Details of the Countycomm Sleeping bag

The county comm bags have a zipper down the left side, with a draw-string mummy hood. They are tapered slightly at the feet.

They have a tag on them (like a mattress tag) that says the finished size is
80x30x20 with 1.6 lbs of filling.
The registration # on them is CA3856(CN)

Short of a wiggy's bag, this is the best deal I've seen on something like this.

Martin,

Thanks for the report. Looks like some more of my money will be headed to Countycomm. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Save some money - looks like the same bag is at Major Surplus:

Sleeping Bag

Unfortunately, I bought the countycomm bag a while ago - it's actually pretty cheesy in deign & construction - it's only good point (IMO) is that it packs small.


Sam

You get what you pay for and for $30 you don't get much. I have been sleeping in Wiggy's bags since 1995. They get washed all the time and have never had a problem with the bags. Just spent 10 days camping/hunting in Pennsylvania in a lot of cold and wet and was never cold or wet when sleeping. Wash one of these $30 bags a few times and all you will have left is a lumpy shell....Bob

Well, yeah, but the comparison is really not valid. I wanted a bag for occasional use, not a 10 day hunting trip. For that, a Wiggys bag is the only way to go.
It's a decent bag for the money.

Well, I guess I have a different feeling on buying equipment. I buy the best I can afford and usually end up only having to buy an item once. Sleeping bags, knives, boots, tents...a lot of people think nothing of buying something cheap, they use it once, it falls apart, costs more to ship back than it's worth so they just throw it away. They have not only wasted their money but more importantly they support manufacturers who basically waste natural resources by making $hit products. Sorry to rant but it's just something that gets to me....
I've been using one of the Wiggy's Desert Bags for 9 years. Think I paid $80 for it from BQM. It has over 100 nights of use and at least 6 washings and it's still like new. Called the company to ask if they would make me a Desert Bag with a 20 and 40 degree sides for spring and fall travel. THE OWNER answered the phone. He said no problem..charged me $10 more than what a 20 degree bag would have cost me and it mates with the original Desert Bag to be a two person bag. Or I can stick the 40 degree bag inside the dual bag and go down to zero.
But I see your point, if you are only going to use it "lightly" it will probably do.....Bob

yes, on the one hand i agree in buying quality hard use gear when it gets just that, repeated hard use. however, on the other hand, i cant see buying a Wiggys or a CRK or a Wilson Combat just to thorw in the back of the truck for a once or twice emergency use. in that situation I think the CC bag, mora/opinel and mossberg respectively have their place. they will get the job done once or twice and if i have to throw them away after one or two hard uses then it was money well spent. not to mention fewer tears when the truck is broken into. just a thought

I agree with you on the theft part. Don't know what your security situation is like but I was able to find a behind the rear seat gunsafe for my 4 door pickup. It is not as heavy duty as I would like but it will take more than a big screwdriver to get in. In the bed there is a aluminum bed box that has all the other gear. In most instances they will have to steal the truck to get to the stored items....Bob

Well, you guys have more organized phlosophies for this sort of thing than I do.

Whatever my intention at the start, when I get interested in something, I usually end up buying 2-5 versions of it as part of the process of learning what's (perhaps subjectively) "best". Then I keep buying new "best" candidates periodically as they appear, and as my usage of them changes (I learn from my mistakes what really works)... so I end up with nine tents, a dozen or so large and small packs, a dozen stoves, maybe 20 flashlights, and enough knives to fill a wheelbarrow.

I really should try to sell this stuff on ebay...

I like to learn from the mistakes of others...it's cheaper that way.
Also the only difference between you and me is that you at least admit you have a problem. That is the first step to being cured...I on the other hand "have no problem" and therefore will never be cured.... <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I am guilty of doing that with guns and knives and I thought I was bad until I heard your story. I do sell the stuff though. I am the anti packrat. If I'm not using it then I can't justify keeping it. Ebay (and Gunbroker) is my friend. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I thought I was bad until I heard your story.

