Tayson: So here's the big question, how do we live a life? Full of Adventures travel and memories on our terms without being millionaires without previous experience? And without unlimited amounts of time, that's the big question and this podcast will give you the answers. I'm your co-host Tayson and I'm Dave and you're listening to the live ultralight podcast powered by Outdoor Vitals. Hey, welcome to the live ultralight podcast. I just want to take a quick second and explain this particular episode on this episode. We actually rolled the audio from a video that we just published on our YouTube channel. We're talking about updates to Summits and Aries and Alice's and we just wanted to make sure that we covered this topic for our followers. You can consume in whichever format you'd like if you want to see the visual parts of it, go watch on our YouTube channel. If you just want to hear those updates, you can listen in here. The updates are pretty significant as you'll hear in the podcast. Really excited about some of the things you're able to do. So such as shave, a half pound off of the Summits and different things. So we'll go ahead and roll that recording. And again, if you want to see anything visually, you can just hop over to our YouTube channel. It's just out or vitals. He's the YouTube channel and you can see more there. Thanks. Hey, what's up? We'll be tribe. Thanks for joining us today. Today, we are going to be doing an overview of a bunch of updates that we've done on some of our best-selling products. I brought Brigham a product designer on camera with me today to go over some of these and talk about some of these. We've been cranking out a ton of new designs and refreshes to some of our old stuff to follow along with the live ultralife mindset. So Kind of going along those lines. What we really want to do with these products is simplify them minimize them, reduce weights improve function improve, you know, the compressibility, these types of things and then all. So improve the warmth of all of our bags that we've done these refreshes on. So today we just want to go through dive into each one of those individually and explain the pros and cons. So the bags will be covering will be the atlas, the summit, the Aries. And then we did do a small update to The Mummy pod. That will probably touch on, as well as we're explaining some of these with also released them in some new temperature ratings as well. So let's go ahead and dive into the atlas in the summit. And then we'll also explain, you know, when you might want to choose one over the other. So let's start there. All right, so for starters, we want to talk about what some of the similarities are between these two bags. Then we'll talk about the difference is and then we'll kind of weigh the pros and cons between each bag. So, obviously, and clearly, the first thing you're going to notice is that our Summit sleeping bag. We switched it to a center zip design. Just like we did with our Atlas, On a pretty recent update, we really like the centers of design, we feel like it offers a lot of ease of getting in and out of the back, but we had to work especially hard to make sure that zipper baffle worked really well. And so historically on these zipper baffles we have done, What most companies have done which is this will come back to a single point and it creates a little bit of a cold spot and sometimes you'll actually see an indent in some of these other types of bags that may have a center zipper where that insulation is just not as much insulation there. So we went to what's called The Box baffle and that box. Baffle allows this to stay fully lofted and insulated and give you a barrier and set up a sewing line essentially of a cold spot. Now you've got a full barrier in that zipper and our testing that we've used and experience this bag you lose, no work through that zipper and we were also able to cut off some of that zipper link. So instead of having to go from clear up here all the way around the outside of the bag and down, where the cut off the zipper link, which reduced weight in some of those Other things that are the same, we changed and started to do a different style of adjustment here on the hood. So, here on the hood, we've got two small poles right here that you can use to cinch down that face and tuck in around there. It's just a lower profile way to make sure that we cinch down the face and increase warmth. And maybe the last thing kind of on this particular thread, is the shoulder baffles. So we went with the same mummy pod style shoulder baffle. Same baffle, we've had on that Atlas for a little while. Basically this acts like a mini blanket just that you tuck up and around your shoulders. It seals really really well and You've got Velcro so that you can connect. Those two pieces in completely seal out. That that product. Anything I missing on those fronts. Bring them little Okay, um, as far as other similarities. The footballs itself, we also changed and slightly altered. So on the football historically, we've had a little bit more of an oval one, and we've made this a little bit more square and a little bit more tall. With this allows you to do, is basically follow the function of your foot. And when your foots in here, it's a little bit taller. Making sure that your toes aren't compressing, any insulation, and you don't really need to be whiter per se, because when you're feet fall, they're falling outwards like this typically. So we actually to make this a little bit tighter and reduce some more weight here, but increase the function and the warmth on that foot box. Um, and then last thing that I'll kind of note on the similarities is just be overall Cuts. Now this one right here is a prototype whereas these ones are actually production models. So one thing you will notice it's there's there's a few things that we've trimmed and tapered but but overall the trim of these two products is much different than some of our older products. We actually increase the height of where this is at its widest point and then we've increased the tapers. It goes down towards your feet. So it's slightly more narrow of the bag. Not not an incredible amount but we did slightly tailored in. And what's that? What that's going to do is increase. Its warmth. Level is well, because we're taking the same insulation, we're using the same installation. And actually in some of our son of like the sun is zeros, and the negative 15 bags officially. But in the summer 0s, we actually added another ounce of down to this. At the same time, we narrowed it, so they're getting warmer and warmer, And then perhaps the last thing to