User Review: Mountain Hardwear Phantom 45°

Summary

Used this as my summer bag for my 2012 Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Worked wonderfully, kept my warm when it needed to and cool on those 80+ degree nights in the middle of nowhere.

My summer bag was the Mountain Hardwear 45° Long. Imagine carrying a propane tank strapped to your back for a few months, and then all of a sudden switching it out for a golf ball. That’s how I felt rolling into Pearisburg and getting this bad boy.

It packs down tiny, weighs nothing, and was absolutely perfect for the miserable heat of the 2012 summer (which by the way, had some of the hottest temps on record for each state I went through). I don’t really have anything to compare it to as this was the only bag of its kind that I used, but man… love this thing.

The worst part about it was having to switch back to the Marmot Sawtooth in Hanover.