I've had a Mountain Hardwear Spirit SL bag for several years and love it. It may be heavy by some standards, but I'm willing to pack a bit extra weight for the protection the Conduit SL w/b shell gives and the welded baffles (instead of stitched) greatly reduce the opportunity for moisture to get to the down from the exterior.

Does anyone make a bag that combines these attributes anymore? Can't seem to find one. Thanks for any help.

Exped Waterbloc 600

they might have some eVent left around and be willing to make you a bag. ff also has pertex shield, which is described as waterproof, but i have no experince with it and they don't list it as avilable for thier lighter bags, but you can always ask. in reality, with the new fabrics that ff and western mountaineering are using waterproof breathable shells are less important. wp shells also have the problem of being much less breathable, which can result in a down bag wetting-out from the inside if you cannot turn it inside-out and air it out periodically. and with few exceptions, a bag made with waterproof fabric does not have sealed seams or stitching.

Edited by RICKO on 04/13/2012 09:22:33 MDT.

Why do you want a waterproof shell?

Perhaps there is a legitimate reason, but there's a reason why all manufacturers have left this "market."

To be helpful, Tim Marshall makes a cuben fiber quilt - waterproof and VBL.

Here is a waterproof quilt.

http://enlightenedequipment.com/epiphany.html

I thought about that and should give them a call. Already have one custom from them.

I spend quite a bit of time sea kayaking off the west coast of Vancouver Island and live in western Washington. It rains alot and I'd like to avoid getting the down wet. I've spent a great deal of time in the MH Spirit SL with Conduit shell in wet conditions and have had no discernible issues with condensation or loss of loft. This bag, with it's welded baffles, is almost like a bivy sac as it has almost no external seems and a w/b shell. Coming from a wet environment and the track record this bag has with me and two other friends that live and play here, it seems like the way to go.

Thanks for the tip. I have not seen another bag with welded seems 'til now. Wish they had a 800-900+ fill and a 32F rated bag. Wow...they are pretty proud of that bag, aren't they?

Waterproof down bag, but it is rated at 15*f.

FF will make a custom 30F bag for me that has Pertex Shield EX, described as w/b. They very much do not reccommend doing that for a bag of this temp rating however. FF also said they've messed around with the welded baffle thing and essentially sounded like they thought it unreliable. They use a 'tuck stitch' for the baffles that is supposed to hide the baffle/shell seam and protect the thread from abrasion and to a lesser degree, moisture.

http://www.featheredfriends.com/Picasso/Subhead/FabInfo.html

The Mountain Hardwear Phantom seems to be a decent bag but www.outdoorgearlab.com thinks their shell fabric is a bit whimpy, although they do like the fact that the Phantom comes with a stuff stack that truly compacts the bag (down to just over the size of about a 1.5L water bottle or so. Watch video: http://www.altrec.com/mountain-hardwear/phantom-32-degree-sleeping-bag?skus_all=true

I've got a prodeal w/ Mountain Hardwear, so that makes the Phantom a good deal for me, but the FF Osprey with 900 fill down and Pertex UL (better shell) is hard to beat and would likely be the best overall bag. outdoorgearlab.com put this bag (Merlin and Kestral in same series, just different sizes to fit you body better for max efficiency) as the 'highest performance summer weight sleeping bag' they reviewed.

Edited by jmden on 04/14/2012 14:31:54 MDT.

not sure if you can get that in the US but it seems to fit what you want (disclaimer - i never used one...but the company is very respectable)

MC

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look.

I think I'm going to go FF Osprey with the 900 cubic in./oz. down fill and Pertex Endurance UL shell. I've got the older Pertex Endurance on a 15F TNF down bag I've had for years that I use for late Oct/Nov elk hunting mostly now. Doing some research reveals that Pertex Endurance has an HH of 1000mm and a water vapor permeability of over 7000g/m2/24hrs. It has worked well for me in the past and I like having some measure of water resistance in the shell of a bag so I'm OK with that measure of performance vs. a true w/b laminate in the shell of a bag as mentioned in the MH Spirit SL in the first post. I'm sure the Endurance UL in the new FF bag is a bit lighter than the standard Endurance I have in the older mentioned TNF bag, but that is also the point of an ultralight 'go fast' summer bag that packs down to the size of a 2 L water bottle in the pack. The new bag will be used for summer backpacking and late summer/early fall high alpine black bear and mule deer hunting along with the new Easton Mountain Products Kilo 1P tent and the Thermarest NeoAir Trekker. Should be a great, light and very comfortable combo. Thanks for the tips all.