Help. I am going backpacking this weekend and it is going to be very cold. 12degrees at night. I have a bag that is a 40 degee bag and that aint gonna work. I also have a ridgeway by kelty bag with a built in pillow that I got a few years ago but I dont have a clue as to the rating. it has Hollofill II in it. Any ideas at to the rating and I can get both bags in my pack. should I try doubling up with them?
_huff & Puff_Ridgeway by kelty sleeping bag
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There's very little on the Ridgeway by Kelty stuff out there, since it's an odd brand (it's not actually made by Kelty, to start with.) There jst are no reviews of their Hollofil bags out there on the net, so that was a no-go for a temp rating. I tried to look this up with Ridgeway, but their <a href="http://www.ridgewaybykelty.com/">website</a> is under construction (and thus has no content) and the 800 number was useless to me because I don't have the model number of your bag, which is the only way they have to look them up in their database (apparently they made a large number of Hollofil II models with different ratings.) If you can find a tag or other indication of the model number (or even it's specific model name) on the bag itself or the box (if you kept it to store the bag in) then try calling Ridgeway with that info at 1-800-325-8368 and they should be able to give you an answer (or so the girl on the phone implied.) If there's no number or name to find, I'm afraid you're out of luck in regards to a definitive temp rating.
That said, given that it’s a few years old, I’d go ahead and double up the bags if you’re disinclined to buy or make a new one. 12* is no joke, and being caught without proper sleeping insulation at that temp is not only uncomfortable, it can be deadly (or at least very bad for you.) This is one of those few circumstances when I wouldn’t quibble about the weight. I’d use the Kelty as your inner bag and the 40* bag zipped open (as much as possible) as a top-quilt over it, since the bag insulation under you is largely useless (being compressed.)
Personally, I’d just go out and buy a good, relatively light 20* bag in your situation and take the extra thermal layers needed to get down to that 5*-10* range. Makeshift solutions work, but going with a dedicated solution is often the better choice, and in sleeping insulation that goes double.
_Strategic_