Select my next sleeping system
PICK:
USMC Modular Sleeping System or Snugpak Elite 5 + bivvy?
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Details
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I have a tendancy to review and read and compare and review and compare wayyy too much before I buy something. Heck, I spent 10 full hours reading up on army canteens and I still haven't purchased because- (not getting into rant).
Ok, so some of you are ex-military... some are foreign... but all of you have experience. Pick me my next sleeping bag:
Patterns of use: 4-season, from 60F down to -20F
Price range: <$200 (don't let this affect your opinion, I can get cheap on ebay)
Weight: <9lbs for extreme winter
Pack Size: as small as possible
Geography: frozen fields, deep snow, wet swamps, torrential rains, dry forests, clammy lakesides, windy plains, ... everywhere except Antarctica and Mt. Everest.
I was looking at the USMC MSS (module sleeping system) for a good while but always held off because of the weight (9ish altogether). Don't get me wrong, it gets perfect reviews (not counting weight and pack size) and comfortably works down to -4, which was the coldest review I could find. Then I found an army blog where a 1SG had a Snugpak Elite 5 that was supposedly warmer than anything else (civilian, US MSS, etc). I hear the USMC MSS bivvy is godlike and worth the full MSS price by itself.
I can get the authentic 4-pc MSS for around $200 on ebay. I can get the Snugpak Elite 5 for about the same but doesn't come with a waterproof bivy (which would be great in winter). I can get the MSS bivvy separate for about $50 if I choose the Snugpak... or snugpak makes a bivvy too although I don't know how it rates.
The MSS weights in at around 9lbs ( sometimes hear 7.5 or 8) including bivvy and stuff sac. The Snugpak is 5.3lbs without bivvy (I don't know if that includes stuff sac). With Snugpack bivvy (+.75lb), or with MSS bivvy (~+2lb). MSS packs down to 30x14". Snugpack does 10.2x10.2" (What a difference!) without bivvy. MSS is rated to -40F for 4 hours (military-tested and rated). Elite 5 goes to -15/-20F (I don't know who tests it).
A few things I thing the MSS has over any other sleeping system is A) modular, so I can use only one bag in summer or the whole mess during winter; B) the three pieces button together and can be stored pre-assembled... thus allowing me to simply unroll and crawl in without muss and fuss; and C) military tested and proven. But I keep hearing awesome things about the Elite 5 so, yea, still undecided.
*whew* You see how I do too much thinking? I'll let the opinions roll now.
