I bought this bag to use on our trip a few weeks back and I thought I'd give you all my impressions. First of all this is a really big bag, you wouldn't want to take it backpacking, it would take up your entire backpack!
As a base-camp/car-camping bag it is truly great!
I have a torn ligament in my back so I've always had trouble sleeping in mummy bags as my back would really start hurting halfway through the night. So, fed up with hard nights sleep out at the Bend I decided it was time for me to get a bigger bag. I went with the Teton Sports because of the great price ($50) and the positive reviews I read on the bag at Amazon. I take reviews from strangers with a grain of salt, but with so many positive comments I figured the bag had to be at least semi decent.
Well I'm here to tell you that this is a really good rectangle bag! It's massive, plenty of room! I loved having actual foot room with this bag! I could roll over or side-sleep with no problems at all. The bag itself is of great construction with quality stitching. My bag had no loose threads or misaligned stitching. I'm a cold sleeper so I went with the 0 degree. the bag kept me nice and toasty on all our nights at Big Bend. The coldest it got was 21 degrees. 31 was the warmest it got at night. I feel like I would have been quite comfortable down to 0 degrees if it ever got that cold. One night (Tuesday night I beleive) it was 31 degrees, but with 50+ MPH winds blowing from the south. Very strange night! I still stayed warm. I felt no major drafts while in the bag. That impressed me! In the past in my old bags a Big Agnes Encampment and Marmot Pinnacle (which are both great backpacking bags) I've always felt a bit of draft in those high of winds.
The inside of the XL is very comfy. The interior is a quilted cotton (I believe) that is very cozy. The interior drawstring work very well and keep drafts out nicely! The zippers also work well. Very few snags which is always a plus. There's also a nice draft collar over the zipper to keep the cold from seeping through the zipper seams.
So what about negatives? We the hood doesn't work very well (but that was to be expected with a rectangle bag), it's just not very comfortable when you draw it around your head. And it will slip off if you toss and turn a lot. You'd be better off using high quality full coverage beanie or balaclava. That's really the only negative that I can think of at the moment.
I had never heard of Teton Sports before purchasing this bag, but I came away very impressed! I think I might have finally found the perfect bag for me to base-camp or car camp.
Highly recommended!
Teton Sports XL 0 Degree Sleeping Bag
