I was out camping last night, and it became clear that my old sleeping bag has run its course. Do any of you have good recommendations for a zero degree sleeping bag that would serve for winter camping here as well as compress nicely for backpacking in the Presidential range in fall months? I prefer to stay away from down (allergies).

Compress nicely and staying away from down can be difficult. Staying away from down will also increase the weight. I have had great results with Marmot - I like more room in the shoulders so I get their extra wide versions. Coincidently, there is one on sale at REI. At close to 6lbs, not great for backpacking.
Marmot Trestles 0 Degree Bag

Are you looking for a 0 degree bag or a bag that will be warm down to 0 degrees? If you are going to be out to around 0 then look for a bag that is rated to below 0. If you are going to be out in temps about 10 degrees or warmer than a 0 bag would be OK.

As for ideas for synthetic bags I suggest either Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina or Marmot Trestles 0 degree bags.

For most folks with allergies, down does not cause or activate attacks. The stuff they collect is the problem. The higher quality the down the cleaner it is and it collects less stuff. The down source is also a potential trigger.
Backpacker.com
Overland and Undersea .
While expensive, high loft down may be the way to go for you. Might also consider a quilt over a bag for wider temperature comfort range.
Good luck in your search, lots and lots of options.

butthead

Thanks guys! In reality, the lowest temps I will be out in are the teens, but I'm looking for a zero degree bag so I can actually be comfortable. Do any of you use sleeping bag liners? I suppose that would be another way I could go to buy myself some extra degrees, but as someone who has never used one, the idea seems uncomfortable and cramped. I'm going to start checking out your recommendations. It won't be needed until this fall (if I camp again in the next month or so, I can muddle through with what I've got), so if I end up having to go high buck to get what I need/want, that will give me time to save up.

+1 on looking into quilts. I switched when I went to Hammocks and even use mine when I go to ground now. I will never go back.

If you are looking to camp with the temps in the teens for lows then you should be fine with a 0 Degree bag.
As for sleeping bag liners I have one although I use it as a cover over my pad and sleeping on the pad and use my 32 degree bag as a quilt. I find when I used it as a sleeping bag it would twist around and get messed up easily. I didn't care for it that way. Also I found that it really didn't add as much warmth as advertised. I have one that is supposed to add 15 degrees it possibly added 5 degrees.
The big thing is to also make sure your sleeping pad has enough r value to it. Use one with a high r value or a combination of pads to get a high r value.

So many people now use thick insulated sleeping pads that a bag with less fill on the bottom can save weight and bulk. I usually start the night with light side up and will shift it to heavy insulation up when needed later in the night. As a perk I bring along a sheet for more versatility and that adds even more warmth.

If it is at all possible you are wrong about your allergy then you should consider a down bag. Pound for pound they have a better heat to weight ratio. If you truly are allergic then I would start looking at the various synthesics out there. I have a Primaloft coat and it is very warm so a synthetic will be warm just a bit heavier.

I have used synthetic bags when I first got into the BWCA bug. Mine is a North Face cat's meow. Which I can't tell you it's rating as I have forgotten though it's probably rated to 5 degrees when I bought it. It served me well until I moved to a down bag so I had to haul less weight and more importantly have more room in my pack. My advice is to do your research as the new synthetics are better.

I use a down quilt now with a synthetic hood for real cold nights and love it but it's not for everyone.

Plus look for bags with an EN rating which is standard for warmth. At least that way you have something to compare each bag to. Good luck!

quote 1bogfrog: Do any of you use sleeping bag liners?

I do and use the Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor liner in cold weather and the Sea to Summit Coolmax Adaptor in warmer weather. The Thermolite adds warmth to my down bag in the colder weather (April/May and October/November) and in the summer I use the Coolmax liner which is more comfortable in a nylon bag especially if I am hot and sticky.

Instead of a liner, I prefer a set of wool longjohns.
They work well, double duty for ninja nite time raids on fellow campers!

butthead

quote butthead: "Instead of a liner, I prefer a set of wool longjohns.
They work well, double duty for ninja nite time raids on fellow campers!


butthead"

I do that too using heavy poly. A set is stuffed in the same stuff sack as the sleeping bag. A bag that will keep you comfy on the coldest part of a trip will be unbearable the rest of the time. We use layers all day and it works well at night too. Finally a balaclava pulled on at two in the morning allows for an even lighter bag.

quote Marten: "

quote butthead: "Instead of a liner, I prefer a set of wool longjohns.
They work well, double duty for ninja nite time raids on fellow campers!



butthead"

I do that too using heavy poly. A set is stuffed in the same stuff sack as the sleeping bag. A bag that will keep you comfy on the coldest part of a trip will be unbearable the rest of the time. We use layers all day and it works well at night too. Finally a balaclava pulled on at two in the morning allows for an even lighter bag."

Not sure why my reply using quote did not work. I do the same using a set of heavy poly that are stuffed with my sleeping bag. A bag that will keep us warm on the coldest part of a trip will be unbearable the rest of the time. We wear layers all day and it works well at night too. Finally a balaclava pulled on at two in the morning allows for an even lighter bag.

quote Marten: "Not sure why my reply using quote did not work. I do the same using a set of heavy poly that are stuffed with my sleeping bag. A bag that will keep us warm on the coldest part of a trip will be unbearable the rest of the time. We wear layers all day and it works well at night too. Finally a balaclava pulled on at two in the morning allows for an even lighter bag."

Spacing the start of your response down a few lines may help.

butthead

Not sure if that is what happened to your quote. Without spacing though the quote and reply merge.

butthead

quote Flatliner: "+1 on looking into quilts. I switched when I went to Hammocks and even use mine when I go to ground now. I will never go back."

i just used my new hammock top quilt last night in bed, rated for 25, i got too warm, new i would but it was sure nice and roomy.

What brand top quilt do you have?

I've become a believer in Big Agnes bags. They're roomy especially at the shoulder where I have the most problems with "skinny boy" bags.

Mine is the Lost Ranger, it's very warm (down, but they have a poly fill option I think) and there's no fill at all on the bottom. Instead of fill, there is a sleeve that you slide your sleeping pad into. With no loft underneath you because you'd compress it anyway, Big Agnes solves this by leaving the fill out completely. Slide the sleeping pad into the sleeve, you have a lighter bag that compresses into a smaller space, and you also have a sleeping bag that will never move off your pad. Also also, it keeps the sleeping bag in place when you roll over, instead of just twisting you up into an inextricable jumble.

The Lost Ranger only goes down to 15 degree, so the bag you'd be looking for is the 0 degree Storm King bag.

I've used a top quilt for years in my hammock. Last year I went back to sleeping on the ground for about 50 nights. On a couple "test" nights it became obvious the standard width quilt for my hammock wouldn't be good enough for sleeping on the ground. It leaves a gap around the edges, especially when laying on my side (and I'm not a wide guy). So I bought a "wide" quilt from the same company (hammock gear) and that does much better but it's still easy to get cold spots around the edges in cold weather (low 40's and colder).

I like the bulk and weight savings of a quilt but I do think there's something to be said for a bag when the temp starts to drop. My quilt has attachment points so you can run bungee around the bottom side of the sleeping pad to hold it in place, which I haven't done, and that would probably help.

I've recently taken up sewing and I think I'm going to make myself a bivy bag. It won't add much weight or bulk and I'm hoping it will add a few degrees to the low end of my quilt as well as helping to block those air leaks.

Alan