Anyone on here have any experience with Moonstone? Specifically the 10 degree PCT 800. Thanks

About some 12 years ago I bough two Moonstone bags, the cluncky zip together ones. They were great. Then Moonstone went broke, and end of story. But now they are around again. My experience was they were a great company, then, and were based in the same city I worked in, Arcata, CA. I still trust the name, silly me, because the quality of their stuff was great. That said, I have no idea about the "new" Moonstone. (I still regret that my daughter lost one of the bags, so all I have is one -- they were synthetic marvels at the time.)

Edited by bdavis on 12/02/2006 15:50:38 MST.

Actually Moonstone is out of business now. I heard they got bought out by Columbia. They don't even have a website anymore.

I did have a Stratus 3D. It was sweet, Pertex Quantum shell, Polarguard 3D insulation. A 30 degree synth that only weighed about 23 oz. It was very well made, just cut very slim. I also have a Cirrus jacket. I love that as well.

They were a great company and have a wonderful rep, especially for their bags. A pity they're done...

I had some experience w/ the Lucid 800 20F (just sold it). The construction quality was quite good, on par w/ Marmot bags I've seen. Advertised weight was accurate. It was roomy for the weight, much more so than the upper-tier Marmot bags. One of Moonstone's selling points were their ergonomic footboxes, which are wider than average and shaped very well. I prefer a narrower, more efficient cut (I'm skinny), but most guys would probably prefer the lucid's fit to bags which would fit me better.

Fill was not overly plump for the baffle height, true for most stock bags IMO. Some would argue this is a good thing. I did pay attention to how I distributed the down when I unpacked it, to prevent cold spots and shifting of the down in the baffles.

Edited by PA_Jay on 12/03/2006 13:19:07 MST.

Thanks for the insight guys. I just bought 3 of them at a really good price. I dont really need a 10 degree bag but maybe 3 times per year but I also dont like to sleep cold.

I still have the Moonstone spec chart for their sleeping bags, and it lists the PCT's girth measurements as 2" wider than the Lucid's, even. PCT girth torso/foot: 61"/40" size reg, 65"/42" size long. If anyone's interested I could email the chart, which is a pdf from their old site.

The PCT is listed as having a Pertex Endurance shell, which I believe is a thin wp/b membrane -- unlike the Lucid's 1.1oz "Pertex See-Thru", which feels similar to a Microlight windshirt I have.

EDIT: oops, just posted over you Kevin. Cool purchase!

Edited by PA_Jay on 12/03/2006 14:17:24 MST.

No problem Jason. I felt like it was a good deal. All I have seen on this bag seemed to be positive. They were going for $400 as recently as last year. I figure $600 for 3 couldnt be a bad deal. Now my son has one, I have one and A friend bought one with us. Now I just have to get out and use it. Anyone know why Moonstone folded?

I knew a couple of older businessmen who were trying to put together a bail out or buy out package in Arcata a while ago. They told me that Moonstone expanded to fast, carrie a lot of products and ordered a lot of new materials and finished or semi-finished goods before they sold their last batch. Thus they ended up with material and cut, semi-finished goods overseas but couldn't get together the money to pay for them. So their suppliers stopped deliveries w/o payment and they couldn't do it. There were apparently several million dollars worth of materials, items cut but not sewn together, etc. in China when they lost solvency. Really too bad, they had really nice gear.