2016 Marmot Gear Overview
Marmot is a great brand that we have always been able to trust in providing good quality gear at a reasonable price. In this post, I wanted to share with you all some of the things that we covered in our employee gear training clinic that our Marmot Rep put on for us. They covered a lot of things including the new 2016 Sleeping Bags and Tents, the Universal Temp Rating System that they use for testing Sleeping Bags, Goose Down Specs, and Lifetime Warranty.
To briefly go over who they are, Marmot began as a sleeping bag company, but have evolved into a company that covers a lot of essential camping gear. They continue to pioneer new concepts in camping gear, and have a great role in building value and insulation standards in the outdoor industry.
Marmot Down & Synthetic Hybrid Sleeping Bags (Quark & Ion)
Marmot has added a new insulation concept to their 2016 lineup. They have created a new set of down/synthetic composite bags, including the Quark and Ion. This combines the lightweight warming and insulating power of goose down, and combining it with the durable and moisture wicking ability of a synthetic insulation. It's a great new concept and may very well become a new standard in sleeping bag insulation.
Marmot Goose Down Sleeping Bags
Down is the cornerstone of Marmot as a company. Down sleeping bags were the first Marmot products produced. No synthetic surpasses the lightweight, compactability and longevity of down. Marmot has cornered the market in Eastern Europe on some really high quality geese. These geese are much older than the geese normally raised for market. Older geese produce mature down with larger, stronger and longer lasting down clusters and this is the down they use in their 800, 850 & 875 fill power bags.
Fill power: The number of cubic inches an ounce of down occupies. Down rated 800 fill power is loftier, which means warmer per ounce, than 600 fill power down.
Quality Testing: All down is independently certified and undergoes a second test when it arrives at Marmot to assure the quality and fill power of every sleeping bag they make. Due to their rigorous testing Marmot is confident that they are supplying the finest quality down available from anyone, anywhere!
Marmot Sleeping Bag Feature Overviews:
875 FP GOOSE DOWN PLASMA SERIES (Plasma 30 & Plasma 15)
Flow™ Vertical Baffles - Unique flow-optimized insulation system that delivers uniform heat distribution and natural body contouring through its revolutionary baffle design that naturally contours to your body limiting excess bulk and allow the down to be held closer to your body.
Flow Gate Construction - Flow Gates are strategically placed to eliminate cold spots by minimizing the lateral movement of the down.
875 Fill Power Down - With the largest down clusters, 875 FP down has the highest loft, and highest weight-to-warmth ratio available in the industry.
Down Defender Water resistant down with increased durability & quicker drying
Wrap Around Footbox Vaults the foot area to prevent the compression of the down, extending the comfort range and increasing the thermal efficiency over a full night’s sleep.
Pertex Quantum Shell and Lining Fabrics - Super lightweight micro denier fabric is extremely durable and packable. A “super” Durable Water Repellency helps to shed water.
850 FP GOOSE DOWN SERIES (Atom, Hydrogen, Helium, Wm’s Xenon & Lithium)
Here are the New 2016 Features:
- NEW Fold Down Second Zipper for added comfort and ease of use (similar to Trestles)
- NEW Anti-Snag Zipper Guard eliminates the dreaded zipper snags!
- NEW Smooth Curve Baffles increases warmth efficiency thereby making a lighter bag.
- NEW Anatomically Designed Foot Box – wrap-around construction increases warmth & comfort.
Nautilus Hood – the same construction as our 8000M jacket hood: a 3D hood that wraps around your head to help reduce heat loss.
Down Defender - Water resistant down with increased durability & quicker drying
Hood Muff – creates a warm down gasket around your face, keeping the drawcord away from your face.
Down Filled Oversized Draft Tube – eliminates cold spots along the zipper.
Ground Level Seams – the top layer wraps fully around the body creating a warm blanket affect.
650 FP DUCK DOWN SERIES(Always Summer, Never Winter, Wm’s Angel Fire, Sawtooth, Women's Teton, Never Summer & Wm’s Ouray)
650 FP Duck Down - Marmot's duck down receives the same thorough processing and cleaning as our top of the line 875 fill power down receives.
Here are the NEW 2016 Features
- NEW Anti-Snag Zipper Guard eliminates the dreaded zipper snags!
- NEW Smooth Curve Baffles increases warmth efficiency thereby making a lighter bag.
- NEW Anatomically Designed Foot Box – wrap-around construction increases warmth & comfort.
Down Defender Water resistant down with increased durability & quicker drying
Heat Bump Draft Tube – increases warmth along the zipper.
Stretch Tricot Baffles – allows the bag to be stuffed and unstuffed without tearing the baffle material.
