Mountain Equipment Glacier 700 - Women's Review
Cons: Expensive, low quality down, heavy
Manufacturer: Mountain Equipment
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Mountain Equipment Glacier 700 - Women's | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  | |  | | |
| Price | $455 List Check Price at REI | $439.00 at Feathered Friends | Check Price at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $319.95 at Amazon | Check Price at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers |
Overall Score  |
|||||
| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Very warm, thoughtful design of features | High-quality down, warm, lightweight | High-quality down, warm and lofty, light, a top tier product | Comfortable, lightweight, excellent materials, not constricting | Light and compressible synthetic, keeps you warm when wet |
| Cons | Expensive, low quality down, heavy | Sizing not for everyone, fabric is a bit noisy | Expensive | Comforter sometimes does not stay tucked in | Bulkier packed size, heavier, small fit |
| Bottom Line | We love the clever design features focused on warmth, but think this bag is too expensive for what it is | This high-end bag will keep you warm and comfortable from Spring to Fall in all conditions | A high-tech, high-quality backpacking sleeping bag with more roomy dimensions than most | A great, high-quality choice at a relatively low price for those looking for a lightweight bag that doesn't sacrifice comfort | An inexpensive and versatile synthetic bag, this is an excellent choice for breaking into backpacking |
| Rating Categories | Glacier 700 | Egret UL 20 | Sea to Summit Flame 15 | Cloud 800 | Cat's Meow |
| Warmth (25%) | |||||
| Weight (25%) | |||||
| Comfort (20%) | |||||
| Packed Size (15%) | |||||
| Features (15%) | |||||
| Specs | Glacier 700 | Egret UL 20 | Sea to Summit Flame 15 | Cloud 800 | Cat's Meow |
| ISO/EN Comfort Rating (F) | 21 F | 20 F (not EN rated) | 15 F | 26 F | 22 F |
| Fill Type | Duck down | Goose down | Goose down | PFC-Free DriDown | Heatseeker™ Guide synthetic insulation |
| Measured Weight (in lbs) | 2.6 lb | 1.7 lb | 2.0 lb | 1.7 lb | 2.5 lb |
| Total Weight (oz) | 41.6 oz | 27.5 oz | 31.2 oz | 27.4 oz | 40.2 oz |
| Fill Power | 700 | 950+ | 850+ | 800 | Synthetic |
| Women specific features | Extra fill in footbox and chest | Women's specific fit - more insulation in key areas | More insulation per square inch than men's version | Women's specific cut | |
| Fill Weight (oz) | 23 oz | 17.3 oz (medium) | 22.9 oz | 14.8 oz | Unspecified |
| Material | DRILITE LOFT 50-denier | Pertex Endurance UL | Ultralight 10D Nylon Shell | 15d nylon risptop | 20D Nylon Ripstop/taffeta |
| Neck Baffle | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| No | No | No | No | No | |
| Sleeping Pad Sleeve | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Zipper Length | 54 in | 62 in | 56 in | N/A | 59 in |
| Shoulder Girth | 62 in | 54 in | 60 in | 59 in | 58 in |
| Hip Girth | 54 in | 56 in | 58 in | 58 in | 58 in |
| Foot Girth | 40 in | 38 in | 40 in | 39 in | 40 in |
| Stuff Sack included? | Stuff sack and storage bag included | Stuff sack and storage bag included | Compression stuff sack and storage bag included | Stuff sack and storage bag included | Compression sack and storage bag included |
Our Analysis and Test Results
This super warm and comfortable bag has a lot of bells and whistles to keep you cozy during chilly nights in the backcountry.
Performance Comparison
Warmth
Warmth seems to be the Glacier 700's main area of focus (we guess we could have guessed that by its name). Although it's EN rated to 21 degrees, we think it is actually much warmer than a few of the other products that have this temperature rating, mostly because of it's thoughtful baffle design and features to store warmth. The Glacier's hood punches well above its weight class with huge amounts of down to insulate your head from the cold, which is important to feel warm. It also has a whopping 23 ounces of down fill, much more than other bags with the same EN temperature rating, which makes us wonder what all does the EN testing actually take into consideration?
Weight
Weighing in at 2.6 pounds, the Glacier is a bit on the heavy side for our liking. It's shell materials seem pretty hefty, and if it had a higher fill power there could be a lot less down weight for the same amount of warmth.
Comfort
The Glacier 700 is a very comfortable bag. Its mummy shape fits just right on our 5'5 tester and doesn't leave too much space for cold air to get in. We like its lofty baffles and cozy hood, as well as its soft liner materials.
Packed Size
The stuff sack that that comes with the glacier is on the large side and is not a compression sack, so its packed size is rather large. We think you could get the Glacier slightly smaller when using a different compression sack.
Features
As far as any women's specific features go, it seems like Mountain Equipment literally used the philosophy "shrink it and pink it" as the only difference we can find from the men's' version is it's smaller and pink.
Mountain Equipment seems to have designed this bag with care. Its baffles are carefully thought out, and the foot baffle design is especially interesting in a "peace sign" structure to keep the down in place where it counts.
We weren't sure about the "Lode Lock" closure that closes the neck baffle and it took us a bit of time to fumble around with it until we discovered the handy pull tab that easily opens it up. It's fun to hear it find itself (there are magnets) and close when you're in the bag.
We prefer the anti-snag style of zipper many manufacturers are using these days to the Glacier's traditional-looking zipper with burly materials along either side of it to keep it from snagging. The extra material seems to add unnecessary bulk and weight and could be easily solved with a different zipper.
Value
The price point of this bag seems a little off. It is one of the more expensive bags in this review, but when its weight and materials are compared to the high-end bags we tested, it falls very short. The middle of the road 700 fill down and its 2.6 pound weight puts it in a category with much lower-priced products. Although it could be argued that there is a higher level of engineering in some of the features, we don't think the Glacier 700 is a great value for what it is.
Conclusion
This well thought out sleeping bag will keep you warm on cool nights in spring through fall. We thing some tweaks need to be made to its materials (upping the fill power, reducing weight) or its price point for it to be the right value.
— Jessica Haist