Western Mountaineering vs. Sea to Summit

 Looking at the Alpinlite and Spark IV respectively. The WM bag sounds fantastic, but it's quite difficult to get in Australia (i.e. I can't try one without ordering it) and several hundred dollars more. Anyone have strong recommendations either way? Is WM worth the extra expense/hassle?

From my experience and from others comments both make good products.

Dude, I bought a western mountaineering bag. It’s awesome. Probably the best bag out there (my rating 10/10). However, there are many other bags on the market that are VERY comparable and cheaper, including sea to summit (I would rate those bags at 9.5/10).

Personally, I won’t buy WM again as the price for me isn’t worth the .5 added performance. Especially considering that when you actually use your gear it needs to get replaced.

The two bags sell for almost the same price here in the US. I'm guessing that the several hundred dollar price difference you mention is due to the expense of importing the bag into Australia, and not due to any massive difference in quality. Western Mountaineering is a very small company, and I don't think they can realize the economies of scale that Sea to Summit can. Here in the US the Alpinlite retails forUS$570 - $600, while the Sea to Summit Spark IV retails for US$550-$570. At those prices, I would give serious thought to the Western Mountaineering bag, based on my own experience with the WM VersaLite. For the price difference you describe, I would get the Sea to Summit bag. 

One thing to consider is that Western bags are notoriously warmer than their rating indicates, while S2S bags are notoriously colder than their rating indicates. 

I own down bags by both companies and yes, both are high quality. However, western (and feathered friends) are, in my experience, in a class by themselves. As someone else here mentioned, western is known for conservative temp ratings, while pretty much all other companies over rate their bags to some degree (north face notoriously overstates their ratings). Thus when western says it’s a 10 degree bag, it’s probably safe to 0-5, while others are 5-10 in the other direction.

That said, I wouldn’t pay the western premium price unless the bags performance is a safety issue. In other words, IMHO the western is worth it for negative temps but not so much for a 10 degree bag. On the plus
Side, a western bag will last forever. My 20 year old -35 degree western kept me toasty in -25 degree Camping a month ago, so it’s obviously still in great shape.

The S2S certainly doesn't suck. It's not like you're buying a Walmart bag. The WM is better. Not twice as good, if that's the kind of markup you're looking at to import it. And not being able to easily try it on and return it might very reasonably sway a lot of buyers. 

What do those hundreds of dollars mean to you? Rent? Food on the table? The ability to go on your next trip? I'm fortunate that it means none of those to me and I'm delighted to pay WM $$ for a better product manufactured in a country that doesn't regularly employ children. That is a privilege for me and everyone has to decide what the value of a dollar is to them. 

FWIW I think the WM Versalite would be more comparable in terms of warmth if you're comparing to the "5F" Spark. The tested EN ratings are on Western Mountaineering's FAQ page and on S2S's product page. 

I would never buy a sleeping bag with a #3YKK personally, that's well into the realm of "stupid light" IMO. Fabric a bit burlier on the WM as well. 

mark felber wrote: The two bags sell for almost the same price here in the US. I'm guessing that the several hundred dollar price difference you mention is due to the expense of importing the bag into Australia, and not due to any massive difference in quality. Western Mountaineering is a very small company, and I don't think they can realize the economies of scale that Sea to Summit can. Here in the US the Alpinlite retails forUS$570 - $600, while the Sea to Summit Spark IV retails for US$550-$570. At those prices, I would give serious thought to the Western Mountaineering bag, based on my own experience with the WM VersaLite. For the price difference you describe, I would get the Sea to Summit bag. 

It's partially because Sea to Summit is an Australian company so readily available here, while WM only has one distributor down under who charges through the roof and generally doesn't have stock, but blocks all ordering from US sites. And partially because I can pro deal Sea to Summit stuff. Also the exchange rate is garbage at the moment, so that's not helping.

You just have to look up the bag’s stats. What is the fill power? How many grams of down does it have? What’re the dimensions? What’s the overall weight? What fabrics are being used? Compare the bag of interest to the WM bag (as WM is the best). You’ll probably need to look at a 0 degree bag in other brands to get something that compares with a WM 20 degree bag.

Anyways, figure out the stats you want, and buy the cheapest bag with those stats.

Sam Oudekerk wrote: You just have to look up the bag’s stats. What is the fill power? How many grams of down does it have? What’re the dimensions? What’s the overall weight? What fabrics are being used? Compare the bag of interest to the WM bag (as WM is the best). You’ll probably need to look at a 0 degree bag in other brands to get something that compares with a WM 20 degree bag.

Anyways, figure out the stats you want, and buy the cheapest bag with those stats.

I've done that, that's why I'm here asking for advice from people who have actually used them.

I have a light Western Mtneering bag and a heavier, warmer Feathered Friends bag. After reading the thread below,  my next lightweight bag will be the FF Tanager (upgrade of the FF Vireo):

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/118180571/whats-your-preferred-light-weight-alpine-bags-and-why?page=2#ForumMessage-

Do Feathered Friends run warm like WM or are they roughly as advertised?

Ryan Mac wrote: Do Feathered Friends run warm like WM or are they roughly as advertised?

Warm for advertised. I own a vireo and 30 degree flicker. Have used the later in boxers only down to high 20s and been very warm.