Review of Sierra Designs 20ã‚â°f Mobile Mummy 600 Down Sleeping Bag
They're here – after months of waiting, Sierra Designs' innovative new line of sleeping kit has hit the market and our testing trips. The Backcountry Bed, Backcountry Quilt, and the Mobile Mummy all offer unique advantages to backcountry sleepers. Today's tester is the Mobile Mummy, a product every bit highly unusual equally it is highly functional.
Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy Sleeping Handbag Features:
- Ultralight jacket hood
- Zipperless arm ports
- Garment-style shoulder design
- Centrally-placed, ventable zipper
- Draft neckband, tube and defunction
- Stowable footbox
- 2lbs 4oz
- MSRP: $379.95
Mobile Mummy walks similar an Egyptian, sleeps like a male monarch
When Sierra Designs debuted their new range of sleeping bags, the outdoor world was on fire with images and brief snippets; I've been eagerly anticipating testing them out and we have the Mobile Mummy and a Backcountry Bed in for review. The heady affair nigh this is that the following review is 1 of the very first full-coverage pieces for the Mobile Mummy, and the Backcountry bed should be post-obit shortly. Then, remember folks – you read it hither first.
When I first received beta on the Mummy, my initial thoughts were excited but skeptical – I similar the idea, but is it possible to create a truly technical, lightweight bag with a feature gear up like this? Surely those arm ports are but going to leak heat all nighttime long. I've spent effectually a month testing the sleeping handbag in lowland Spokane's cold, wet Spring and Nevada's frigid alpine unpredictability – these locales demand versatile gear and they really highlight gear's strengths and weaknesses. Practice you want the spoiler without having to read the residue of the review? Well, I'll give information technology to you – the Mobile Mummy, through vivid design, manages to exist both ultralight, technical and quirky. It's a true three season sleeper with functioning on par with any conventional bag.
From a distance, I suppose the Mummy looks pretty normal – it's longish and seems puffy plenty. That's most where the resemblance to traditional sleeping bags ends, though: the purse is congenital with the zipper on the meridian instead of the side, arm ports and a jacket-style hood. The whole idea backside the Mobile Mummy is that information technology doesn't restrain the wearer like normal sleeping numberless do – it's designed to motion with y'all while yous sleep and then, in the morning, you tin can utilise the arm ports to do camp chores or estrus up last night's dutch oven Beefiness Wellington. That's the gist of it, anyway.
Yes, but volition it keep me warm?
The immediate concern that pops into peoples' heads is whether or not this sleeping bag will be thermally efficient – that is, with all of its unique features, does it still perform the job of keeping you lot warm? I was dubious going into testing, and it took some severe Spring weather to reveal the answer. On a common cold, snowy night at around eight,000 feet in the Ruby Mountains all of my doubts came to a head — and the Mobile Mummy passed with flight colors. The arm ports take a very carefully designed draft curtain that seals upwards instantly while still allowing yous to easily move your arms in or out. Sierra Designs took care to make sure that the arm ports are long plenty to let you easily get your artillery in and out. The curtain is designed to self-suit one time your artillery are safely back in the purse so you don't take to dabble them into place – information technology'southward clever and information technology works very well, simply don't enquire me exactly how. It works, though.
The next potential source of wasted oestrus is the top-mounted zipper. Sierra Designs built in an fantabulous anti-snag runway onto this two-fashion zipper, which is aided by the thickened fabric on the back of the typhoon tube. The zip pulls hands from both directions and snagging is only a minor problem; what'south more concerning, though, is the possibility of heat leaking out since all of that thermal energy wants to rise up right through the zipper. Sierra Designs' solution is a pretty standard draft tube which does the task well plenty, just it'south a little disconcerting. A conventional side zip places the bamboozle by and large out of your way, but I found my hands touching the cold attachment and piffling with the typhoon tube quite a flake. The draft tube does a great chore of preventing estrus loss, but you're definitely aware that the zipper is on top of the bag. This is simply a natural result of the design, and Sierra Designs has executed it as thoughtfully equally one could wish.
