Gear Review: Wilderness Technology Wildy Down 20° Sleeping Bag
While this review is a tad tardy, the timing is impeccable.
Why, you ask?
Well, let me tell ya!
During my big bad motorcycle trip around the USA and Canada this summer, getting damn near the Arctic Circle, the sleeping bag I used was one Deek and Brian asked me to torture test. The Next Adventure in-house branded Wilderness Technology Wildy Down 20° 600 Powerfill mummy bag.
Not wanting to destroy my super fancy Marmot, I said sure, grabbed one and added it to the pile that was to keep me company for 11,000 miles and 7 weeks of moto camping.
I’m a hardcore gear critic, don’t make a ton of cash and want the gear I buy to work as desired and advertised. Right out of the gate I was impressed with the overall fit and finish of the bag, right down to the stuff and storage bags included with it. The stitching was clean and tight, excellent YKK zippers, a handy little pocket for storing headlamp or phone nearby, and the thing looked good as well.
Being a 5’11” and 220 lb. human furnace with a 48-inch chest, mummy bags are often claustrophobic affairs. I’m very wide at the shoulders and often find myself Saran wrapped in bags. Not the case with the Wildy Down. It has plenty room at the shoulders, hips, and feet to sleep in any position desired without getting bound up or blasting awake in full fight or flight mode feeling like I needed a knife to pop the thing open for my escape.
Despite the roominess, the bag isn’t bulky or cumbersome. It packs well and fills the little voids, another bonus of down. Also, my concern that it may be too roomy for smaller folks to keep warm in was unfounded. A 5’4” 110 lb. human heat sink gal pal used mine recently in the Central Oregon desert on a campout where temps got down to 25°ish and was snug as a bug.
In hindsight, the 35° would have been a better choice for a summer trip, but the 20° was very welcome for many nights in Canada and the upper Midwest. Fully unzipping the bag and using it as a blanket or reversing the zipper near my feet for venting meant I never overheated, despite some warm muggy conditions.
As far as durability, the bag looks the same as when I opened it, plus a couple small stains. That’s what ya get eating in bed.
Complaints? Beyond the storage bag not having a toggle so it won’t stay closed, none really. I’ve spent a lot more on lesser performing, worse built bags, this thing is legit.
This being the start of fall/winter camping season, it’s a perfect choice. Snow camping, mountaineering, ski hut trips or winter climbing in J Tree, this thing is the ticket if you aren’t cold-blooded and require a 0°, which is also available.
If you’re looking for an affordable, warm, compact and lightweight 3-season down bag, or 4-season if you’d be the warm-blooded type, that can pull a Rousey (take a beating and still look good) you’d do yourself a favor to check out Next’s Wilderness Technology down bags.
Not wanting to destroy my super fancy Marmot, I said sure, grabbed one and added it to the pile that was to keep me company for 11,000 miles and 7 weeks of moto camping.
I’m a hardcore gear critic, don’t make a ton of cash and want the gear I buy to work as desired and advertised. Right out of the gate I was impressed with the overall fit and finish of the bag, right down to the stuff and storage bags included with it. The stitching was clean and tight, excellent YKK zippers, a handy little pocket for storing headlamp or phone nearby, and the thing looked good as well.
Being a 5’11” and 220 lb. human furnace with a 48-inch chest, mummy bags are often claustrophobic affairs. I’m very wide at the shoulders and often find myself Saran wrapped in bags. Not the case with the Wildy Down. It has plenty room at the shoulders, hips, and feet to sleep in any position desired without getting bound up or blasting awake in full fight or flight mode feeling like I needed a knife to pop the thing open for my escape.
Despite the roominess, the bag isn’t bulky or cumbersome. It packs well and fills the little voids, another bonus of down. Also, my concern that it may be too roomy for smaller folks to keep warm in was unfounded. A 5’4” 110 lb. human heat sink gal pal used mine recently in the Central Oregon desert on a campout where temps got down to 25°ish and was snug as a bug.
In hindsight, the 35° would have been a better choice for a summer trip, but the 20° was very welcome for many nights in Canada and the upper Midwest. Fully unzipping the bag and using it as a blanket or reversing the zipper near my feet for venting meant I never overheated, despite some warm muggy conditions.
As far as durability, the bag looks the same as when I opened it, plus a couple small stains. That’s what ya get eating in bed.
Complaints? Beyond the storage bag not having a toggle so it won’t stay closed, none really. I’ve spent a lot more on lesser performing, worse built bags, this thing is legit.
This being the start of fall/winter camping season, it’s a perfect choice. Snow camping, mountaineering, ski hut trips or winter climbing in J Tree, this thing is the ticket if you aren’t cold-blooded and require a 0°, which is also available.
If you’re looking for an affordable, warm, compact and lightweight 3-season down bag, or 4-season if you’d be the warm-blooded type, that can pull a Rousey (take a beating and still look good) you’d do yourself a favor to check out Next’s Wilderness Technology down bags.