The Sea to Summit Spark Girls’s 15 Diploma Sleeping Bag is a light-weight, 3-season sleeping bag designed for girls who need consolation and high quality. My physique runs extraordinarily chilly, so my high precedence when selecting a sleeping bag is, “Will this design hold 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 ranking consolation: 15F
- Temperature ranking 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”
- Execs: Very heat, light-weight, packable, sturdy
- Cons: Slim, cosy foot field
A Sleeping Bag Engineered For Girls
By nature, girls have a tendency to sit back extra simply than males. The Spark is designed for a girl’s particular form to offer 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 facet sleeping place. I’m a facet sleeper by means of and thru, so this labored nice for me. I change sides and wiggle at night time, 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 by means of my sleep, that means I stayed toasty.
The ladies’s Spark is shorter total, aiming to chop out useless area and improve thermal effectivity. This labored effectively for me with the slim shoulder girth, particularly when utilizing the mother’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 further useless area. Although I discovered the foot field cosy, I nonetheless needed to stuff further garments on the backside to maintain me hotter. I can’t say it is a design downside, nevertheless it’s extra of a direct results of my top and the truth that I’m all the time 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 baggage I’ve used, which I imagine helped to maintain me cozier. This made me really feel the standard of the Spark was excessive, and I appreciated this part.
Let me begin by saying the Arizona Path was chilly each single night time. So, I had many nights to check how the Spark fared in beneath or close-to-freezing temperatures. Total, I can say it did rather well, preserving 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.
Once I began researching sleeping baggage years in the past, I had no thought what baffles had been. Baffles are these compartments working throughout the shell of the sleeping bag, they usually’re essential to hold the insulation from clumping or shifting 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 further down and minimizing these icky chilly spots.
The Spark’s insulation is made with the Extremely-Dry Down waterproof remedy, which might stop moisture from degrading the down. On the Arizona Path, there was quite a lot 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 stop chilly drafts from coming into and heat air escaping). I really 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 wire, which stopped warmth from slipping out of the bag. I felt tucked in and cushty however not claustrophobic, which nobody desires to really feel whereas sleeping.
Weight & Packability
Second to heat, the burden issue is crucial to what I take into account in a sleeping bag selection, primarily based 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. Nevertheless, 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 most effective, 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 mushy.
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 grievance 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, after all, 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 clean 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 girls as much as 5’7”. There’s a lengthy dimension for girls as much as 6’ 1”, however if you happen to’re taller than that, this wouldn’t be the best selection for you. Additionally, you’ll want to have a look at the specs at a look above to contemplate your individual superbly distinctive and particular person physique form (do you might have wider shoulders or hips, for instance) to see if the sizing of the Spark would give you the results you want.
Comparable Girls’s Sleeping Baggage
Advice
I extremely suggest Sea to Summit’s Spark Girls’s 15-Diploma Sleeping Bag for any lady who values a bag that emphasizes heat, gentle weight, and sturdiness. It’s a strong possibility for chilly sleepers like me, and it dealt with effectively for these freezing and close-to-freezing nights within the desert. If you happen to hike laborious and need to sleep laborious, too, the Spark is a strong selection for a high quality sleeping bag engineered for girls
Disclosure: Sea-to-Summit donated a bag for overview.
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