Valandre Mirage Sleeping bag

I always had puzzling thoughts when reading about backpackers having multiple sleeping bags in their kit. For years I was a one bag for all seasons dude. That has all changed with the addition of the Valandre Mirage to the gear closet.

With this bag weighing in at 1.7 pounds (799gram), I will reduce my shelter gear by a pound over my Western Mountaineering Versalite. I never had a cold night in that bag, but I did become frustrated on more than one night with the draft collar and hood system.
there is no draft collar on the Mirage, and a different design for the hood will hopefully take care of some of that. Hoods are inherently frustrating for anyone who is a side and prone sleeper like me, but I'm not ready for a quilt system because of the ever present possibility of drafts washing out the warm air. Instead, the challenge for me is to develop a sleeping technique to turn with the bag, instead of just inside the bag.

The general shape of the bag is somewhat unique and is designed for comfort to 20 degrees using goose down as the insulator. More on that later. Instead of a gradual consistent tapering to the foot box, Valandre keeps the bag on the wide side to a point at the hips where the arm ends, then reshapes to conform to the legs. One last shape change is at the foot box where it opens up to the shape of an anatomic foot.

 The 3/4 length zipper is protected by a draft baffle to discourage cold air seeping in.

 Valandre uses goose down from geese specifically raised, and humanly slaughtered. Because geese fly at very high altitudes, the shape of the feather is unique for retaining warmth at the core.

The product comes with 2 stuff sacks and a storage bag.

It all sounds logical to me, but the defining moment for me was getting into the bag, zipping her up, then immediately feeling the warmth gather around me. The first thought is always the truest and "toasty" was that thought. It's a keeper and the bag count is now up to three.