stardognine

I just found this old bag this morning, at a thrift store, for about $20 after tax. There's some interest in the old "brown label" stuff from TNF, but actual facts like temp ratings are hard to find. 🤔
There was a strong suggestion on one site, that their red bags are the warmest, but I hesitate to call that a fact, lol. 😉
Anyways, feel free to post facts or opinions, and pics, as long as it's somewhat on topic. 😁

tyrion

Vintage polyester is the best. Much better than new polyester.

stardognine

Another try, for the actual brown label. 😉

Rob_E

Way back when I first thought of bike touring, I didn't know anything about bags, and didn't know there was anything to know, and had no internet to consult. In the closet were half a dozen cotton sleeping bags that rolled up to about the size of a bail of hay, and one, army-issue, wool sleeping bag that had belonged to my grandfather. It actually rolled up to a reasonable size.

I think I took that bag on three separate bike trips over the course of two years, and I woke up freezing every morning. I lost it in a fire a couple of years ago, and I'm not too thrilled about that. For nostalgic reasons only. I had no desire to sleep in it ever again. I'll take modern gear from here on out.

fietsbob

They probably sew with polyester thread..

prathmann

Started with a K-Mart special cotton bag that was simultaneously huge, heavy, and cold. Took that on a short bike tour down part of the Calif. coast and backpacking in the Grand Canyon. Then Dave Baker of the Summit Hut in Tucson led a free overnight intro to backpacking trip in the Catalina which turned out colder than expected. He mentioned that he had a couple extra very compact down sleeping bags in his slim pack which convinced me that something better than my cotton bag might be worthwhile.

So when the Summit Hut offered a sale on a factory second North Face down bag (Blue Kazoo) I made sure to get there early and grab it. That was 43 years ago and I've taken that bag on at least a few backpack or bike camping trips every year since then. About a third the weight, a fifth the size, and twice the warmth of that old cotton bag.

Trevtassie

The handrolled nylon fibres in that bag are much better than these new fangled machine made nylon fibres they have nowadays...

Doug64

IME I'll take modern synthetics for weight and efficacy any day.

Steve B.

I can imagine you are probably trying to determine the model so as to determine the rated temperature.

Unfortunately I would doubt if anybody at NF would even know as they’ve been sold a few times and that’s IF you knew the model.

I have synthetic bags as made by NF for Eastern Mt. Sports, way back in the early 70’s. They still have most of their loft, thus are likely about 10 - 15 degrees less warm then when new.

Agree with Doug though, the new stuff is better, but $20 is a good deal considering the bag was likely $150 or so new, 30 years ago.

Tourist in MSN

If that 9/84 notation is month and year, that would be about mid-range in age compared to my collection. I think my oldest bag is a duck down bag from 1972 from Gerry. My warmest bag would be late 70s, a Snow Lion that I bought after the company folded, the bag was rated for minus 40 but I thought it was only good for about minus 10 or minus 15 (F).

Polyester, I wonder if that is Polarguard? Polarguard was available in the 70s.

skidder

The fill in that bag is probably the old 'Polarguard" polyester, a hollow filament fiber that TNF used instead of the more popular, lighter, (but not as durable) Qualofill polyester fiber. That was back in the day when their bags were 'over-engineered', so that if you bought a bag rated for 30F, you would be warm at 30F, and the bag would last. I had one of their bags, a 'Bigfoot' model, and it lasted quite a few years. The only reason its gone is a raccoon got into my tent and tore it up. I still have a down-filled 'superlight' model from that era that I bought for $99 at their discount store in San Leandro (just south of Oakland); at that time the regular price was about $170. Its just a hi-thread-count ripstop nylon fabric shell with 550-fill down, rated for 15F, and it still works great.

John N

I still have a 1981 TNF Gold Kazoo, a Blue Kazoo with Goretex outer fabric. It has been used for probably over 350 nights. The down loft has started to break down I guess as the loft is about half it used to be. I called TNF a decade or so ago and asked about their "lifetime warranty". They didn't cover it due to normal wear and tear. Reasonable I guess but sort of wished they had. Regardless, I still use it for my "hot" summer bag, i.e. nights above 70*F. Hope my other bags last as long.

stardognine

Yeah, I was assuming that "9/84" was probably the date of manufacture. What I noticed most, was the address in Berkely, which was their first real factory, from what I read. Not saying this was an early one, they got started in the early-mid '70s, but this one's still well made. Good thick nylon, that holds the heat in better than thinner stuff, I'd think. 🙂

prathmann

Actually makes me feel better about the regular Blue Kazoo I bought back in '74. It was marked down as a factory second and has the 'o' in NF blacked out to make it clear it's not eligible for the warranty. Mine has almost the original amount of loft and I still use it in freezing conditions. But I sometimes wondered if it would have been better to get one with the warranty since mine will certainly start to fail at some point.

alan s 

Vintage sleeping bag is kind of like vintage underwear.

skimaxpower

This would be fine for summer car-camping or kids' slumber parties.

For modern bike touring, save your money and get a down bag made in the past decade. It'll compress much smaller, weigh less, and insulate better.

fietsbob

My vintage bag Marmot CBS.. bottom is the Thermarest. (was eggshell foam.).

thinking Exped, synth/down filled, can roll smaller than thermarest..






...

J.Higgins 

Hilarious!

Reminds me of my first sleeping bag, which was an old green Boy Scouts bag that my mother got from one of her sisters. Cotton within and without. Stunk like hell, but I was so happy to get it!

stardognine

Hopefully, most of us have enough common sense to WASH a used sleeping bag, before sleeping in it. 🙄
And I wouldn't even consider used underwear, vintage or not. But it's all cool, you're just voicing an opinion, right? 😉

fietsbob

Has to be a Collector's Underwear market , the Provenance of Celebrity past owners is hard to trace, though...

saddlesores

the cost of DNA testing has come down recently.

...Elvis Presley's underpants
....Queen Victoria's bloomers
....Monica Lewinsky's negligee

https://www.justcollecting.com/vinta...rity-underwear

Celebrity underwear has long attracted interest - and big bucks - with garments once owned or worn
by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Kelly Brook and Dame Helen Mirren a big attraction at auctions....

Why do people collect celebrity underwear? - BBC News

https://www.ebay.com/itm/celebrity-o...cAAOSwOMlapp0n

but as this is a cycling forum, i'd like to bid on something related to
biking, like lance armstrong's doping needles!

indyfabz

Not always. You can find some good deals on unused vintage underwear:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cal...wAAOSwA1paorR6

Jonathan Hanson 

A vintage sleeping bag is fun, but even the best synthetic insulation from that era loses loft significantly over time. Whatever its original rating was is pretty much irrelevant now. You can simply try it and see what your current comfort level is.

stardognine

I understand what you're saying, but that's part of why I looked at this bag. The loft is excellent, must have been stored properly, and not seen much actual use. 🙂
As for the used underwear, maybe I need to open my mind, and stop being such a prude? 🤔 👼😁

raria

Beat me to it