Kifaru vs big agnes

S

Stoneballs9000

New member
Aug 14, 2015
8
Hello,
I\'m getting a new sleeping bag this year and I\'m torn between the BA encampment 15 and the kifaru 20. Does anyone have any experience with either of these bags? Any feedback on them would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
I only have experience with big agnes and only with their tents..... so that doesn\'t help that much....
but the quality is fantastic! :upthumb:
 
Yea, my buddy has one of their bags and loves it. I like them as a company. They don\'t shy away from supporting hunters even though they aren\'t targeting them specifically.
 
GREAT logon name. funny.

i had a kifaru Slick 20. my bag was the earlier model with the side zipper. take my review for what it is worth. i hated the thing.

why? here it is:
fundamentally, it was super annoying having to buy the stuff sack separately. and it had no storage sack. i got one seperately at REI. the 5-string stuff sack was $45 IIRC. boy, that was annoying.

but i sniffed the glue the guys at Rokslide was selling and was struck by the enthusiasm.

i got the bag and opened the box. the thing was sick looking. plain green with a goldish hued interior. very military. i climbed in with the bag on the spare bed. grab the zipper and pull gently..!@#$!$!@#$! it got caught up in the fabric near my neck. it buried itself. i was stuck. i had to yell for my wife like a little idiot. she worked the zipper down enough that i could shimmy out of the end like a big fat silk worm. a pissed off SWEATY silkworm because i was thrashing about like a loser-houdini in a 20 degree bag in a hot house in the SUMMER. i regrouped. i tried again and managed to zip in. it was pretty tight. i compared the measurements with my Marmot and it should be bigger..but no..it was tight. i climbed into my Marmot to confirm it was bigger. i ordered the regular 6\' Slick 20..should have gone with the wide.

anyways. i took it summer fishing. it was in the 40\'s out there. i froze my butt. i would rate it a 40 or 30 bag. i had to wear my puffy jacket which made it tighter feeling. and yes..i would always get the zipper caught.

i got home. sold it for pennies on the dollar. i was honest with the buyer...told him everything. but i think he was high from the rokslide sniffing glue. i would get banned on Rokslide for even telling this review. :)

no experience with BA..but my friend loves how the pad slips into the bag.
 
Likewise on the name elky,
Thanks for the review, I heard the earlier ones were cold. And I was jealous of my buddies BA with the pad slide last year. I\'ve narrowed it down to those two because I believe synthetic is the best option for me. I\'m going to be running a tarp setup this year so I want something tough that will dry fast.
 
Elky,
I forgot to mention. If I bought a 400 dollar kifaru bag and it didn\'t come with a stuff sack I would loose my mind! I\'m going to look into that. If that\'s still the case then that bag is completely out of the question.
 
Love my BA Encampment 15. I like the idea of stuffing my Pad in the pocket on the bottom of the bag. No worries about rolling off the pad. It is plenty toasty and I usually sleep with it partially unzipped.
 
Well, I\'ve had the Kifaru and still have the BA Encampment. I sold the Kifaru ... cold, and small. Good construction, though, and I didn\'t have the trouble with the zipper as elky did. In fact, I kind of thought it was comfortable, just cold. And small. Not just short. Small. I\'m 6-1 and 200# and it was a tight fit.

The Encampment, too, is cold. I don\'t use it much at all anymore. My son slept on a glacier for a month in it, but he sleeps warm. I freeze in it. Good construction, though, and it was the right size. I also like the integrated sleeve for the mattress. My son continues to amass BA stuff, and loves it all.

Both are good. This year, though, is the first year that I won\'t be going into the backcountry for any camping, so I\'ll be able to bring my cheap, big, warm Cabelas 3-D bag. That\'s living.
 
hmmm, I don\'t like these cold reviews. Maybe I should start looking at some treated down options. I\'m just worried about it getting wet. I woke up last year with ice on my down bag. I finished the hunt but I don\'t want to have to worry about that anymore.
 
I have the BA Farwell 0 degree bag and like it. Not love it.
I think all bags run cold - like 15 degrees warmer than stated

But I finally got my Farwell figured out.
I slip in a BA insulated air core mattress and a custom fit blue pad for the bottom of that.

Perfect.
 
Cliff, that was the best review I have ever read! I was literally laughing out loud with my wife looking at me like \'wth is wrong with you?\' Hahahahaha!!!!!!!
 
Something to think about is how warm or cold of a sleeper are you. My wife needs a big down comforter and flannel sheets even in the summer. But all I require is just the flannel sheet. So my 15 degree Big Agnes is plenty warm throughout the September archery season. My wife usually needs my big Cabela\'s -20 bag.

One other thing I might mention is, I can\'t stand those tight mummy bags. I need some wiggle room! :haha:
 
I have been debating the purchase of a BA bag for the last year. I have the insulated air core pad and I love that thing but I always slide off of it due to not being able to put the pad inside my bag. I have a wiggys bag and its great just need to figure out a way to stay on my pad at night.
 
\"elky McElkerson\" said:
GREAT logon name. funny.

i had a kifaru Slick 20. my bag was the earlier model with the side zipper. take my review for what it is worth. i hated the thing.

why? here it is:
fundamentally, it was super annoying having to buy the stuff sack separately. and it had no storage sack. i got one seperately at REI. the 5-string stuff sack was $45 IIRC. boy, that was annoying.

but i sniffed the glue the guys at Rokslide was selling and was struck by the enthusiasm.

i got the bag and opened the box. the thing was sick looking. plain green with a goldish hued interior. very military. i climbed in with the bag on the spare bed. grab the zipper and pull gently..!@#$!$!@#$! it got caught up in the fabric near my neck. it buried itself. i was stuck. i had to yell for my wife like a little idiot. she worked the zipper down enough that i could shimmy out of the end like a big fat silk worm. a pissed off SWEATY silkworm because i was thrashing about like a loser-houdini in a 20 degree bag in a hot house in the SUMMER. i regrouped. i tried again and managed to zip in. it was pretty tight. i compared the measurements with my Marmot and it should be bigger..but no..it was tight. i climbed into my Marmot to confirm it was bigger. i ordered the regular 6\' Slick 20..should have gone with the wide.

anyways. i took it summer fishing. it was in the 40\'s out there. i froze my butt. i would rate it a 40 or 30 bag. i had to wear my puffy jacket which made it tighter feeling. and yes..i would always get the zipper caught.

i got home. sold it for pennies on the dollar. i was honest with the buyer...told him everything. but i think he was high from the rokslide sniffing glue. i would get banned on Rokslide for even telling this review. :)

no experience with BA..but my friend loves how the pad slips into the bag.
Click to expand...


My wife would NEVER let me live that one down. I already get mocked when I play with all my hunting stuff in the house.
 
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