The Sea to Summit Spark Girls’s 15 Diploma Sleeping Bag is a light-weight, 3-season sleeping bag designed for ladies who need consolation and high quality. My physique runs extraordinarily chilly, so my high precedence when selecting a sleeping bag is, “Will this design maintain me heat?” My second precedence is twofold: how heavy the bag is and its packability. My third precedence considerations sturdiness, asking, “Will this bag maintain up over time?” I attempted out the Spark on my thru-hike of the Arizona Path, the place these three key elements of heat, weight, and sturdiness had been examined. Right here’s what I believe.
- Temperature score consolation: 15F
- Temperature score decrease restrict: 5F
- Gender: Girls’s
- Weight: 2lbs 0.8oz
- Compressed Quantity: 8L
- Form: Mummy
- Insulation: Extremely-Dry Down 850+ fill energy, RDS licensed
- Compression sack: included
- Shell Cloth: Ultralight 10d Nylon
- Suits Up To: 5’ 7” Common dimension, (6’ 1” lengthy dimension additionally obtainable)
- Dimensions: (Shoulder/Hip/Ft) 55.9”/52”/36.2”
- Professionals: Very heat, light-weight, packable, sturdy
- Cons: Slender, comfortable foot field
A Sleeping Bag Engineered For Girls
By nature, ladies have a tendency to sit back extra simply than males. The Spark is designed for a girl’s particular form to supply extra heat and insulation utilizing physique mapping to deploy insulation the place it’s wanted, within the foot and midsection. The form is narrower on the shoulder and widest between the hips and knees, permitting for a pure aspect sleeping place. I’m a aspect sleeper via and thru, so this labored nice for me. I swap sides and wiggle at evening, although, and the broader mummy form allowed me to sleep in no matter place I needed. The down stayed lofty and didn’t get smooshed and compressed as I shifted via my sleep, which means I stayed toasty.
The ladies’s Spark is shorter total, aiming to chop out lifeless house and improve thermal effectivity. This labored effectively for me with the slender shoulder girth, particularly when utilizing the mum’s insulated collar and hood. By way of the foot field, it’s meant to attenuate these nasty chilly spots on the backside of the sleeping bag by being shorter, which I might see it doing for somebody nearer to five’7”. I’m not fairly 5’5”, so I nonetheless tended to undergo with that little additional lifeless house. Despite the fact that I discovered the foot field comfortable, I nonetheless needed to stuff additional garments on the backside to maintain me hotter. I can’t say this can be a design downside, nevertheless it’s extra of a direct results of my peak and the truth that I’m at all times chilly!
The body-mapping design for a girl’s form additionally got here into play with the additional insulation utilizing 850+ goose down. This implies the bag’s chambers are stuffed extra the place you want it most. I discovered this to be true, and I additionally famous the down felt extra lofty and puffy than another sleeping luggage I’ve used, which I consider helped to maintain me cozier. This made me really feel the standard of the Spark was excessive, and I appreciated this element.
Let me begin by saying the Arizona Path was chilly each single evening. So, I had many nights to check how the Spark fared in beneath or close-to-freezing temperatures. General, I can say it did rather well, holding me heat.
Sleeping Bag Loft and Baffles
I discovered the Spark lofted extraordinarily effectively, which meant it didn’t take lengthy for the fluff to return after being stuffed. It felt fluffy nearly instantly after pulling it out of my stuff sack. The down insulation is 90% goose down, contributing to the bag’s heat.
After I began researching sleeping luggage years in the past, I had no thought what baffles had been. Baffles are these compartments working throughout the shell of the sleeping bag, and so they’re essential to maintain the insulation from clumping or transferring about. That is essential as a result of the baffles successfully scale back chilly spots and reduce warmth loss when insulation stays in place. The Spark has full field baffle building for optimum heat, accommodating additional down and minimizing these icky chilly spots.
The Spark’s insulation is made with the Extremely-Dry Down waterproof therapy, which might forestall moisture from degrading the down. On the Arizona Path, there was a variety of tent wall condensation, and even on mornings when the shell of my sleeping bag was damp, I used to be nonetheless heat and guarded inside my burrito.
Draft Tubes, Draft Collar & Hood
To nix warmth loss, the Spark has a zipper draft tube (an insulated tube working alongside and behind the zipper to forestall chilly drafts from coming into and heat air escaping). I actually valued the snuggly and poofy draft and neck collar, which is the insulated back and front collar across the hood. Most nights, I cocooned myself like a tightly wrapped burrito due to the cooler desert temps. I did this by tightening the draw twine, which stopped warmth from slipping out of the bag. I felt tucked in and comfortable however not claustrophobic, which nobody needs to really feel whereas sleeping.
Weight & Packability
Second to heat, the load issue is important to what I think about in a sleeping bag alternative, based mostly on being a thru-hiker the place typically each ounce counts. The common dimension is 2 ½ kilos, which isn’t the lightest mannequin available on the market, however by far not the heaviest. This bag is barely heavier than the Girls’s Flame Fm IV, which the Spark changed. Nonetheless, Sea to Summit upgraded the zippers and interior liner, contributing to a slight weight improve.
When contemplating packability, I selected to stuff the Spark in my trusty Sea to Summit Evac Compression Dry Bag, which I’ve had since 2016, after I thru-hiked the Appalachian Path. The Spark packed fairly effectively, however not the very best, just because this sleeping bag is bigger in quantity and substance.
Sleeping Bag Shell and Liner
The Spark’s shell material is 10D nylon, and the liner is 10D (D=Denier). The Flame Fm IV had a 7D liner, which is what helped the sleeping bag keep lighter. A tad heavier liner can present extra long-term sturdiness, so I don’t thoughts this tradeout. This lining additionally good in opposition to my pores and skin and comfortable.
Zippers
The highest enchancment I famous with the Spark had been the zippers. The Flame Fm IV used lighter YKK #3 zippers, the place the Spark makes use of the YKK #5. Sea to Summit switched to a beefier for extra of a snag-free, dependable operation. My largest criticism concerning the Flame Fm IV was the zippers snagging, making it powerful to get out and in of my bag simply and ripping the material. So, in fact, this was the characteristic I paid probably the most consideration to whereas utilizing the Spark for six weeks on trial. I’m tremendous happy to report I discovered the zippers easy to make use of with no issues, by no means as soon as catching.
Size & Sizing
A related level to make is that I’m about 5’5”, so the common dimension works greatest for me, being suited to ladies as much as 5’7”. There’s a lengthy dimension for ladies as much as 6’ 1”, however in the event you’re taller than that, this wouldn’t be the best alternative for you. Additionally, be sure you take a look at the specs at a look above to think about your individual superbly distinctive and particular person physique form (do you’ve wider shoulders or hips, for instance) to see if the sizing of the Spark would be just right for you.
Comparable Girls’s Sleeping Luggage
Suggestion
I extremely suggest Sea to Summit’s Spark Girls’s 15-Diploma Sleeping Bag for any girl who values a bag that emphasizes heat, mild weight, and sturdiness. It’s a stable possibility for chilly sleepers like me, and it dealt with effectively for these freezing and close-to-freezing nights within the desert. For those who hike exhausting and need to sleep exhausting, too, the Spark is a stable alternative for a high quality sleeping bag engineered for ladies
Disclosure: Sea-to-Summit donated a bag for overview.
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