Eureka! Casper 15

I bought this bag for Philmont, trying to stay warm and light. It worked out very well, with the temps. getting into the high 40's. When I returned home to upstate NY, I planned on making this my regular fall bag.

Went on a fall trip to Canada, temps in the high 30's, and the bag was cold on a Big Agnes Clear View pad. Contacted Eureka and they sent me a new bag. Tried again, this time down to low 30's, bag still cold. Eureka replaced the bag with below zero bag.

I would recommend this bag down to around 40 F. It packs small and is light, but is not up to its 15 degree temp. rating. The important lesson here is that Eureka stands behind their products.

There are some good things about this bag, primarily its light weight, seems to be well constructed, and has a nice stuff sack.

I can only give it two stars however, because its +15 temp rating is a fantasy. The true rating in my opinion would be closer to +35.

Last January the forecast called for temps in the mid-teens, so I set up a tent in my back yard, and tested the Casper. I wore wool socks, poly long johns, merino wool top, and a knit hat. Also had a thermarest pad. The temp did drop to 16. By the middle of the night, I was so cold my teeth were chattering.

Safety was as close as the back door, so I stuck it out for the night. If I was in the field, I'm sure that I would have had to get up and stoke the fire.

Another bad feature, is that your body moisture is wicked away (a good thing), but the moisture is transported to the foot of the bag. The foot end of the bag is sopping wet in the morning. I lent the bag to a friend recently who said the same thing happend to him.

This is an amazing product. I don't know why anyone would pass this up. Good price, really light, and the size it packs up to is incredible. Warmth is astounding but I haven't gotten too low yet. Most places sell it for $80 but on Vermont's Barre Army Navy store online, it can be purchased for only $65. Don't look any further. This is the one.