Big Agnes Moon Hill 0

So let's just say BA products are awesome. I originally got the BA Encampment 15 degree bag at REI on clearance.  I already had a Sierra Design 15 degree bag but what the heck?  I decided I was going to sell this BA Encampment at a swap meet and wound up being right next to the BA reps with their tent. 

I started looking through their sleeping bags and came across the Moon Hill. It was a demo model but looked clean and new. The rep wound up trading bags with me even swap. Now I had a 0 degree bag for using between my warmer bags and my neg 20 degree bag. Thanks BA for taking care of an already impressed customer. Now for the review.

So I live in Colorado and camp all year round in the Colorado Rockies. I went camping with this bag for the first time at the end of October 2010.

My nephew and I went to a spot at 10,300 feet in about 8 inches of snow. It continued to snow all through the weekend with temps around 20-25 degrees in the day and around negative 5-10  degrees at night with wind chill. We had a North Face Mountain 25 expediton tent so we felt no wind and much less cold.  My nephew has a negative 20 degree BA Hahns Peak bag and loves it. 

I used this Moon Hill for the first time and was amazed at how warm I stayed all weekend in bad weather conditions. I only slept in light cotton socks, 1 thin pair of thermals and a t-shirt. I did wear a hat to keep my head warm in the middle of the night.

Keep in mind this bag had no bottom fill. It only has a sleeve for an inflatable pad. I used the BA pad on top of a self inflating 1 1/2 inch pad for additional insulation. I was almost too warm in sub zero temps with a zero degree bag. I was so impressed as my older and cheaper synthetic zero degree bag would have left ice on my toes. I didn't sweat much either so decent breathability with this bag. 

I am 6 foot 2 inches and 250 pounds. Unfortunately all the BA rep had was a regular, not a long, so I was unable to fit my boot inserts in my bag while I slept. Anyway, I still just fit in a regular because BA is smart enough to widen the girth of their bags. 

I would rate this bag at a 5 but the pillow holder sucks. I decided I was going to rate it at 4.5 but since the guys at BA took such good care of me I kept it at 5 and overlooked the pillow holder.  It is way too big and hangs down too low to be effective. 

The thing I really do like is that since the sleeping pad slips into the bag I didn't slide off onto the floor all night like most of my other bags. I could legitimately toss and turn in this bag and the bag stayed flat all night.   

Anyway, great bag for the money. I would recomend this bag, but they are true to size.  If you are over 6 foot go with a long. 

To leave off. Make sure you buy the correct gear for the trip and don't skimp on cheap gear. Bring the right gear for the right weather conditions, your life may depend on it.  Try it out before you buy it.  I wound up making that mistake last summer.  I took a cheapo 40 degree bag I got for ultra light camping and froze my bottom off when the temps at night fell into the 30's.