Thank you amper!

I’m choosing synthetic over down for contingency gear. Down has its advantages to be sure, but I want to carry gear that doesn’t need to be stored uncompressed, and that doesn’t degrade in performance so much when wet. Were I backpacking regularly, I might choose differently.

After my first post I bought a Recon 3 sleeping bag rated down to 23deg F. I haven’t tried it out yet; it’s a heck of a lot smaller than the milsurp sleep system. It’s the smallest-packed-size synthetic bag I could find with that kind of rating. As far as I can tell that’s the “you won’t die” rather than the “comfort” rating. With an already-owned synthetic camping blanket, a watch cap and good base layer I’m optimistic that I could get down somewhat lower than that at need.

For a sleeping pad, I wanted the best balance I could find between insulation, comfort, bulk, and cost. For bulk I really wanted to stay with an inflatable; that’s how I ended up where I did.

I thought long and hard about a hammock setup. In the end I chose not to carry one, as I’m not confident that I’d always be in a place where I could find a place to hang it. For planned backpacking, I could really see where I’d want to have one.

We use poly tarps for car camping and have been super happy with how they perform.