Sleeping Bag help

[MikeW]

I'm looking for a sleeping bag for my 13 yo daughter for our trip the second week of June and was hoping for some recomendations. She's 5 ft on a tall day and slender. Right now I'm looking at the REI Youth Lumen +25 for $119. This is her first backpacking trip and I've never had to purchase gear for anyone other than myself, so I'm finding this purchase a little more difficult. With gift cards and the 20%, I'd prefer to shop at REI and keep the price range around $100-125. Any help would be appreciated.

[photosean]

Hey Mike,
I would look at eBay or online closeout sales; ie. Sierra Trading Post or Campmor. I would also stray from children's bags. You can get a comparable, full-size used North Face Cats Meow or a Kelty Light Year for under $100 (sometimes under $60). Both bags are rated at 20 degrees and weigh about the same as the REI youth bag. There are other models and brands worth looking into. Put the extra cash into her college fund, because the bag will probably get her through school. When she gets her master's degree, she can buy a pair of shiny new Feathered Friends for the both of you.

[MikeW]

Good point on the adult size bag vs youth. Now also considering the Marmot Trestles 30.

[photosean]

With the Trestles you're losing 10 degrees in the temperature rating and going up in weight. A 30-degree bag in June would be fine in my opinion, although the Park recommends using a 20-degree bag.
The Kelty Cosmic Down +20 in a men's short will run $120 brand new at REI. It weighs in at 2lbs. 3 oz. If you're set on buying new, this is the bag I would go with within the price range and temperature range.
Down will provide more warmth with a lower weight. It will compress more than a synthetic. Down lasts a bit longer than the synthetics, too. Synthetics will wear out with use faster than down. The drawback with down is that it will lose it's insulating properties when wet. This poses a huge problem if you can't keep your gear dry.
I've personally never had a problem with moisture and down gear. Last year, I spent a week in the Smoky Mountains in a hammock and tarp with a down bag where it rained every day and night. I didn't have any problems keeping my gear dry.

[Rafiki]

Ya. I'd stay with a women's adult bag for her. If you take care of your sleeping bags they can last a long time especially when you're not using them frequently. She will grow into an adult bag in no time. Our bags are rated at 25+ degrees. They have been just fine for all of the conditions we have experienced at Isle Royale. We are going in October this year, so just to be safe, I am definitely going to bring some extra layers, but in June you should not have any problems. I am not too familiar with many of the Marmot or REI brand bags, but one thing I love about my down Western Mountaineering bag is the fact that it can unzip out into a quilt. This is perfect, because when we go in June, July or August, I am not into being in my 25+ degree bag. It is much to warm for my liking. However, if I sleep outside of it, I get cold. Low and behold, I unzip it out into a quilt and it provides enough warmth with the air that is allow to creep underneath it from the sides. Just an option to consider if the ones your are considering have that built into them.

[photosean]

As of 8 a.m. Monday, you've got 1 day 16 hours to bid on a new Cosmic:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kelty-Cosmic-20 ... 19cf5f4e13

Or 4 days for a barely used REI Sub Kilo (20-degrees, 1lb. 13 oz.) retail is $240:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REI-Sub-Kilo-75 ... 9807736878

[Ingo]

Hey Mike, I have 2 daughters in their 20s and went through the same some years ago. We ended up getting relatively inexpensive Keltys and those have served them well. I think they are 30 or 35 deg bags, but they're at least as warm as my wife's and mine North Face 20 deg Cats Meows (in fairness those bags are 1980 something models). My wife would take a "cheap" Kelty over the NF when she could. Can't be specific on models, but another vote for Kelty in general. Caveat: we mostly canoed, so weight and size were not as much an issue, although again, they're about the same as our old '80s bags.

[alecto73]

Down is so nice. I'm glad I switched. I just never let it get more than a few feet from a garbage bag. I probably over-obsessively guard it from water like a mother protects her young from predators. Having said that - I also have a Eureka Silver City that kind of defied the "good|light|cheap->pick two" principle. It's a sub-3lb, 35 degree (which I would call pretty accurate), $80 synthetic bag. When my buddy told me about his I called B.S. and made him bring it over so I could put it on the scale - 37 ounces in the included compression stuff sack (no storage sack but I'm not complaining). I had to try it after that. I am a somewhat hot sleeper and with a liner I have used it down to the mid 20's (Fahrenheit). With some sleeping socks could probably go a little lower as it was really only my toes getting a little chill at those temps, so obviously sans liner it does fine into the mid 30's. I'll stop rambling now.

::EDIT::
$60 at Campmor right now
http://goo.gl/9dE2i