Date: 2012-01-26
To: North Face Cats Meow vs the Osprey Exos 46, Part 1
Miles today: 0.0

I've delayed strapping my sleeping bag to my pack or stuffing it into it, mostly because I suspected the results would be disappointing. And, after going through the exercise I can confirm that the two are not going to coexist peacefully.The sleeping bag is a (circa Spring 2000) The North Face Cats Meow. I like the sleeping bag because it's comfortable -- I've used it in sub-zero (Fahrenheit!) conditions at 15000 feet on Kilimanjaro (good tent, great sleeping pad, layered clothing, etc) and on the South Texas beach in summer (just unzip the whole mess and use it as a blanket) --and easy to maintain. It's been durable and the zipper never sticks. I just stuff the sleeping bag into an Andora compression sack and I'm good to go.The Exos 46 is a lightweight, internal frame 46 liter backpack that I purchased a few weeks ago. Besides being shiny and new, it's full of decent features and wasn't that expensive.For the past few weeks, whenever I've walked past my equipment stacking up in the corner of the cabin, I eyeballed the sleeping bag in its stuff sack and the backpack sitting next to it and thought, "Uh huh. That, my friend, is going to be a challenge." For starters, the sleeping bag looks to me to be about 46 liters, even when firmly and ferociously squished into its stuff sack. Second, when compressed like that, the sleeping bag has the density and plyability of -- oh, let's say -- a truck tire. I could tell it was not going to play nice with anything else in my backpack. It simply had no give and what space it occupied was decidedly its space and it wasn't going to share.So, this morning the anticipation got the better of me and I took a break from work and wandered downstairs to my heap of gear. After emptying everything out of the pack I grabbed the sleeping bag, still in its compression sack, and attempted to shove it into the backpack. That didn't work -- it was just to big to comfortably slide into the top-loading pack. I then turned the pack upside down and figured that, worst case, I could get a water-proof stuff sack or compression sack and strap it to the bottom of the pack, down where the sleeping pad might go. The Exos has two little bitty straps at the bottom, obviously meant for a sleeping pad or other lightweight and small diameter gear. Those little straps were not going to encompass the stuff sack and, if they did, they would not be long for the world. I looked at the bottom of the pack for other ideas, like where I might be able to loop some larger cords or straps, but found nothing.Digging through Whiteblaze.net and several other websites, I found about the only useful idea (besides "Buy a new sleeping bag or quilt") that might work: Toss the compression sack and just jam the sleeping bag into the bottom of the pack. To keep it from getting wet, get a garbage bag (I like the 3 mil contractor bags from Hefty) or a trash compactor bag. That made sense to me. I could feed the bag into the pack much like I do when I put the bag in the stuff sack, pack it down, and it'd still be sort of mushy and there'd be room to the sides of it and in the crevices on the top to stick little odds and ends. I could then load the rest of my gear (clothing, cook kit, food, a flask of Jameson, and other essentials) on top of that.I tried that and, indeed, the sleeping bag fit easily into the backpack. However, even with much stuffing and effort, I could only squish it down enough to leave about 6 or 7 inches of headroom, tops. There was probably less room than that on top of the sleeping bag when you consider you have to draw the pack close. So, while the bag might fit in the backpack, very little else would.The second issue was this: for me to really pack the sleeping bag in the smallest space possible, I had to stand the backpack up, lean over it, and really cram the sleeping bag down into the backpack. This worked well enough this time, but what about the tenth time or the hundredth time? Would the frame of the backpack eventually bend or crumple? And, what about the material? Would eventually it tear from the frame or a seam come loose? I trust that Osprey makes a good product, but I'm not sure they make one that's ready for such abuse day after after day after day.So, I believe my options are to go back over the bottom of the pack and see where I can affix some sort of straps or cords to hold the sleeping bag in its (soon to be waterproof) sack, or break down and get a new sleeping bag.I do like that Therm-a-Rest Alpine +35 Down Blanket, but it chaps my hide to spend yet another $240 to $250 on gear. Thoughts, anyone?