KaskadskyjKozak

This is embarassing to confess, but I use this PHAT -20 down bag for winter glacier trips. It's way overkill, but I since I have the bag, I might as well use it. Besides- it's SOO freakin' comfy. It also has the added bonus of being a booty magnet. What would be sufficient for a Feb climb of Rainier? A zero degree bag? A zero degree bag plus a silk liner? Just trying to get a feel for the range of use here...

Thanks Squid. Regarding 2., what would you use for winter volcanoes? As for breathing into the bag... I've been guilty of that on cold nights in my synthetic. I'll have to break that habit if I go with down...

I'm considering purchasing a down bag with my REI dividend. I'm currently looking at the Marmot Helium and the Mountain Hardware Phantom 15. Both bags are rated to 15 degrees. I currently own an REI Shasta 15 degree bag which is 3 lbs 4 oz and has a 9x21 stuff sack. I've used it for a couple of climbing seasons. My main motivations for the down bags are lighter weight and more compressability. My bag takes a lot of space in my (large) multi-day pack (Gregory Shasta), and adds over 3 lbs to an already heavy pack (6+ lbs). I am considering buying a smaller pack for most overnight glacier climbs (as well as day-hikes/scrambles/back country skiing) and a smaller sleeping bag would help make that feasible. My questions: 1) would it be better to go with a 30 degree bag for shorter trips, or should I stick with a 15 or 20 degree bag - it is the most versatile in the Cascades? 2) How does a 15/20 degree bag fair in cold conditions in Spring and Fall in the Cascades? When / for what climbs would it be insufficient? A winter ascent of Rainier or Baker? How about spring? (I'm considering going up Baker in a couple of weeks) 3) The Helium and Phantom are pretty comparable. The Helium is a bit wider (I am broad-shouldered), but the Phantom has a two-way zipper - good for venting the legs. Anything else people have noticed with either? Good experiences? Bad? 4) I know you don't want to get down wet. This means from the inside as well. How susceptible are these two bags to damp clothing, or breathing into the bag (a no-no?), or sweating? 5) I'm just under 6 feet tall. Is it a good or bad idea to go with a 6'6" bag to leave room for a water bottle or clothes you want to be warm/dry (socks). My synthetic bag is 6', and I don't put much in it with me. TIA

there's a profound difference between a person guilty of heinous crimes and an innocent who suffered a terrible accident.

Have you ever seen someone who is profoundly mentally retarded? Not much difference. I suppose they should all be euthanized as well. Hmm, reminds me of a certain 20th century, teutonic ideology... they are all Untermenschen, nicht wahr? Und wir muessen Lebensraum haben...

sheeple

Know anything about J2EE application development?

internationalism and world government

I'll be they do vote... along with the dead and felons...

Oh shit, I forgot all about that weird, white hermaphrodite whack-job...

We need something else to obsess about and occupy our empty lives with now that Scott Peterson has been sentenced and Robert Blake was acquited.

It's illegal to use them - let the law enforcement deal with this. Congress should have better things to spend their time on. They're just being pulled around by the latest media hype and public "outrage" (some leaders), or worse, are trying to capitalize on the issue to score some easy brownie points. Dumb asses.

Steroids are aid.

if it's yellow let it mellow...

Then this is what the opponents to drilling should be highlighting - not the environmental impact or the "small" amount of oil deposits - but that the oil will be exported and would not help DOMESTIC oil demand one iota.

If that's true, then that's a hell of a lot bigger lie than anything told leading up to the Iraq invasion.

How so? He's not up for reelection. He can piss off anybody he wants, and still make a good living publishing memoirs and making speaking tours after his term ends.

Liking making unnecessary climbing trips to Turkey, South America, etc.

Excellent point. And people's desire for a better life and our need for resources are also inseparably linked. If you had the following choice - take a 25% pay cut in your salary to cut oil use by 25%, would you do it? Exactly. And note that nobody wants to answer your points here. They just repeat the mantra about the "Bushies", "big government", "greed", and "secret oil plans". How many of the self-proclaimed environmentalists on this forum have calculated how much gasoline they consume every year and then actively cut back by 10, 20, or 30% each year following 9/11? I'll bet the answer is close to none. A few years ago a coworker told me he was a "rabid environmentalist". He drove a Ford Explorer to work 40 miles round-trip everyday, where it sat in the parking lot. He had no kids, and never took the thing off of paved streets. f***ing hypocrite POS.

Hey shit for brains - that's what I said in the first place: NIMBY

yes, and in Europe population is actually decreasing, if I recall correctly (although the figures I read might be excluding immigration).

Well said. We are in a fine mess.

We don't know how much oil is in ANWR. There may be significantly more - or less - than is hypothesized. I'm all for raising cafe standards, but that doesn't solve any problem long-term. The developing world will want more and more oil, and our population and energy consumption will only go up. Let's have an open bid for the work. Or just give it to the French - then you'd probably be all for it.

Gee, that's not the impression I got from watching PBS specials about the diverse life of the deserts around the world, and their fragile ecosystems. Yeah, you really showed me. Your claims must be true, 'cos you said so... And yet you are so dismissive of the impact on the fragile deserts of Arabia. Tsk tsk tsk. And must it be so? I think not. Just because it's done that way in Tejas, doesn't mean it must be done that way, assuming your claims are true (a big ASSumption)...

What I'm saying is that I've never heard a loud-mouthed eco-nut ever say one damn word about the (supposedly huge) negative environmental impacts of oil drilling around the world. Only in relation to ANWR and off-shore drilling in California. And regarding Iraq, let's not forget the environmental destruction caused by Saddam following the Gulf War when he lit up all the Kuwaiti wells. And let's not forget how he destroyed the marshes of the Tigris and Euphrates. Not a peep from those supposedly concerned with the environment - a strong indicator of their pretense of environmental concern, a thin veneer over purely partisan, knee-jerk, political predispostions. The ANWR debate is just another thing for lefties to bandy around in their discontent.