In which I contemplate replacing my sleeping bag with something that will actually keep me warm

Today was a much better day.  I didn't feel like a zombie, for one.  And I didn't have to pay any vets *anything*.  It was warm enough that I only wore a light sweater to work, not a down jacket.  If I recall correctly this is not normal for March, but I like it.  I don't like the thunderstorms we've been having, though.

Last night and this morning I did some online sleeping bag shopping.  My sleeping bag, a MontBell UltraLight SuperStretch Down Hugger #3 (say that a few times fast) is in theory a 30 degree bag.  However I froze my patootie off in it during my thruhike.  I don't think I've ever been warm in it at 30 degrees.  Probably not at 40 degrees either.  I don't know if it's under filled or what.  But it is a lame excuse for a sleeping bag.  That said, I really, really like the super stretchy part of it.  If I have to sleep in one of those bags where you have to lie flat and straight with your arms crossed over your chest, I ache like nobody's business.  The stretchy bag allows me to sleep like a 4.  Or on my stomach.  Or in a yoga pose.  Basically I could do whatever I want in the bag and it would accommodate me.  But it would not keep me warm.  Especially after a thruhike.  If it had any chance of working BEFORE I ground five months of dirt into it, it definitely doesn't now.  But like I said, I don't think it felt that warm from the get-go.

Googling indicates that in fact it is a common problem.  The bags are rated too low.  (I.e. the 30 degree bag is really more of a 40 or 45 degree bag.)  So I could get an UltraLight SuperSpiral Down Hugger #1 (They don't make the Super Stretch anymore, but the Super Spiral gets close to the same amount of roominess, or so I hear) which is sold as a 15 degree bag, and I would probably be warm at 30 degrees.  Or I could go elsewhere.  Western Mountaineering makes bags with a great reputation for being warm.  I'm not sure I could sleep sprawled in one, though.

After careful perusal of the WM website, I think I might like the AlpinLite bag, but nobody within a hundred miles apparently sells one where I can go get inside a bag to try it out.  So I'm thinking about ordering from a place with a good return policy (i.e. backcountry.com).  If I don't like it, I can return it for a $6 shipping fee and Bob's your uncle.  (Not mine, though..  I have an Uncle Roger but I don't think there are any sayings about him.)  And then I would go ahead and get the lower rated Montbell bag.

Anyway, that's what has been occupying my thoughts today.  Not being cold.  Or achy.  And apparently spending a lot of money at an outfitter's.  Again.