Big Agnes Farrington

Emergency use or as a booster is OK for skinny people, but it has a few design issues and could be better.

Sometimes having a bivvy sack in your ski-touring day pack is enough, but when you get older you do need some extra piece of mind, Just in case.

Weight of the insulation isn't given but it seems to be about 55 to 65GSM, about the same loft as a Nano Puff Jacket. Can be compressed to a third the size of the little stuff sack so I can get a bit more gear into my pack and the total weight is so low I won't really notice it. That's the good part.

The bad news is that this is so skinny cut on the top half of the bag that anybody who wears a men's large or bigger won't be able to close the zipper so I lose the benefit of a full-length insulation layer and will need to carry something for my top half. 

As an extra layer over a lightweight down bag in winter to get a temperature boost don't expect more than 5 degrees due to the fact that the insulation is stitched sewn though both  shell layers so the benefit of wind-proofing on the exterior is lost. As a liner it might add at least ten degrees Celsius until the Primaloft Silver degrades, but the Silver is a reasonable robust fibre.

It's a cheap solution to a problem. I just wish it was cut bigger around the chest and shoulders. It is the start of summer in Australia so it has not yet been used. I may cut it down into an elephants foot half bag or I may gift it to my daughter as an extender for her Chouinard UL which is still going strong.

I'd not recommend this bag unless you are on the smaller size and can get it on sale. I'd return it, but it was a clearance item and it isn't faulty.

Long term additional review 2026:

This lived in my ski touring day pack for a season, used it once as a liner/ temperature booster around my legs when there was a colder than expected couple of nights

This overbag idea was such a good idea that after thinking about if for a while I modified the BA bag. I removed the short side zipper and sewed up the side seam. I then took some nylon taffeta I had lying around and some Thinsulate from my stash. Cut a large lozenge shape about 400mm long and 250mm wide, slashed the centre and inserted the insulated panel into the top of the bag.

Instant improvement; it now fits well over my overstuffed Macpac Firefly and gives me a summer system good to freezing. If you can find one of these bags on clearance of used I would recommend this modification. Of course you could leave the side zipper in, but I saved 30 grams by removing it.

Background

50 plus years of bushwalking and camping in all seasons and some rockclimbing and Alpine thrown in. An avid ski tourer and winter camper. Getting old and arthritic these days.