The Cat’s Meow: Keeps on meowing and meowing and …
Written: Mar 11 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good price, extremely durable, good all-around three-season bag
Cons: Size, weight, loss of loft
The Bottom Line: North Face isn't always great, but they did a good job on the Cat's Meow. For my next bag, I’ll probably look to the North Face first.
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| davepaine's Full Review: The North Face Cat's Meow Reg |
Having used this sleeping bag for the last ten years, I can definitely attest to its durability. I was a raft guide without a roof for six months one year, and used my Cat’s Meow continuously; in addition, it has been used fairly heavily for the other nine and a half years that I’ve had it. I’ve used and abused this bag: a couple of times, I unthinkingly threw it in a top-loading washer and set it on the regular spin cycle. However, all of the baffles are still intact, and the Polarguard insulation is still in place and still relatively lofty, amazingly enough.
Features
What I’ve loved about the Cat’s Meow has been the soft, fuzzy feel of it. There’s an insulated cuff on the inside to prevent any drafts (which never got caught in the zipper), but the thing that has always made it nice to crawl into this particular sleeping bag is the brushed liner. There’s no cold, slippery nylon feeling to this bag. As soon as you get in, you feel warm. On those especially brisk mornings, I’ve always used the sturdy drawstring (original) on the hood to make as small a hole as possible—usually with only my nose sticking out—and gotten a few more minutes of sleep.
Another nice feature has been the zipper’s ability to mate with other bags (I don’t mean that in a literal sense, naturally). My wife has a Sierra Designs bag with a left-sided zipper, and we’ve never had any problems linking up my right-sided North Face zipper to hers, which has made for some nice, cozy camping trips. What’s especially interesting about this to me is the fact that I’m 6ֵ” and my bag’s zipper mates perfectly with my wife’s, who is just a hair over five feet.
Unfortunately, I’ve run into some times when I’ve had to use my bag when either I’m wet, the ground’s wet, the bag’s wet, or all three, and though damp, I’ve still stayed warm in the Cat’s Meow. I always hate having to test that component of the bag, but Polarguard thankfully maintains its warmth and, to some degree, its loft while wet. I’ve spent several nights out under the stars, only to wake up to a heavy dew on my face, but not anywhere inside the bag.
When I first climbed into a mummy-style sleeping bag, I had visions of sleepless nights due to claustrophobia and the inability to really stretch out. Having said that, I have always been comfortable in the Cat’s Meow, and even when I got a little overzealous trying to stretch my legs, the zipper never gave an inch—a sure sign of quality craftsmanship.
I bought this bag when I was still in my teens, and luckily, I only grew another inch or so. The regular length bag (rated for 6ִ” and under) has still been perfect for me though at a height of 6ֵ”.
Downsides
The weight has been an issue at times. The Cat’s Meow weighs about one and a half times as much as a down bag with comparable temperature ratings. Just one of the drawbacks of Polarguard, but at least it doesn’t get soggy and cold when wet like down.
I’ve wrestled with the packability of this bag several times. It just doesn’t get small enough to suit me or my backpack. However, over the last year or so, I’ve solved that problem to my satisfaction by using a medium-sized compression sack which brings the bag down to soccer-ball size (regulation size 5, I’d say).
Another drawback has been the amount of loft that my sleeping bag has lost. I believe the original loft was somewhere in the vicinity of 3 ½”, and mine is now probably around 2”. There has been a resulting decrease in comfort level whenever the temperature dips to around fifteen or twenty degrees, but as a three-season bag, it still performs its intended function very well.
Overall
Having spent $120 on the Cat’s Meow, I would have to say that it was an excellent investment, and much cheaper than many of the more feature-laden models. However, how many features are you really going to appreciate if the bag simply does its job and helps you get to sleep?
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
davepaine
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Member: David Paine
Location: Boone, NC, USA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Outdoor enthusiast who gets sucked into his computer quite often.
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