Tactical 3

[Neonsamurai]

Last weekend I went out with my Tactical 3 the first time. Overall I like the bag, especially in conjunction with the Snugpak Bivvy. The side zipper makes it somewhat awkward to get in and out compared to a center zipper sleeping bag, but makes up for with better insulation.

Talking of insuation, here is where my gripe is. The bag is specified to have a comfort temperature of -7°C. In this night temperatures dropped to 4°C and I woke up in the middle of the night. Freezing. Not terribly but enough to stay awake half the night without sleep.

I had the bag inside my bivvy. Everything on a Thermarest Ridge Rest sleeping mat. I had the collars of the bag closed tightly, however I did not close the bivvy. Since I slept under a tarp shelter I did not feel it was necessary. In the night was light rain falling and there was a light wind.

I was sleeping in t-shirt, under wear and socks. After I woke up and felt cold I added trousers and fleece jacket - to no improvement.

So many questions want to be answered:
Did I do anything wrong?
Is the specification way off?
Does the bag have a manufacturing error?
Until now I did not think I was a person easy to freeze, but now ...

[Stewart]

Dear Neonsamurai

I am sorry to hear you are having problems with your Snugpak sleeping bag, from the information provided you do seem to have all the basics covered. So I am not entirley sure what the problem could be, I use the Softie 9 myself which is essentially a Tactical 3 without the TS1 lining and I have had no issues with it.

Your best getting in touch with us directly either by phone or email to see if we can help you further.

Our contact details are located here http://www.snugpak.com/index.php?MenuID=145-145

Hopefully we can resolve your problem quickly.


Regards,
Stewart

[rstaggs]

I have been using a Softie 9 Hawk since 2003. I bought the Hawk as a lighter replacement to the Army sleep system bag just before deploying to Iraq. The Hawk worked perfectly down to 30 degrees without failure. My fellow soldiers were carrying much larger multi-bag army bags and my single Hawk was beating them on weight and size and still keeping me warm. I have sworn by snugpak for years. It is with great sadness that my Softie 9 failed me this past weekend while camping with the boy scouts. I was in a 2 man tent, inside my Softie 9, wearing a t-shirt, long underwear pants (silk), and socks. I was laying a thermarest pad and also use a ground cover under my tent. I went to sleep comfortable at 54 degrees but woke up over and over again throughout the night with cold arms, shoulders, and feet. I was shocked as the low temperature was only 45 degrees and the bag is rated comfortable to 23 degrees. I am saddened. It served me well for so long. I own so many snugpak products that I wanted to stick with snugpak but now have seen that the bag I was considering as a replacement (tactical 3) is also suspect. I own 2 softie jackets, a jungle bag, a softie 3, a vapour jacket, a pillow, and have bought my son a special forces 1 bag. Has my love affair with Snugpak at an end?