Good point and suggestions. I've always thought of poncho liners as multi-use, fairly inexpensive, make-do and semi-disposable, and down bags as specialized tools for backpacking, far more delicate but comfortable to much lower temperatures. I also have heard that keeping down bags stuffed may be harmful to them. BTW, those WM bags are amazing, aren't they?
Yes, the Western Mountaineering bags are pretty nice. A bag you can take down to freezing that weighs just slightly more than
one pound and stuffs to the size of a smallish loaf of bread is kinda cool.
WM has an even lighter bag, but I wanted the versatility of the full length zip so that the bag can be used in hotter wx. You are correct that you shouldn't store down in such a way that is compressed. If compressed for too long period of time, the down doesn't bounce back, and it loses some of its insulative capacity.
The poncho liners are a good bet though. In my time in the military and subsequently I've never run across a person who had a bad word to say about them. I don't think they're good for specialized, high altitude mountaineering outings, but dang they'd be good in moderate weather for an awful lot of applications. Plus, for the price, why not get several -- for you BOB, your car kit, for your workplace, etc? Combine it with a poncho, and you got yourself a nice little sleep system.
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