Couloir

Ok, first off I would just like to say that I have had this bag going into my 5th Winter and it still feels like new. As for your question about longevity, if you take care of this bag it will last you pretty much a lifetime- these guys make bomber bags! I will say that I have never put my bag through a washing machine, dryer- yes, but a big 'ol negative on the washer. When it comes time to wash the bag I'll mix up some Pine-Sol at a weak to moderate strength and use a washcloth to scrub the bag down. I try not to get it too wet just enough to dampen the shell and internal liner. Then it goes into a dryer with 3 or 4 tennis balls on air dry mode only. You can just air dry it but in my mind I think the tennis balls help to "fluff" it up a bit. Next up make sure you store it right, keep it in the provided stuff sack and then in a closet. If mice and cockroaches or other nasties are problems I'd recomend a rubbermade type tub to store it in as well. Just simple little things when it isn't in the mountains. When you are on climbs try not to crawl in with boot liners or any other sharp objects please, a tent mate made that critical mistake once... Like I said though, these bags are bomb proof if you treat them right, just use your head and the longevity will happen naturally from the quality of craftsmanship.

Now to the good stuff. This bag will make you blush asking if it will hold up to temps of 10F, I've taken it down to -15 and have been fine in it. I started to get chilled when the mercury dropped below -20F though, but even then it wasn't bad. I'm pretty sure that Marmot rates their bags on a conservative scale, meaning that a bag like this rated to 0F would be rated at -15F or -20F by some other companies. Granted, I do sleep warm but I've borrowed mine to friends that are always cold and they didn't have any problems at night. I like to think of myself as a ski mountaineer and have been on many 5+ night trips with this bag in the Colorado and Wyoming back country where camp is at an average elevation greater than 11K ft and I was never worried that my bag wouldn't hold up. Last year I had the opportunity to do a Winter ascent of Ranier and this was my sleeping weapon of choice. I didn't have a single cold night on the mountain and temps during that trip were well below 0F on several nights. One thing I see lots of people doing at night is crawl into their bag with all their clothes on, don't do this. I know it sounds crazy but if you strip down to you underwear and socks you'll let the bag do what it was designed to do, hold your natural body heat in and you'll sleep nice and warm. If you crawl in with tons of clothes on you will defeat this critcal component of the bags design as your body heat gets trapped in your clothes, not the down where it should be. I'll go ahead and let you keep a hat and socks on if you want to. I will say one thing though, make sure you have either a bivy sack or at least a sleeping bag cover that you put it in at night. I don't say this for the added warmth but because even the best tents will get a bit 'drizzly' when you have to hang out in them for a few days waiting for a storm to pass and you don't want this fellow getting wet. It'll get heavy and you'll lose a tone of insulation, somethig over it will remedy this phenomenon, and make sure to have a sleeping pad, I think you the asker already know that but I figured I'd throw out some extra advice to everyone else.

With this bag in your arsenal you'll be able and get a good nights rest on every night of your trips during the cold months. I don't know what the person above was talking about this being a 3 season bag, they must not have done much research and just jumped into a purchase because this bag was not designed as a 3 season sleeping bag, whatever that means anyway. I know what a 3 season tent is, it just has a lot more ventilation, usually a rainfly over a mesh main tent. But I've never really heard of sleeping bags being defined as 3 or 4 season. Usually you purchase one depending on how cold you think it will get to... However, in the big picture of things I have no problem with this person as you helped support a really, really great company, welcome to the family and I'm glad you love your bag! I recomend the Neverwinter for you 20F+ trips, it's what I use during those boring months in the mountains. Next up, don't put much credit on someone who slept a night in their backyard and swapped sleeping bags with their wife. First off, hopefully him and his wife are about the same size so the bags fit both of them well. Secondly, if he started in the Couloir and she started in the Phantom, then they swap, of course the Phantom will feel warmer to him because it was already warm when he got into it. His wife might say the Couloir felt warmer.... Thirdly, it sounds like that guy didn't have any kind of cover/protection over his and his wifes bags (ie no tent or bivy sacks used). Very few sleeping bags will be able and hold up under that kind of a test, snow is water afterall guys and even if something is 'water proof' or 'water repellant' it'll eventually get inside and cool things off a bit. This goes back to my comment on getting something over the bag. So, Mr. Backyard camper, go climb a mountain and report back on how much you love you Couloir bag and how you don't know why you ever questioned it. I mean, don't get me wrong the Phantom is a good bag as well and I'd bet the folks at Marmot would agree. Competition drives better products, however the Couloir needs no refining in my book and that pesky draft tube being at the bottom will be the love of your life when you use the bag properly. Afterall, it wasn't designed so you could sleep with yourself submerged in a stream.

So, I'm telling you take it from me, I've spent at least 150+ nights during the Winter months in this bag over the last few years and it has withstood everything I've put it up to and I'm willing to bet that it'll do the same for you!

I hope this helps, and Happy Climbing!

And, Thank You Marmot for making such wonderful down goodies for me and other mountaineers. I've got several items and will come back for more, if you don't mind?