Your 3-day Ski Tour Set-Up? (Tent, Backpack, and Sleeping Bag Advice Needed)

[hafjell]

Is there any advantage to going long with the sleeping pad? I went with a "long" bag (I'm 5'9") for extra room for boot liners and whatnot, am wondering if there's any benefit to carrying the extra 2 ounces for a "long" pad. Guessing a long pad might be a hassle in a small winter tent though.

Go to the shop and get into it with your liners. Some of the long bags are ridiculously long. You may be able to get by with a regular length.

[SKIP IN7RO]

I did a search and this great thread appeared. Exped users, are the 9 series down or synmats noticeably more comfortable than the 7 series? Any Megamat Lite 12 users?

[AK47bp]

Is there any advantage to going long with the sleeping pad? I went with a "long" bag (I'm 5'9") for extra room for boot liners and whatnot, am wondering if there's any benefit to carrying the extra 2 ounces for a "long" pad. Guessing a long pad might be a hassle in a small winter tent though.

The pad doesn't need to be long to match the long bag. If the extra room below your feet will be gear drying/warming storage it doesn't need padded. Use a regular pad


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[auvgeek]

Is there any advantage to going long with the sleeping pad? I went with a "long" bag (I'm 5'9") for extra room for boot liners and whatnot, am wondering if there's any benefit to carrying the extra 2 ounces for a "long" pad. Guessing a long pad might be a hassle in a small winter tent though.

The main advantage is not having your feet (or liners) hanging off the pad onto snow. Personally, I like my pad to be long enough to stretch out in my bag and have my whole body fit on it. My wife prefers to carry an XS pad and put her pack at the bottom for her feet. Her puffy and spare clothes becomes her pillow...until she inevitably gets cold and doesn't have much of a pillow left. I'm soft and prefer a longer pad and a fleece-lined dry bag for a pillow. YMMV. As you said, just be sure the pad fits in all your and your partners' tents.

(*when we're not using our double bag/pad.)

[sandrock06]

Is there any advantage to going long with the sleeping pad? I went with a "long" bag (I'm 5'9") for extra room for boot liners and whatnot, am wondering if there's any benefit to carrying the extra 2 ounces for a "long" pad. Guessing a long pad might be a hassle in a small winter tent though.

just put your pack or puffy under your feet, no need for the long.

[1000-oaks]

Bump for the new season, think I finally have setup dialed.

Pack: Mammut Trion Pro 50 + 7
Tent: BD Firstlight 2P
Bag: 6' WM Antelope 5° (extra length for stuff)
Extra toastiness: Nunatak down balaclava
Booties (inside bag & boot shells): Feathered Friends
Mat: Exped Downmat HL (wide) + Z-Lite (double-up & backup)
Stove: Primus Omnilite Ti

[thecazdog]

Tent - Mountain Hardware Direkt2 - Great tent, mostly use it solo. With a partner just add the vestibule. Not great in rain, but kills it everywhere else.

Pack - Black Diamond Mission 75 and CAMP Ski Raptor. Solid pack for carrying everything, then light skimo pack for touring.

Sleeping Bag and mat - old Mtn Hardware Phantom (-18c) and a newish Exped UL winter mat with a thermarest z-lite

Interested in:

Tarptent Startospire Li as a possible alpine shelter?
Thermarest neoair winter version
Hyperlite pack when I have some spare cash

[John_B]

Tent: Tarp

Pack: Cilogear 45L

Bag: I just got a Phantom 15 from Mountain Hardwear and I'm pretty excited to not be freezing in my old down bag.

Pad. NeoAir Xtherm.

[AKbruin]

One thing I've discovered is that I really don't need a burly, heavy 4-season tent for my tours in the Sierra. I've been fine with 3-season tents. I reckon that a proper 4-season tent is necessary when there's real wind and weather and you may need to bunker down for a while. But my winter-camping tends to be opportunistic--if I see that there's going to be nasty weather, I do day tours instead of overnighters. I'd invest in a proper 4-season tent if I were going to do Denali or something similar, but they are too heavy and expensive for what I do in the Sierra.

[jacob_dbu]

One thing I've discovered is that I really don't need a burly, heavy 4-season tent for my tours in the Sierra. I've been fine with 3-season tents. I reckon that a proper 4-season tent is necessary when there's real wind and weather and you may need to bunker down for a while. But my winter-camping tends to be opportunistic--if I see that there's going to be nasty weather, I do day tours instead of overnighters. I'd invest in a proper 4-season tent if I were going to do Denali or something similar, but they are too heavy and expensive for what I do in the Sierra.

What 3-season tent do you use? I agree, the only winter-camping I've done has been in clear weather and a 4-season tent seems like just extra weight in that scenario.

[AKbruin]

I've used the BD Lighthouse and REI Taj 3 and friends' 3-season tents. I recently picked up a Marmot Tungsten 3 UL and have done a little backpacking with it. I think it'd be fine for two people in mellow winter conditions.