note on this obviously, is just the difference in baffles. So because this uses loftek we have to lock in that Loft Tech a little bit more than an 800 fill power down. So we just these long vertical baffles on the down product and then switch to the horizontal style baffle in this football and What that does is just allows us to really lock in the down here and as well as up here, but, but the biggest thing is, when you calculate it out, every scene actually adds weight to a product. And so we're able to reduce the overall amount of seams in this style of a design. So, anything else I'm missing, I mean, obviously, we've got our anti snags Brigham typically has a lot to say but when the cameras rolling we might not get them to talk so much but he had a lot that definitely do to do with these updates and improvements on these bags so far we just absolutely loved and we think you're going to love them like you say, it's reduced a lot of weight. Let's jump into some of the difference is on these bags. Well, one thing we did add a limited order or limited quantity of the negative 15 bags, that's back, that's just right there behind Brigham. We're doing a blackout Series in both the summit and the atlas, and that is a negative 15 degree bag. Okay, diving into the two more of these differences, besides just the baffling here. The main thing you're going to notice is the fabric. So when you fill this fabric this is a 10 then your fabric, it's the same type of fabric we've been using on our top quilts so that was able to pull a lot of the weight out between that and the tapering we dropped about a half of a pound out of our Summit bags which was already you know our lightest sleeping bag that we offered in our line. So right now I remember calculating some of these out but for instance, our 15 degree Summit bag is now below two pounds and so on and so forth. So so we've really cut out a lot of weight and then compressibility on this 10-day in your fabric is, is very, very high on the atlas. Here we have a 20 denier and not 20 denier is the Same is basically the same fabric we have been using but we chose to keep it just because if you're choosing loftech, you're probably choosing it for some of the rugged abilities and
Brigham: moisture abilities.
Tayson: While it doesn't add a whole lot to the moisture Factor. It does add a little bit to the ruggedness and a little bit on the price point this 10 year. I mean this is our new definitely Flagship design product work. You've definitely added some price to this just by by going to these high high-end Fabrics. So Okay, let's let's talk for a second here. Brigham just about when we would choose one of these products versus the other. Obviously, they look a lot. The same, they act a lot the same. So what are you getting? If you get the atlas over the summit or the summit over the atlas,
Brigham: Yeah, so you touched on already like the big thing with the like say the the atlas here. 20 denier fabric, it's gonna be a little more durable, hold up a little better to almost carelessness and wet environment was the hybrid synthetic insulation. You're getting the ability to stay warm, you can get this thing soaked and you'll have a lot of insulation values. Still, that's kind of the big difference. And in terms of what you're getting with the atlas versus the The summit the summit. You're getting like ultimate compressibility, ultimate weight savings. And it does have a slightly softer feeling hand but that's kind of just a byproduct of it being attendee fabric, so big weight savings. Compressibility.
Tayson: Yeah. So when would you choose To take an atlas over a summit or a summit over an atlas is a scenarios. Where that makes sense.
Brigham: yep, if I were going to be doing extended trips in wet environments geographically, like say Pacific, Northwest or Alaska, where there is a high likelihood of either getting in the sleeping bag when you're soaked or the sleeping bag being compromised and getting wet, I would go with the atlas hybrid Summit. I would go that direction if I was going to be doing extended long distance trips, backpacking long distances. Multiple days, where weight was like, a high priority saving as much weight and space inside a pack by that added compressibility of the of the down?
Tayson: Yeah, I think, I think that's really big for me, you know, we live in Utah. So I'm still using the summit a lot more often than the atlas where I again, kind of look at the same thing is just really wet environments. Sometimes, winter conditions, I might look at that depending on like if you have a shelter that's not super breathable then something like this is going to be helpful, The Loft Tech. But yeah like when I think of going to Alaska which is something I I dream of doing here shortly getting up there and doing some backpacking work. I can't self-rescue really, I can't I can't get help as soon as I call out. Things like that. There is some piece of Mind of going with with the Loft Tech because if it does get compromised, it doesn't lose complete value. So if you completely soaked out a bag of down or even partially you slowly start to lose loft or warmth or as this one you will. Not lose as much, so there's a few scenarios like that. But for me, most of the time, I'm still able to run this but I'm in a desert and that's where I live. And that's where I backpack most of the time and I'm, I, I think that Both of these are made very consciously with weight in mind. While this may be a primarily synthetic bag, there's really no synthetic bag out there that can that can compare with it as far as the weight in the warmth ratios of this product. So they're both weight-conscious. But obviously one slightly more weight, conscious for things like through hikers that, you know, you're packing every day. You know, miles and miles and miles and miles where you might lean towards something more like this. So I think that's good breakdown. As far as just the difference is in the two. They both have a lot of advantages so choosing one might be the other. The other thing I might add to is just by by sheer production costs. You're going to save some money in this one and because of that maybe extra durability if I was buying this to get to my kid as their first sleeping bag or something like that, you may want to lean towards this one. And then, you know, have to graduate into something more like this. Just because this one is going to be a little bit more durable a little bit more forgiving of negligence in care and use essentially so okay so let's that's that kind of wraps this up. As you can see, one more thing here is just that this is that negative 15 degree model and this will be available in that Summit as well. For a limited time is a limited run. We want to see what you guys's thoughts and reactions were to us adding a negative bag, this winter season. So, okay, that wraps up the Summits in the atlases. Let's jump over to the Aries and cover the new updates for those, which are really exciting, and also the new installation, we're rolling out into those. All right, so we've got the new Aries up here on the wall. And as you can see right now, they don't all look like like each other. We've got a down model Airy. We've got a loft Tech, hybrid filled Airy, and we've got another down area, that's a 0. This is a zero, this is a 15, which is all new. Because now we're offering these in a, in a zero degree capacity. And we're taking the old 20 degree and removing it to a 15 degree. So, in the future, these will be available in a 0. A 15, a 30, and then the Loft Tech version will be available in a 45 degree model option as well. So pretty excited about the all those. So, let's go ahead and dive into some of these changes that we've done on the products and why we've done some of those changes for starters. Just see that we've redesigned these baffles A big reason for that is while those old Square baffles worked great, when you're laying on the ground, when you put it on a hammock, there was a slight tendency for a little bit of Shifting inside of those baffles. So by going to this model these baffles now will run parallel to the ground. When they run parallel to the ground, they really can't shift any which way that insulation. So it's going to help lock in that installation better for hammock use. You'll also see That we have an integrated suspension system here. It's going to be a little bit harder to show but essentially instead of having a separate suspension system that we send with the Aries now, it's going to be completely in and show that basically, what you have is on this and you have two Loops. Now, if you want to, you could trim these down make these a little bit smaller. But these Loops are going to go straight into your Carabiner. And then you're going to go ahead and just pull this and adjust this down to where you want it. It's going to lock it in place, but if you do need to raise this up, or adjust it, you're going to adjust it on this end right here. You adjust the SAG with this cord lock right here, you're just going to go ahead and hook those right in and it's a really, really unique and built-in suspension system. That's going to work a lot better. You don't have to keep track of two systems anymore. You can just simply throw it up on the hammock and one thing one of the reasons we wanted to change, this wasn't so much that people were losing suspension kits or different things like that. It was actually that they were hanging this up improperly and when they'd hang this up and properly and use those old tabs that we used to have running down the side, it just wasn't getting as good of a seal. I think less people are using it in all of its different capacities because of that. So we want to make this easier so we've built in the suspension system. Now if you were not using this on a hammock, you can still use this to tighten. It would work the same on the head end here but you can simply tighten this up and seal that around your shoulders. So it's got a ton of use. And multipurpose functions by building that right into the back. And then last here is we've got, we've changed these zippers and we've added zipper baffles. So now we've got the same Box baffles systems where they're going to be completely Square. It off create an enormous amount of warmth that could be retained right there in those zippers. So it's really gonna add warmth to this bag. Anything that I missed here, Brigham on the
Brigham: updates. Know, I think we got it covered. Okay. So obviously we do
Tayson: have the down options and the Loft Tech options. We've talked a little bit about which option might suit best for you. But again this and this especially in this capacity, we felt like it was important to bring out the Loft Tech version because a lot of people are using these for a very multi-purpose type bag, maybe they're throwing them in a bug out bag or or an emergency type kit. Maybe they're just putting them in the back of their car and taking them to sporting events and things like that. And if that's all that you're using this for, you're gonna save some money and and be better off, essentially just getting the Lawsuit version of this. Now, if you're backpacking with this and and you really want the high weight to warmth ratios, obviously the down, just can't be beat in those weight to warm free shows. So we've we still have that 800 fill power rdfl certified and in hydrophobic coated down but we just felt like there was very important. That's why we've released this in the 45 degree option and that 45 year option it's only available in Loft Tech just because it's you can use that as a picnic blanket, you can use it on a hammock. It's just got all these different functions and the Loft Tech just brought in that and makes it slightly more affordable to everyone. So I think that's gonna wrap up all these changes that we're very excited about again. We feel like this really helps bring us closer to our goal of just living ultralight each and every day simplifying things, minimizing things increasing function and decreasing weights and compression sizes. So super, super excited about this. If you have any questions just reach out to us on our website Opera vitals.com, we have a chat feature there where you can live chat with us or if we're not there, it'll just send us a direct email message and we'll get back to you shortly as possible. But thanks for being here, leave the comments Below on this video as well. We do appreciate those and look at those and obviously, we do because we make feedback and adjustments to products based off of those. So, thanks for tuning in. All right, so there you have it, the updates to the products. If you have any questions again, just head over to Outer vitals.com and ask us any questions you might have or again, you can go to our YouTube channel and check out the video on person and see the products and some of the things that we're talking about in this video, but we appreciate your time here on the podcast. We will have the second part to the layering system. And and preparing for winter coming out next, so stay tuned for that. If you're not subscribed, make sure you quickly subscribe to the podcast via your Player of choice and we'll catch you on the next episode. Keep living ultralight.
