New Sleeping Bag?

This is a tough one. I’m in the market for a new sleeping bag and not too sure what to get. I currently have two bags. The first one I bought around 1990 and it was originally something like a 0 or -5C synthetic bag. I took it with me when I traveled the world in 1991 and it spent most of its time in a stuff sack. 18 years later and it’s safe to say that it is “punched out.” My son Grady used it last year but I don’t think it is warm enough for shoulder season camping. It’s still good for warm weather stuff though. My other bag I bought maybe 8 years (time flies!). It’s a down barrel bag from Taiga. It’s okay and rated to -7C. I don’t find it all that warm but what the heck. It think it’s a good bag for Grady now because he wouldn’t like a mummy bag. My daughter Emma May has her own +5C bag and it works well for her, and my wife also has a Taiga down mummy bag.

Ideally I want a bag that compacts really well. I plan on taking the family backpacking once or twice this year and there’s no doubt that I’ll be carrying most of the gear. Therefore the space savings of a small bag would be fantastic. Weight isn’t a huge issue, but obviously the smaller the better.

Where the decision gets tricky is when I consider coastal camping. This would include boat trips that I hope to do (canoe, kayak) as well as coastal hiking. I think it’s not that unlikely that camping may include some wet/damp sleeping bags at some point. If that is the case, then it is clear that a synthetic bag would be a much better piece of gear. On the other hand, even if I found a small, warm synthetic bag, it wouldn’t do much good if everyone else in the family were in wet down bags.

Currently I’m thinking along these lines: 1. rule #1 - the bag never should get wet. I already bought some waterproof stuffsacks that help mitigate risk 2. get a MEC Merlin -3C which is very small and not too expensive (4L and $230) 3. get a Mountain Hardwear Lamina synthetic bag which is inexpensive and not too bulky (10L and $140)