I know i know...this bag weighs more than Ueli Steck's complete gear to ascend Shisha Pangma....but you buddies are all i have for advice :)

So im looking for a cheap and cheerful solution to going out with the wife and girls on car camping (4x4 etc) and wanted something we could cuddle in (as opposed to two mummy bags etc) would be relatively cheap and warm enough for the my boss while allowing me to vent on my side.

As it turns out there is one (physically ONE!!) double sleeping bag in Israel and its a TNF twinpeaks. So im thinking instead of having my bro schlep some other beast over form the US maybe ill just get that.
Can anyone tell me:
1) its rated 20F - I assume that is for a single person ??
2) will it be warm enough down to 35~40 for my wife (assuming im in it as well)
3) the specific bag is prob 1~2 years old (sitting in the retailer's storage room rolled in its storage sack) is it a safe bet its still ok warmth wise? I assume synth degrades only from active compression cycles? anyway to test (except by sleeping in the cold)
4) was it comfortable for you in couple mode?

Thanks
Mike

My assumptions:

1. The material (HOT SL Synthetic Insulation) is hollow core TNF insulation, and all their bags test well so I would assume the 20º temperature rating is accurate. in 30-40º weather, this bag would keep you warm because there's another person in it with you.

2. The bag will have lost no warmth unless it was heavily compressed in storage. Even then, probably not much- send it through the dryer on no heat with tennis balls for a few hours to restore it.

3. If you're car camping, you can always bring a few blankets to use on top of the sleeping bag!

thanks Max

re temp rating - im just confused RE do they test it for 1 person or two. If the former then it should easily be good for lower than 20F i assume (or the flip side of that - be warm enough for my wife who sleeps with 2 undergarment layers and a fleece with 2 blankets while I sleep naked with half my body out :)

RE dryer - so you think these are short filament fibers (as opposed to climashield) and thus will benefit from tennis balls? i though that was only for down?

You might be over thinking this. Two people sleep together in temps above freezing generate almost enough warm without much of a sleep system. Some options:

Just get a cheap old fashioned rectangular sleeping bag that can unzip flat. Use it as a quilt.

Buy a thick bedroom quilt at your local department store (on sale of course).

Bring a couple blankets just in case the first time to dial your system in.

This is how we do it in our tent trailer. (Although we have a furnace should we choose to use it) But not really necessary. We have slept in the 30's without the furnace.

I haven't used this bag but we sold them at the store I used to work at. The temp rating is not done scientifically. They just base the rating on how much insulation they used. I don't think they took into account that there are two people in there. The North Face's temperature ratings are generally accurate for their higher priced bags (such as the Cat's Meow, anything that comes with a storage bag basically) but are not accurate for their budget bags. They are sold in Europe though and have their standard rating system so you could prob check out the rating on a european site. I believe the insulation is short staple but either way, using a tennis ball is strictly for down. The tennis balls break up down clusters in the dryer but they would break up bonded synthetic insulation. Their H.O.T. insulation is nothing to get excited about. Personally, I wouldn't bother with a double bag like this because two bags zipped together is more versatile.

So i got the bag (in shocking neon yellow) its basically the ONLY DOUBLE BAG EVER SEEN IN ISRAEL...:0

first impression:
got in the bag with wifei on living room floor, zipped up, cinched up. lay cuddled for a while....she seemed happy and then grabbed my behind and said "good work..I like it" and went up to sleep in bed..

so I call that a job well done.

I will report on temp rating as I get low temps

M