Originally Posted By: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor
[quote]A word of caution on the temperature ratings specified by US retailers.

Here is an example of the specification for a high spec synthetic Bag - Thermarest Centari™ bag.

http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/sleeping-bags/centari-0-sleeping-bag/product

The EN Comfort rating is -5 C / 23 F

Yet the Rating given by most retailers regard it as a -18 C / 0F bag.

If you are going to go out in dangerously cold temperatures please go by the EN Comfort rating to give yourself a safety margin and insure the insulation under your sleeping bag has a R rating of at least 4.5 when using a synthetic sleeping bag.


Good points. Certainly you need to verify ratings on any bag. The EN rating is a good one, but, like the US ratings which are made using a different set of criteria, they can be misleading and add up to a mismatched bag. I find the US ratings a little high for me, the EN way too high. I usually need to go one step higher - using my usual setup. My Daughter-in-Law is a totally different story. She needs a bag warmer that the EN rating to stay comfortable. She uses a US rated 0F bag in 40F weather. At 35 she needs to add a dog (thankfully she has one that likes to sleep with her). grin


Respectfully,

Jerry