Kilsia 0 Degree Sleeping Bag Review
Review and Photos by: Austin Legg
If you’re looking for the bottom line right off the bat: the Kilsia is the best sleeping bag I’ve ever owned! 5/5 Stars.
If you want more details, I’ve now spent 11 nights in this bag over the last six weeks and I’ve got a lot to say so keep reading.
My first trip was in mid-September. We rode horses into the Frank Church Wilderness and slept on cots in a wall tent. Having a stove in the tent allowed us to get the tent nice and toasty when we were falling asleep. But when we woke up, it was pretty cold inside. Camp was right at 9,000 feet, so temperatures at night ranged from the upper 20’s to low 30’s.
Getting the bag into camp was easy. Yes, we rode horses in, but this bag collapses down incredibly small for a 0 degree bag. I took some photos comparing it to the height and diameter of my Nalgene bottle because I was so impressed. At just 3.5lbs, you could absolutely backpack with this (which I did in October).
Prior to this season, almost every night I have ever spent on a mountain, I’ve slept uncomfortably cold. I’m usually the guy who puts on every layer before climbing into my sleeping bag. But this year, in order to test this Kryptek bag correctly, I decided to only wear a merino wool top and bottom as I slept. The Kyrptek bag did not disappoint.
The first time I crawled into this bag I noticed how roomy it is. A 22-inch foot box was large enough that my feet never felt trapped, and the 32-inch shoulder width allowed me to move around freely if I had to adjust sleeping positions. The zipper also has a snag-free zipper guard which works great. This was nice because I would fall asleep with the full-length zipper completely unzipped, (remember the wall tent was very warm) and then, a few hours later when I would wake up cold, I could quickly zip it up and fall back asleep. Altogether, I spent 8 nights in the Frank Church Wilderness with that bag. Not a single complaint. It worked flawlessly for a September elk hunt at 9,000 feet elevation.
In early October, as rifle deer season opened in Idaho, I backpacked into my hunting spot. The forecast the first day was mild, with temperatures in the mid 30’s. The next night however, temperatures plummeted into the low 20’s and it dumped snow. My camp was at about 8,000 feet and I woke up to my tent collapsing under the snow. Due to the angle of the hillside where my tent was pitched, my tent’s rain fly was not angled downwards properly. This basically created a giant platform to collect snow on. I woke up at about 2 a.m. buried by my rainfly and a blanket of snow. I got out of bed and had to reset everything. With the amount of snow around and on my tent, there was very poor ventilation inside and the result was a lot of condensation and moisture. Add in the freezing temperatures and it was a mess. The good news is, I still slept great. I was never wet inside my bag. I was never cold. That bag probably saved my life, or at a minimum, saved me from hypothermia.
The Kilsia bag utilizes Kryptek Defender hydrophobic treated down, which absorbs 90% less water and dries 3 times faster than standard goose down. So even though my bag got very wet on its outer portion, I didn’t worry about the internal down getting waterlogged and ruined.
Later in October, I was out on another deer hunt. This time I was planning on setting up a camp at my truck. Well, I got back from my first hunt at about 1 a.m. and of course, I hadn’t set a tent up yet. I was exhausted. So, I decided to roll out my pad in my truck bed and sleep under the stars. It was very windy! I would guess it was a consistent 15-20 mph with gusts much higher. Even in my truck bed I could feel it howling. The wind made the mid 30 degree temperatures cut straight to the bone. I climbed into my bag and can honestly say I was shocked at how wind resistant it was. It was so windy I had a hard time staying asleep with the cold wind on my face. So, I slept completely cocooned inside my bag. This was my eleventh night in the bag and I was as comfortable as hunter can be.
At this point I’ve slept in a wall tent, a 2-person backpacking tent and under the stars. I’ve slept in dumping snow and under windy, starry skies. Even though I’ve got at least 5-6 more nights to spend in this bag before my hunts are finished, I am 100% confident that I can say this is the best sleeping bag I’ve ever owned. I would recommend it to everyone.
