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Mountain Hardwear UltraLamina 15°

rated 4 of 5 stars
photo: Mountain Hardwear UltraLamina 15° 3-season synthetic sleeping bag

Few things are worse than waking up at 1:00 am shivering in your tent while camping or backpacking. A quality sleeping bag rated to the night temperatures of your trip should keep you toasty warm all night. I tested the Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina 15 sleeping bag, and was frankly disappointed. See my video review for more details.

Pros

  • Fairly comfortable

Cons

  • Temperature rating not accurate
  • Poor design

Source: borrowed it

Perfection!

Pros

  • Light
  • Compressible
  • Warm
  • Good design

I was skeptical prior to purchase. A synthetic fill bag that weighs <3lbs and compresses to 12x7? Figured it would be thin and that I'd freeze my butt off. Turned out to be one of those rare pieces of gear that far exceeded my expectations.

The comfort rating is 30°F. I've taken it down to the freezing mark and it kept me warm. Also slept in it at 60°F and wasn't sweating. The bag comes with a compression sack and doesn't take much effort to cinch it down to the advertised 12x7. Easily fits in the sleeping bag compartment of my Gregory Baltoro.

It's surprising light for a synthetic bag. Puffs up quickly when unpacked. The construction seems excellent. The zipper layout varies by model year. Mine has a full zip down the left with 3 pulls and a 1/3 zip down the right with 2 pulls. This allows you to be in the bag with your arms out to work on stuff. Pretty nifty. The zippers are fairly beefy for a sleeping bag and I've had zero snags.

No draft collar, but I didn't miss it. The hood isn't overly large and the cut of the bag isn't overly tight compared to some. For me it's a great fit. I'm a side sleeper and the bag presented me no problems doing that. The colors (green and black) are also very much to my liking. Hate gear that looks like a bag of skittles.

Picked it up for $105 on sale from campsaver with their 15% email discount added. Super deal!!! So happy with this purchase I'm thinking about buying another just in case something happens to this one.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $105

Great bag. Only issue is temperature rating. I wouldn't use this in 15 degree weather.

Pros

  • Comfortable
  • Light
  • Packs pretty small

Cons

  • Temperature rating is a little low

Overall, this is a great bag. It is very comfortable. I'm 6'0" and I got the long version and I can't imagine being too much taller and this thing still being comfortable though. There is some wiggle room in it which I like. It's pretty easy to get into with the two zippers. There is a short zipper on one side and a longer zipper on the other side. It doesn't get all the way down to the footbox but it gets pretty close.

I had some condensation in the tent and it got the end of the bag wet one night but that didn't affect the bags effectiveness. It packs up pretty small. It has a little pouch next to the right zipper and it came in handy.

I have used it a few times now and the only complaint I have is that the temperature rating is a little low for it. 15 degrees in this bag would not be comfortable. One night it got down to like 30 and I woke up several times cold. However, I was letting a friend use my sleeping pad that night so that may have had something to do with it. The next night got down to about 40 and with the sleeping pad I was cozy and warm.

Overall, I like this bag a lot and would recommend it to anyone. However, if you're going to consistently be in extremely cold weather then I might go a different direction.

Source: bought via a "pro deal"
Price Paid: $125

Warm and quite confortable overall, but with some design flaws! And a zipper at risk!

Pros

  • Warm
  • Comfortable

Cons

  • Bulky
  • Strange design of some parts
  • Doubtful quality of zipper

This bag has felt warm and comfortable, with enough room and a nice feeling in contact with body. It has stayed this way in a variety of conditions, even with light rain, and heavy condensation. (But I have not tried it yet anywhere near its low temperature range.)

All of this is very important!

At the same time I felt there are some important flaws:

  1. The bag has turned out to be both bigger and heavier than stated on the official page.
  2. The zipper looks "hmm...? fragile!", gets stuck a lot on itself, and on the fabric. I wonder how is this going to hold in time.
  3. The design of the shoulders collar is quite uncomfortable. The whole collar feels to be misplaced, the draw cord ends up lying under the shoulders, where I can feel it a lot. Also the small hood feels too small!
  4. To pack the sack in its bag, is a not so easy everyday task (but it will sure make my fingers and wrists stronger!)

So at the moment... only 3 stars out of 5! :S

Source: bought it new

Awesome synthetic bag.

Pros

  • Packs small
  • Light
  • Warm
  • Great zipper design

I do field work in an area with dermestidae beetles that infest anything made of animal products like down and wool. So when putting together an all synthetic gear set up I was stoked to find the Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina 15.

I have the green and black one with the full zipper along the left side and partial along the right. This zipper set up is awesome, unfortunately MH has discontinued it. Their newest model only has 1 zipper so I'm really glad I got one when I did.

Even with the design change I would buy one again if something happened to mine. The bag is warm. For a synthetic filled bag it compresses small and is lightweight. MH hit it out of the park with this bag.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $125

Super-warm light bag.

Pros

  • Warm
  • Light
  • Very compressible
  • Quality construction
  • True to temp rating

Cons

  • Short zippers (2009)

I bought this bag in 2009, Women's Long. It is the version with two 1/3 length zippers, which is my only gripe about the bag. For warmer weather sleeping, there isn't enough ventilation to be comfortable.

That said, it is excellent in colder weather!I slept outside in this bag at 20 degrees, with a closed cell pad, and was toasty. The Micro thermic (I think) has exceptional loft and compressibility. Zippers are high quality, hood is well shaped and cinches nicely.

Overall, the best, most thoughtfully designed bag Ive ever owned. (except the zippers, which they remedied in later versions!)

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $215

I just purchased this sleeping bag and have not used it yet. However, I was debating between this bag and Sierra Designs equivalent, the Volt bag. I bought the Volt bag and it was too tight in the chest area. I returned it and got the UltraLamina and I'm glad I did. I love the design. I like that the zippers go down halfway on both sides. There is a chest pocket for a headlamp or chapstick. I'm going to use it this weekend and I'll have a report when I get back.

Design: Mummy
Fill: Synthetic/ Thermo Micro
Temperature Rating: 15 F
Price Paid: $190

Took me a long time, and numerous backpacking trips since, but I still love this sleeping bag. As I mentioned in my previous review, the half zips are nice and I like having a a cargo pocket by the head gasket. I also liked that Mountain Hardwear inserted a stiffened piece of fabric next to the zipper so that you don't get the fabric stuck in the zipper. Not sure if other companies are doing this as well, but it is a nice perk! Hope that helps!

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Specs

Men's
regular long
Price MSRP: $205.00
Historic Range: $34.95-$275.00
Reviewers Paid: $105.00-$190.00
Women's
regular long
Price MSRP: $205.00
Historic Range: $117.95-$275.00
Reviewers Paid: $215.00
Weight 2 lb 15 oz / 1340 g 3 lb 3 oz / 1440 g
Fill weight 2 lb 3 oz / 980 g 2 lb 6 oz / 1080 g
Loft 5 in / 15 cm 5 in / 15 cm
Temperature rating 15 F / -9 C 15 F / -9 C
EN comfort 34 F / 1 C 34 F / 1 C
EN lower limit 23 F / -5 C 23 F / -5 C
Fill Thermic Micro synthetic Thermic Micro synthetic
Shape Mummy Mummy
Max user height 5 ft 5 in / 165 cm 5 ft 10 in / 178 cm
Shoulder girth 56 in / 142 cm 56 in / 142 cm
Hip girth 58 in / 147 cm 58 in / 147 cm
Foot girth 36 in / 91 cm 38 in / 97 cm
Price $205.00 USD $215.00 USD
Product Details from Mountain Hardwear »

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