1 of the many unique parts of the Mobile Mummy is that it has a jacket-manner, ultralight hood and that the bag is designed to rest on your shoulders rather than your head. The jacket-style hood is devoid of any daze cord adjustments and it'southward a pretty conservative, close fit around the confront to go on warm air in. On one hand this is nice because there are no cords to strangle you and there's likewise no thin shock cord to cutting into your face up – but, you sacrifice some command. The skirt of the hood is lined with a soft fabric patch that helps manage moisture as it builds up during the night. The area around the face is very important in sleeping numberless, and Sierra Designs nails it. The zipper is covered over past a honkin' enormous zipper garage and the whole dealio is sealed effectually your cervix with a puffy, highly constructive baffle. Here's a big argument: of all the sleeping bags I've used over the years, the Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy has the most comfortable hood. Style to become, SD!
Is the Mobile Mummy a sleeping handbag or an oversized puffy jacket?
The benefit of having the weight of the bag rest on your shoulders becomes credible as you utilize the Mobile Mummy for what it's actually for – grooving and gyving. The 2-way zip lets you slip your feet out and in that location are purpose-congenital toggles on the bag to secure the toe box up and abroad from your anxiety so that y'all tin can walk unencumbered. When the bag is in this configuration, it becomes easy to perform camp chores or get pee without leaving the comfort (read precious warmth) of your sleeping bag while not beingness impossibly encumbered. In truth, the toggles are pretty tough to fumble with at night or with gloves on – I'd like to see an easier system, just that would probably upshot in an unwanted weight gain. The other swell reward near the Mobile Mummy's fit is that it tends to move with you very well when you sleep – the front-mounted attachment and more natural body shape doesn't twist around similar conventional designs tend to, and I could comfortably sleep on my forepart, back and side in the Mummy. That'due south definitely not a trait seen in conventional bag designs.
One point of interest is the polyester fabric SD chose to built their new numberless out of. Naturally, the Mummy is stuffed with hydrophobic, 800-fill DriDown which we've tested before. The down performs really well when wet compared to untreated downwards, but constructed is still king moisture management. However, SD built in an extra line of defense by using polyester textile, which is naturally more hydrophobic than nylon. Nylon tends to concur more h2o in its fibers, just it is more durable than polyester. Both are thoroughly downproof and relatively lightweight; at 2lbs 4oz, the Mobile Mummy is pretty competitive in the ultralight category. So, polyester – Sierra Designs is making the switch but virtually companies are sticking with nylon. Merely time will tell how big of a cistron the marginal losses in durability volition prove to exist.
In my month of testing, the Mobile Mummy has seen its fair share of trying backcountry conditions but I've also engaged in a decent amount of horseplay in it – after all, when you lot can stick your arms out and walk around in a big cushy bag, what else are you going to do? Anyway, the point is that the production has held up well so far. At that place is no blown stitching on the arm ports notwithstanding and the reinforced textile in that surface area seems to be property its ain. The baffle design is simple and no-frills, but it serves its purpose well for a iii-season bag.
The Good
- Believe it or not – it really is thermally efficient
- Thoughtful arm port placement makes it easy to skid in and out
- Meridian-mounted zipper and shoulder design help the bag move with you while you sleep
- Anti-snag zipper trap is works like a charm
- Jacket-mode hood is unproblematic but very warm and cushy
- DriDown continues to impress
The Bad
- Toggles that agree the footbox upwardly are tough to wrangle with cold hands or gloves
- Front zipper's draft tube is easy to bump out of identify
- Elementary hood sacrifices customization
The Lesser Line
The Mobile Mummy is a ton of fun while still offering excellent technical performance – definitely a rare trait in today'south marketplace. I really enjoyed using the sleeping bag (how ofttimes practise you say that about sleeping bags?) and my consistently better sleep spoke volumes to me. Moreover, it'south a handbag that I'grand confident taking into challenging conditions with the cognition that the special design volition requite me the performance I need with the perks of being able to cook and motility around in my sleeping bag.
Purchase at present: Bachelor from REI.com
Source: https://www.feedthehabit.com/outdoors/reviewed-sierra-designs-mobile-mummy/