Down-insulated sleeping baggage are nonetheless the most well-liked nighttime insulation choice with backpackers as a result of they’re extremely compressible and hotter in chilly, damp, or drafty climate, notably within the spring and autumn when temperatures are near freezing. Whereas mummy bag designs nonetheless prevail, there’s much more selection within the sorts of sleeping baggage which have turn into obtainable prior to now 5 years, together with ones designed for aspect sleepers, girls’s particular sleeping baggage, and hoodless quilt-style sleeping baggage.
When selecting a sleeping bag for backpacking, you need one which’s light-weight and extremely compressible because you’re going to should haul it in a backpack. Sleeping baggage insulated with 800-950 goose or duck down are the very best when it comes to heat by weight, however you’ll pay a premium on the high finish. Decrease fill energy fashions are way more economical and just a few ounces heavier. If you wish to stretch your greenback, search for baggage with decrease (as in colder) temperature rankings however a number of venting options to increase their temperature vary into hotter climate.
Listed below are our high 10 down-insulated sleeping bag picks at numerous worth factors.
You should definitely learn our suggestions under on how to decide on the very best sleeping bag on your wants.
1. REI Magma 15
The REI Magma 15 is a light-weight and compressible 850 fill-power down sleeping bag that’s loaded with options. It has a trapezoidal footbox with body-mapped baffles for optimum heat retention whereas decreasing weight. The bag has an insulated draft collar whereas the hood has a pillow pocket and two drawcords for versatile adjustment. A hybrid zipper path supplies quick access alongside the shoulders and torso and the zipper is backed by an anti-snap strip for worry-free use. The REI Magma can also be obtainable in a
30-degree model.
Store at REI
2. Western Mountaineering Versalite 10
The Western Mountaineering Versalite is a heat and spacious sleeping bag with loads of inside room. It has steady baffles so you possibly can transfer the down the place you want it most, on high on chilly nights, and to the underside of the bag on heat ones, thereby increasing its temperature vary. A full-length zipper makes it simple to vent on hotter nights, whereas an insulated draft collar seals within the warmth. A “flattish” mummy-style hood can also be simpler to make use of for aspect sleepers. The Versalite is out there in three lengths: 5′ 6″, 6′ 0″, and 6′ 6″. Insulated with 850+ fill energy goose down, it weighs in at simply 32 ounces. It’s obtainable in three lengths, making it supreme for backpackers who hike in cool mountain climates.
Learn the SectionHiker Versalite Assessment.
Store at Backcountry
3. Therm-a-Relaxation Parsec 20
The Therm-a-Relaxation Parsec 20 is a really heat however light-weight 800 fill-power (hydrophobic Nikwax handled) down sleeping bag appropriate for three-season use. It has bodymapped insulation with 60% of the down positioned over the chest and 40% on the underside to cut back weight and supply enhanced heat when used with an acceptable sleeping pad. The Parsec 20 has a draft collar and zipper draft tube to carry in your physique warmth with a two-way zipper so you possibly can vent the bag in case you really feel too heat. Particular sleeping pad straps assist forestall you from rolling off your pad at evening, whereas exterior loops allow you to layer suitable quilts or technical blankets on high to spice up the Parsec’s temperature score.
Learn the SectionHiker Parsec overview.
Store at REI
4. Sea-to-Summit Ascent 15 Sleeping Bag
The Sea-to-Summit Ascent 15 is a 750 fill-power waterproof goose down sleeping bag with two aspect zippers and a foot field zipper that may be opened in hotter climate, giving the sleeping bag a large temperature vary. Field baffle development all through with vertical baffles within the torso decrease down shift and maximize heat retention. Thermally environment friendly, it has a relaxed mummy match with room within the hood to suit a pillow. In colder temperatures, you possibly can cinch down the technical hood and zip up the draft-tube-protected zippers for a comfy nights sleep.
A girls’s mannequin can also be obtainable.
Learn the SectionHiker Ascent Assessment.
5. NEMO Disco 15 (males’s and girls’s)
The NEMO Disco 15 is a spoon-shaped sleeping bag designed for aspect sleepers that provides room on the elbows and knees however is formed to avoid wasting weight. It’s insulated with 650 fill-power hydrophobic PFC-free RSD-certified down and comes with a water-proof/breathable hood and footbox to forestall it from getting moist in case your tent develops inside condensation. This bag comes with a full-length double-sided zipper, a pillow pocket, an enormous draft collar to seal in your torso warmth, and thermo-gills that can assist you vent extra warmth, extending the vary of the bag for hotter climate. The Disco weighs 2 lbs 11 ozand matches males as much as 6′ tall.
