Monolite Down Sleeping Bag

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A minimalist, hoodless sleeping bag that has a 2°C Comfort Limit and is ideal for fast and light adventures from late spring through to early autumn. Top quality construction as always from Western Mountaineering.

Western Mountaineering says

When you need a sleeping bag with the absolute minimum weight and packed volume, our Monolite could be the perfect solution. It is designed like the Flylite but without a hood to make it even more compressible and lightweight. Weighing less than a pound and stuffing down to about the size of your water bottle, it is a great choice for bike packing or adventure racing enthusiasts.

The 10 denier outer shell and lining materials are separated slightly by micro-baffles and it has an insulated top collar and draft tube behind a half length #3 coil zipper.

Our Verdict

Western Mountaineering’s Monolite Down Sleeping Bag is an 2-3 season bag aimed at keeping the weight as low as possible whilst still delivering a 2°C Comfort Limit. The hoodless design is ideal for milder conditions when you don’t need that additional coverage. Weighing in at just 398g with 206g of down this bag uses micro baffles to eliminate cold spots and it still includes a draught collar despite the hoodless design, and draught tube down the half length zip. Super lightweight 10D fabric is used for the shell material and combined with 850+ fill power down to produce one of the lightest bags available for this level of warmth.

With such a low weight and excellent packsize this is an awesome bag capable of pushing into spring and autumn with the  right sleep set up. An example of their attention to detail is their quoted 850+ fill power down used in all their bags: WM quote this figure even though their down generally gets higher ratings in official tests this is because they feel that the official pre-testing preparation enhances the down quality.

– Reviewed by Ultralight Outdoor Gear

Features

• 10 denier nylon shell fabric and lining
• Lightweight #3 coil zipper (half length)
• No sewn-through seams = no cold spots
• Insulated draft tube
• Fully baffled construction
• Insulated top collar
• Amazingly light and compressible

Specifications

Regular

• Length: 180cm / 6″
• Weight: 398g (excludes storage bags)
• Loft: 9.5cm
• Inside girth: 105/130/99cm
• Fill weight: 206g
• Pack size: 13 x 25cm

Rating & Materials

• Rating: 2°C *
• Shell fabric: 10 denier Liteloft balanced weave nylon w/C-0 DWR
• Lining: 10 denier Liteloft balanced weave, soft and breathable nylon
• Fill: 190g (regular bag) Hypoallergenic 850+ fill power goose down
• Zip: YKK #3 coil zipper (30″ length) w/ locking reversible slider

* Western Mountaineering state: ‘We independently verify own temperature ratings through our own testing, customer feedback and design knowledge. Most of the items in our catalog we have been making for years, which means we have lots of prior knowledge from everyday consumers on what ratings are accurate. We have also EN tested our bags. In every case the EN rating is lower than our posted rating. This means our ratings are more conservative. We do this to ensure that almost everyone will be happy in our bags at the temperature we publish.’

More About Western Mountaineering:

• Western Mountaineering Construction
• Western Mountaineering Materials

Help and advice:

• The Ultimate Guide to Lightweight Sleeping Bags
• Time-Saver Guide to Choosing a Sleeping Bag
• The EN13537 Standard
• All About Down
• Responsible Down Standard
• Hydrophobic Down