Foot Box Heater Pocket – small pocket to hold heat packs.
Zipper Guard – keeps the draft tube from getting caught in the zipper.
Ground Level Seams – the top layer wraps fully around the body creating a warm blanket affect.
UPDATED Nautilus Hood – the same construction as our 8000M jacket hood: a 3D hood that wraps around your head to help reduce heat loss.
Hood Muff – creates a warm down gasket around your face, keeping the drawcord away from your face.
Velcro Free Face Muff – eliminates rough spots against the face as well as hair tangles.
TRESTLES SYNTHETIC SERIES (Trestles 30, Wm’s Trestles 30, Trestles 15, Women’s Trestles 15, Trestles 0 & Kid’s Trestles 30)
Wave Construction – offers the advantages of traditional blanket and shingle construction with no significant increases in weight.
SpiraFil Insulation – a unique blend of 3 denier conjugated spiral hollow fibers for loft and 1 denier polyester fibers for warmth, softness and compressability.
Dual Zipper – ability to fold back top of bag.
Trapezoid Foot Box – the foot box is constructed to match the shape of your feet, wider at the toe area and narrower at the heels.
Nautilus Hood – the same construction as our 8000M jacket hood: a 3D hood that wraps around your head to help reduce heat loss.
Zipper Guard – keeps the draft tube from getting caught in the zipper.
Hidden Interior Pocket – keeps contacts, watches or midnight snack out of the way but within easy reach.
Wide Sizes – oversized version, 5” larger circumference in the shoulders.
Compression Stuff Sack - included
Proper Care of Sleeping Bags
Down and Synthetic insulated sleeping bags should be washed in large capacity, front-loading machines. Use a specific outdoor fabric cleaner, such as Granger or Nikwax. For down bags specifically we have a Nikwax Down DuoPack that will make sure your sleeping bag gets the wash it needs. Always use a warm wash and a warm rinse. Never use fabric softeners! It is extremely important to rinse the bag well. We recommend two rinse cycles..
Note that sleeping bags will be heavy (especially down bags) when removed from the washer so take extra care when pulling it out to place in the dryer (don’t grab and pull with one hand or it can tear the interior baffles). Dry in dryer on low heat (temperature not to exceed 140 degrees F). Put two clean tennis balls (or similar objects such as “sock balls”) in with the bag.
EN (European Norm) Testing
EN testing is required for all bags sold in Europe, so Marmot has decided to use this process to test temperature ratings. A copper mannequin is fitted with 20 sensors and a clothing layer, raised off the ground so that air circulates below bag and then mathematical formulas are used to measure the temperature ratings. The testing takes place at the Thelma Testing Center in Norway.
EN Temperature Ranges:
Comfort Limit – based on a female having a comfortable night’s sleep
Lower Limit – based on a male having a comfortable night’s sleep
Extreme Rating – survival rating for female
Above is a sample of the EN hang tag from a Sawtooth 15° F bag:
Marmot Tents
We are very excited to see the updates that Marmot has made to their tent selection. With the new topography and other features, we are really pushing our gear recommendations to Marmot.
TENT LIVABILITY
Marmot has always set the standard for tent livability in the industry. By using Tent Topography and separating the living space into zones, we better inform our customers so they can choose the best Marmot tents for their needs. Coupled with CAD data comparisons, we give customers a better idea of tent volume without the need of setting it up.
Zone Construction optimizes the Sleep, Body and Head zones, making them more comfortable in size and configuration for users.
Tent Topography is the tool that helps us visualize how much more room there is in each zone. We also have calculated the area in these zones using detailed measurements and CAD models.
Marmot Tungsten Series – 1p, 2p, 3p& 4p
The tungsten is a great tent for the money. It balances weight and comfort all while remaining at a reasonable price. For the 2-Person tent and up, there are 2 doors and 2 vestibules to allow easier access in and out of the tent.
UPDATED! Limelight 2p & 3p
We're super excited about the new updates to the Marmot Limelight. It has the new pre-bent poles that extent the comfort area upward in order to created more head room. The new door system is genius! you can access from either the right or left sides, and when fully open, you can stow the door in an interior pocket. 2 doors and 2 vestibules that make for great access and lots more options to make it all the more worth it.
The Force Series tents are Marmot's hyperlight series. They have increased the quality of materials and have designed each tent to be extremely light. There have great features and are perfect for the serious backpacker.
Life Time Warranty
Marmot warrants every product they make to be free of manufacturer defects. Should you have a warranty issue, visit https://warranty.marmot.com. They will repair it if possible or replace all valid warranty items.