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Western Mountaineering Puma GWS

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Western Mountaineering Puma GWS Down Sleeping Bag

Trail Testers Recommended 100%

Western Mountaineering Web Page

SRP £590 6’6” version

I have to say from the outset that this is one of the best winter down sleeping bags that I have used and have no hesitation in awarding it our 100% rating.

I took the bag out to Norway, where daily temperatures were below -20 and on a couple of days reached -42C. The bag has a comfort rating of -32C, but I think this is conservative, as it always kept me warm and gave me a great night’s sleep.

This was kindly loaned to me by Beyond Hope the UK importers of Western Mountaineering.

I had arranged to have the bag sent in its stuff bag, as the next day I was leaving for Oslo. When it arrived and I unpacked the box, I remarked to my colleague that they had sent it in its storage bag by mistake. As it turned out the mistake was mine, as upon closer examination, I saw that it was indeed in its stuff bag.....and it was huge!

Take a look at the photos at left of the bag in its storage bag next to a 1L Sigg bottle. The second picture is of the bag in its supplied stuff bag and the third picture shows it squashed down into a Sea to Summit compression sack.

With an already full Bergen groaning at the seams, I opted for the compression sack and took it out to Norway this way. Although it was really squished down small it easily fluffed up and gave outstanding warmth each night. It was like sleeping in a big fluffy continental quilt.

I was also struck by the attention to detail and quality of manufacture. No loose thread, no snagging zips, everything as it should be. Okay, so you have shelled out nearly £600 you expect it to be right? Not always, but if you buy one of these bags, you won’t have anything to gripe about.

Western Mountaineering, use only the finest Polish goose down to fill their bags. The outer shell is made from Gore ™Windstopper fabric, hence the GWS designation. So this outer shell is going to keep you nice and dry when the going gets tough.

I am on the tall side at 6’3” so I tried the larger of the three bags designed for a person up to 6’6”. Now I have been here before and found bags don’t always live up to their specified dimensions. That means struggling to close the neck baffles and being a contortionist to wiggle your shoulders and prise your hands free to lock down the hood. Well not on this baby, there is just so much rooooooom!

Once the bag was out of the compression sack it would suck in air like a self inflating sleep mat and double in thickness all on its own. Give it a shake to get lots of that air round those precious feathers and you have one magnificent place to lay your tired bones. I usually sleep in a Helly Hansen or

Puma GWS

Puma GWS in storage bag above, in stuff sack below left and in Sea to Summit compression sack bottom right. Note size of 1L Sigg bottle for scale.

Woolpower base layer, so that the oils in my skin don’t find their way into the down. On a couple of nights the temperatures soared to a balmy minus 10 and then I needed to vent the bag to cool down. When the temperatures plummeted again I could zip up

the Puma GWS, snuggle down and just imagine I was back home in Wales sleeping on my futon. The bag kept me warm sleeping on my back, or as I often like to do, on my side. Magic!

Now for the technical stuff: - The Puma GWS comes in three sizes and weights, 5 ‘6” 1580g, 6’0” 1670g, 6’6”. 1750g. The bag I tested the 6’6”, has a total fill weight of 1125g of 850+ Polish down and that lofts to a full nine inches. Construction features a 6” Spacing/Vee Lock side baffle, 64”/39” shoulder/foot girth, full down collar, reverse differential hood, interlocking Gore ™Windstopper draft tubes, foot inner reinforced with 2.4oz fabric for stowing gear, -32C rating.

Dawn Smith - Ed