On the theme of cheap stuff for the car... I've been looking at my Target fleece sleeping bag rolled up on a shelf in the garage, and thinking that might be better in the trunk.

Unzipped, it could be used as an emergency blanket. Zipped, it would work as a minimalist thermal barrier.

I also carry a 7 x 9 tarp and a big (queen-sized) velour blanket. With a hank of paracord, I think I have the shelter stuff pretty well covered. (I'm in Florida, so the cold isn't as big an issue as in other places.)

Bear

My security situation is pretty sad. I work in a bad neighborhood and vehicles get broken into all the time. I really need a toolbox for the truck bed. The only reason I dont have one is because the truck is brand new so I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Those behind the seat gunsafes are very nice. I wish I could get one. I used to have something similar in my old Jeep Wrangler. Unfortunately there is no "behind the seat" in my new truck. The '04 F150 Supercab's backseat is right on the rear wall of the cab. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I think thats the only thing I don't like about the truck. Once I get a toolbox I probably would move a lot of gear in to it but guns, knives and other similar metal tools I fear would rust too easily back there. Now if I could find and under-the-seat gunsafe for the rear bench seat to put the rustables in then toss the rest of my gear in the bed box, that would work. Unfortunatly I havent seen and under-the-seat gunsafe yet. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> If I ever find such a thing though, I would probably buy it at almost any price. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

There is or was within the last year or two an under the seat gunsafe. I have a 96 Ford F250 CrewCab that it would not fit. Cabella's had them but I'm not sure if they do anymore. I just lucked into the behind the seat safe that I had over on Plainsman's Cabin. Asked if anyone knew if they were made any longer and one of the posters there said he had one that he had never mounted and would sell it as he had no vehicle that it could fit....
I don't carry the Wiggy's bags in the truck. Have 2 wool blankets, a space blanket and just found a wool blanket at WalMart that has a waterproof nylon shell on one side. They sell them for picnics. $15.00 Folds up and then has a zipper around the edge so it doesn't come unfolded and can be used as a cushion.....Bob

Thanks, Flotsam. I was going to throw it in the back of the truck as an emergency bag, but maybe I'll just add a couple of wool blankets. Thanks again for the heads-up.

Brian:

Regarding having your truck broken into.

Try doing what I did when working for the City of Milwaukee Housing Authority. I would work nights and have to park my personal van in a very unsafe even though gate and locked lot.

I took a pistol target with ten caliber .45 auto bullet holes in it, and a Colt catalog open to the page showing the .45 auto and left them on my dash. Every truck on that lot was broken into at one time or another during my tenure there, but mine was never touched. I also switched the coil to distributor high voltage wire with a defective one just in case somebody had some serious enough guts to try stealing the truck. Never a problem. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Not to sound confrontational, but have any of you guys who are being dismissive of countycomm's bag actually used one?

A few folks on CPF bought the Countycomm bags and posted detailed reviews that were not so favorable. Basically the bags were judged to be reasonable value for the money but not in the class of the higher-end bags that they imitate. Since Countycomm's blurb gave the impression that these bags were the same as the high-end bags except for the label, the people who bought them were disappointed.

Sorry, I searched but couldn't find any actual reviews.

Try here:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=715877

No fair, that's not even the same forum. : ) I'll check out their review.

But none of you guys own one? Anyway, thanks for the patience.


EDIT:

Okay, I just read the CPF thread and from what I could see there was only one person who actually had a "field test" post and it was favorable. Everyone else who bashed them did not seem to try them out. Oh well. I guess I'll buy a $20 one and hope for the best.

I have one (the compact black one), and I did try it out - it was not warm (IMO) past 40 degrees. All other points are as per my posts here & at CPF - inferior material, really bad zipper, crappy stuff sack.

BTW - Major Surplus & Survival sells the same bags for less.

Sam

I hope to try out the green one some time soon. Don't worry- I'll bring a "real" bag so I don't freeze to death. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />