The Lynx is by far the best sleeping bag tested at balancing weight, warmth and bulk
It’s filled with Climashield, a very soft continuous fi lament that is arguably the best synthetic sleeping bag fill currently available. It’s meant to be very durable, though I can’t verify this yet. The North Face has combined this top quality fill with an excellent design. The shingle construction means there are no cold spots as the layers of fill overlap each other and no stitch-lines go right through from inner to outer.
The bag is roomy enough not to feel restrictive and to allow for warm clothing to be worn when necessary but not so big that cold spots are a problem. For a warm sleeper like me the temperature rating is on the conservative side. At 8C I was very warm and didn’t need to do up the hood; indeed, I had the top of the zip open. The hood has a warm draft tube round the edge that fi ts neatly round the face, keeping in the heat, and the boxed foot is roomy.
There’s a good anti-snag baffle behind the zip so it runs smoothly, and a thick baffle (a continuation of the one on the hood) that stops cold seeping in through the zip. The shell fabrics are soft and flexible and I’ve found the Lynx very comfortable. The outer has a DWR treatment that kept condensation from soaking in the foot of the bag when it was in contact with a damp tarp wall. The Lynx can be compressed to quite a small size, though I’d only do this when essential.
The weight is low (830g), especially given the warmth provided, which is comparable to many summer weight down bags. This is the only sub one-kilo bag tested that could be described as warm enough for temperatures below 10°C.
This is one of the synthetic bags that comes close to the performance of down sleeping bags. It’s also one of the few that comes in two sizes and so will fit taller people.
