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zip
Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 1, 2015 - 05:50pm PT
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I just found a receipt for my Marmot bag dated 1990.
Hard to believe it has lasted 25 years.
What you got?
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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North Face bag bought in 1976.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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My seventy six SnowLion, limited edition made it to the early 2000's with the baffles mostly intact, now it's a comforter with "flow"
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Don't have a bag, but I have a down parka that is about forty years old and it is in fantastic condition.
Admittedly only used in the Winters.
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Alpamayo
Trad climber
Davis, CA
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define "last"
Still intact? Still warm?
I still use a NF down bag from about 1993, but I doubt it is anywhere near as warm as it was back then.
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ruppell
climber
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Damn. Do you people ever use these things? If I get 5 years out of a bag it's served me well.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Good point! I have a SnowLion expedition dble parka, ( one coat over another, no overlapping. Baffle seams) from '73. That is as warm as it gets... In storage in California...
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John Duffield
Mountain climber
New York
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My US Army Down Mummy Bag, I acquired in 1972. Wasn't new.
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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to answer zips question: 1990 or so on Moonstone.
to answer ruppell: not enough. boo.
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c wilmot
climber
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I have read that the fill power of a bag has a lot to due with how long it will maintain its loft. Supposedly the newer stuff that is 850 900 fill power will break down quicker. older bags were likely made with 450, 650 loft fill- thus lasting longer. And whatever you do- dont wash it with soap- I took away the temp rating of mine doing that.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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(cuz i don't know nuthin' gnu) copy/paste my post from the frostline thread:
in the early days of the uc santa cruz outing club, maybe '70-'72, my climbing buddies had made a frostline sleeping bag.
my vw bus got stolen and soon recovered, but without the north face sleeping bag in which my dreams
had been coming true for a few years already.
but now, there were girls to share dreams with. so, thinking these guys learned everything they would need to know from frostline, i confidently commissioned them to build me a replacement, but with a zip-in triangle to accommodate cuddling activities. i'm almost sure it was their first commercial effort, i mean the feathers were flying in an off campus student rental.
so the bag they produced lasted years, the material purchased from an early seamy guy in town. the idea took hold.
i grinned at the novelty label they attached involving some apple theme close enough to the beatles' new label
i questioned whether it would endure. apple's woz hadn't even started attending the homebrew club.
before long, those two went into business along with another buddy in grand junction.
i spent a gob of my first alaska construction earnings on my first ski getup,
and headed right to colorado to start bumming off my buddies' hospitality,
which was quite generous.
there was quite a lot of entrepreneurial energy on display to admire.
seems i was right about the label. it had changed to marmot.
about a decade later, when i retired that bag, it crossed my mind it may have
sentimental value to ... ? naw these guys have mountains of things to be proud of,
besides, the post office doesn't handle hazardous waste
~~~~
the decade referenced was full on dirtbagging, not a rent receipt i can remember. early in the period, a patch of duct tape came to be. don't deploy the bag straight down
on a bare steel van floor while roaring between yosemite and grand junction unless you've checked for exhaust leaks, even if the van belongs to the guy that sewed it
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Crazy Bat
Sport climber
Birmingham, AL & Seweanee, TN
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Wow! As I lay here under my 1975 Frostline that is now a summer bag and occasional comforter I'm thinking I could have been part of Marmot. LOL
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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I still have my '72 Sierra Designs 200 bag. Can be used
for warm nights, but better as a comforter. It's been
through lots--I'm not sure I can get rid of it.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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How toxic are yer farts?
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Climberdude
Trad climber
Clovis, CA
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Zip,
It depends on what you mean as "last" as others have mentioned, but also on how you use and store them. If you store them always packed up, then definitely they will not maintain the same warmth for many years. However, if you store them not in a bag or in a very loose bag, then you should be able to get at least 20 years or more out of a good bag. I take from your question you may be considering the cost of a down bag over a synthetic bag, but perhaps not. If so, then I can tell you from having many down bags as well as some synthetic bags that the higher cost of down is definitely worth it in terms of longevity. I have slept very well in a 45 year old down bag that was properly stored.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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I just sold a Marmot bag that was from about 1988 at a yard sale...got about $10 for it.
It probably had a 50 degree rating, though it started out as more like 30 degrees. Back when it was newer, I did a lot of Alpine Aire freezed dried meals- the ones with onions in particular were extremely toxic (Reilly)...this no doubt shortened it's lifespan.
Lifespan has a lot to do with storage, the quality of the down, and washing- not too much, not too little, use the right cleaning process. I've never been diligent enough to balance all of those variables, so I always start out with the best down bag I can find, knowing that it will improve it's lifespan in spite of my poor maintenance habits.
That said, Feathered Friends is the shiz-bot. I've got at least 5 of their bags, and every one kicks ASS.
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son of stan
Boulder climber
San Jose CA
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Thats easy.
Forever. If stored unrolled and puffed up in a large bag filled with nitrogen
in a dark closet.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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There are far too many variable factors to answer your question with any sort of accuracy--generalizations suck, see?
Let's name a few:
personal hygiene
who did you let borrow it?
actual weight, hand, stiffness of fabric vs. claims of mfr.
actual weight of down, down quality
number of nights spent in it
number of times washed properly
number of times washed improperly
did you bother to air it out prior to stuffing it each time?
did you bother storing it loosely and not scrunched into the bottom of a box?
did you use a bivy cover with it?
did you get it soaked and were you able to dry it well before storage?
did you ever use a liner inside the bag?
more factors...ad nauseum.
Personal bag is still as good as it ever was and I wish I could say the same for my body.
My North Face Superlight with the extra half-pound of good goose down fill will someday belong to a grandchild.
Probably the best outdoors item I ever purchased AND with a 40% markdown.
I never thought of nitrogen. Except with Guiness.
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jstan
climber
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While staying in C4 a friend received a 25 pound block of limburger cheese from his worried girl friend. He stored it in the foot of his sleeping bag. Figured that was the only place where a bear would not be able to smell it.
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Stephen McCabe
Trad climber
near Santa Cruz, CA
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Sierra Designs. 1974?
Never left stuffed. Aired out in the shade.
Once up El Cap. Maybe only once in the dirt, otherwise in tent or on a tarp. Almost never loaned. Lots of camping and backpacking. The dog would sneak on to the bottom of it in later years and crowd my leg room. A couple of small patches where sparks melted tiny holes.
Hooblie,where's our climbing instructor and marmot guy, Dave Huntley? I remember him working on those frostline kits.
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