1: My First Impression
The loft from the down in this bag was incredible! At 3 lbs 3oz the bag deserves its ultralight bag name. It actually feels like it would be heavier from how much down is in the bag. The bag also is very well put together and you can tell it is of high quality. The stitching is well done and the bag shows that there was attention to detail. The material is a 10D Ripstop material, however, if I didn't know this, I would have thought it was a bit heavier, which is a good thing. This goes back to the quality of the initial impression that I was feeling. I am not sure if that is from the lack of small baffles on the bag or not but I am very happy with how it feels and looks. Now, how did it perform?
#2: My Testing
I decided that there was no better way to experience a bag than sleeping outside in the cold. I took a look at the forecast and had a couple cold nights coming my way, here in Michigan. The evening I tested it, I was in my Kuiu Mountain Star 2P tent with sub 20 degree weather. The evening low reached 17 degrees according to my phone app, Brrrr.
One of my biggest concerns with a sleeping bag is the snagging of the zippers. A couple other concerns are condensation and my footbed. You see, many times, when in a tent, there is going to be condensation from your body heat and breath within the tent and the cold air on the outside. Over the sleeping hours, there will be condensation that builds up around the tent and many times the foot box of my bags will be touching the edge of the tent (depending on the tent I use). A lot of the time, I will wake up in the morning and the down in a bag will be wet at the end of the foot box and it will cause my feet to get cold at night.
The other concern is always the bag zipper. I tend to roll around at night and I cannot find the zipper when I need to zip or unzip. This is due to either having to go take a leak in the middle of the night or if I am too hot/cold. Overall, here is my synopsis on the experience.
The foot box of the bag has a ton of down in it! I woke up to warm feet and very little moisture overall on the bag. This was a big win for me. I managed to keep the bag off the side of the tent for majority of the night and even the little bit of moisture that I did get on the bag, the treated down handled it like a champ. The center zipper was an interesting one for me. I never had a center zip but now that I have used it, I am a big fan. I didn't have to worry about where it was because it was easy to figure out based on the gap by my neck. The other thing I really liked about it were the zipper guards around it. It is a wider extension from the zipper itself that makes a huge difference to prevent snagging! These are 2 big wins in my book~
The most important win for me was that it held its own in that cold weather and I was hot inside of the bag in 17 degree weather. Bags like this have a comfort rating and an extreme rating. The comfort rating says that you would be comfortable at X temp and then you will stay alive at X rating. In theory, this bag will keep you alive in -15 degree weather. I haven't personally been in the bag when it is sub 0 but I believe the bag would hold its own and I would be very comfortable in those extreme temps. I tend to keep down jackets and pants with me in my pack on all trips as well so I know that if I really needed to stay alive, I could add those to the mix and I would likely be sweating in the bag.
#3: Pros and Cons with the bag
Cons: I had a really tough time with this. For the sake of writing, I am giving a couple things that I thought about for a couple days before writing but I do have to say, I am not sure they are even cons.
Here we go... The overall weight being 3 lbs, 3 oz. tends to hit on a higher weight for me. I am used to a bag that is less than 2 lbs or possibly a quilt. However, those items are not being used on a cold weather hike or hunt like this nor are they rated to -15 degrees so it isn't apples to apples for me. Nonetheless, I will have to either take it to the chin on the extra weight or leave another item home to make room for this bad boy in my pack.
The other con would be in the same realm as weight. The bag comes with its own dry bag (which I didn't even realize at first) and while it can be compressed down quite small, it is still about the size of 2 Nalgene bottles. Again, I will have to leave another item or 2 home that I really don't need and enjoy having this warm and fluffy bag with me instead.
Pros:
The center zip is a big plus for me. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. I roll around and enjoy sleeping on my stomach throughout the night. This bag made that easy and I felt that I wasn't fumbling around in the middle of the night.
The down being treated is another massive win. For the price of the bag and the down being treated, I think this bag is an no brainer! The ability for the down to keep its warmth and loft, despite getting moisture on it is a huge win.
The amount of down in the toe box was more than expected. It is is damn fluffy and roomy down there, I am still shocked just thinking about it. The design was clearly thought through and it shows.
I was hot in the bag! At 17 degrees, I felt like I was in 40 degree weather. I had to unzip the bag a few times to dump heat in the night.
The bag coming with its own dry bag is impressive. You can tell that OV didn't go cheap on the bag and they are thinking about the customer. They easily could have made you go and buy the bag to make extra money on it as an ancillary product but instead they threw it in with the entire package.
#4: My Summary and Score
Overall, if I was to rate this bag on a scale of 1-10 (10 being perfect) I would have to give it a 9. I know for a fact that this will be my late season hunting bag that I will be taking with me when the weather isn't on my side. The fact that I was hot in the bag in 16 degree weather makes be confident that the bag can handle anything I would toss its way. I also am a huge fan of down that is treated to withstand the moisture aspect. If down is not treated, it will clump and things can become dangerous in some situations. The bag shows high quality details with a well laid out cut/taper which is a credit to the designers of the bag as well.
I have a special link for you as a reader that gives a promotion price for this bag that is not on their main website for the general public. Check it out and know that this bag is a steal at the full price, let alone on the discounted price.
I appreciate you reading my thoughts here on some gear. If you didn't know, I am a gear nut and I love to have many items on hand for personal use along with items to rent out to clients throughout the year. If you would like to chat about gear rental services, hunt planning, tag applications or other hunting desires, please head over to the website and let's connect with a consultation to tailor your needs.
Until next time, Scout, Hunt, Repeat.
Alex~