Sierra Designs Wicked Light
SIERRA DESIGNSWICKED LIGHT | $180 | WEIGHT: 14 ouncesThis sewn-through bag, the lightest Sierra Designs has ever made, is the company's introduction t...
SIERRA DESIGNS
This sewn-through bag, the lightest Sierra Designs has ever made, is the company’s introduction to the ultra-light world. The Wicked Light shaves weight by using down only on top, with no insulation at all underneath. The theory goes that down compresses, becoming useless when you lie on it, so why put it there to begin with?
In execution, the Wicked Light straps to a foam pad, which serves as the bottom side of the bag. Problem is, when you roll over, the bag moves slightly, exposing your side to the cold. The Wicked Light also lacks a neck closure, allowing air to chill your neck and chest. It does have a nylon-mesh head covering that is surprisingly warm on 50-degree nights, or works as a pillow when you stuff it with a vest or shirt. If, as intended, Sierra Designs tweaks the Wicked Light by adding more insulation to the sides and adding a neck closure, they’ll have a great lightweight bag.
PROS You can’t roll off your foam pad. Lightest bag.
CONS Down does not insulate enough on the sides, exposing you to cold when you roll over. Lack of a drawcord allows drafts. Requires a tent or bivy sack. (The next generation Wicked Light promises a neck drawcord and more down.) Short zipper limits ventilation.
RECOMMENDED USE Tent or bivy-sack camping down to 50 degrees. The Wicked Light’s DWR-treated nylon shell protects the down from dew, but the bag is cold in any wind or weather.