A girls’s Disco 15 can also be obtainable.
6. Zenbivy Ultralight Mattress
The Zenbivy Ultralight Mattress is an built-in sleep system that gives the heat of a sleeping bag in a completely built-in quilt-based sleep system. Whereas the person parts can nonetheless be bought individually, the diploma of integration between the parts together with a 900-fill energy down quilt, an inflatable sleeping pad, a sheet, and an elective hood supplies an unparalleled and draft-free sleep expertise. The Ultralight Mattress is out there in a number of sizes and at a number of temperature rankings. Everybody I do know who’s purchased a Zenbivy sleep system, together with very skilled backpackers, raves about it! See our overview of the
Zenbivy Ultralight Mattress.
7. Feathered Associates Flicker UL 20
The Feathered Associates Flicker UL 20 is a extremely versatile hoodless sleeping bag that’s supreme for aspect sleepers who discover a mummy bag claustrophobic. In cooler climate, the Flicker capabilities as a full center-zip mummy sleeping bag with a heat-saving down-filled draft collar that drapes round your neck and over your shoulders to seal in warmth. It has a drawstring foot field that may be cinched tight on cooler nights or opened as much as vent the bag in case you’re too heat. Unzipped, it may be flipped over on hotter nights and used like a quilt or a blanket for the reason that foot field opens fully. Insulated with 950+ fill energy down, the 20ºF Flicker has steady baffles that allow you to transfer the down insulation to the place you want it. Weighing 26 oz, it’s excellent for cool summer season nights in alpine terrain and thru-hikes.
Learn the SectionHiker Flicker Assessment.
8. Feathered Associates Egret UL 20 (girls’s)
The Feathered Associates Egret UL 20 is a top-shelf technical sleeping bag tailor-made for the feminine kind that options further fill within the foot field and across the chest. It additionally supplies extra room within the elbows together with area to attract your knees up within the bag in case you wish to sleep that manner. The contoured hood opens large in hotter climate, making it simple for aspect sleepers to make use of, whereas a two-way zipper makes the bag simple to vent. The Egret has a draft collar to assist seal within the warmth round your shoulders, with a trapezoidal foot field that enables your toes to fall in a pure pose with out compressing the perimeters. Accessible in two lengths: 5′ 3″ and 5′ 9″, the Egret UL 20 is insulated with 950+ fill energy goose down and weighs simply 27 oz.
9. Enlightened Tools Convert
The Enlightened Tools Convert is a hoodless, quilt-style sleeping bag with a full-length zipper and drawstring foot field that enables it to be fully closed like a hoodless sleeping bag, fully open like a down comforter, or partially zipped up like a backpacking quilt. It’s insulated with RSD-certified 850 fill energy down and has a snap and drawcord neck closure that permits you to fine-tune draft management. The dearth of a hood makes it a fantastic selection for aspect sleepers whereas the full-length zipper and foot field offers it extra temperature flexibility than a quilt or sleeping bag alone. When ordering you possibly can specify the temperature score or width you’d like. For spring and autumn climate, we’d suggest a ten or 20 diploma bag, because it’s really easy to vent for hotter climate. For girls, we propose including one other 10 levels’ price of insulation.
Learn the SectionHiker Assessment.
10. Marmot Helium 15
The Marmot Helium 15 is a mummy-style sleeping bag insulated with 800 fill energy goose down that’s been handled with Down Defender to make it extra climate resistant and dry sooner. The Helium, which Marmot refers to as a “fuel” bag (get it?), has easy, curved baffles that decrease down shift and assist get rid of chilly spots. It has an anti-snag slider on the primary zipper and a fold-down second zipper that gives added air flow and quick access out and in of sleeping bag. An anatomically designed footbox with wrap-around development, zipper draft tubes alongside the perimeters, and a multi-baffle hood with draft collar enhance heat retention. Lastly, the bag’s premium Pertex Quantum shell material supplies a light-weight however rip-resistant end that retains the Helium’s weight shut to 2 kilos.
Store at REI
Sleeping Bag Buy Standards
Here’s a listing of a very powerful issue to think about when buying a sleeping bag for backpacking, so it matches your wants and preferences.
TEMPERATURE RATINGS: The introduction of standardized sleeping bag temperature rankings by the out of doors trade considerably improved their reliability. Luggage examined with the European Norm (EN) 13537 get two rankings: a Consolation score and Decrease restrict score. The Consolation score is the bottom temperature at which the bag will hold the common lady (or “chilly sleeper”) comfy, and the Decrease Restrict score is the bottom temperature at which the bag will hold an common man (or “heat sleeper”) comfy. The distinction within the Consolation and Decrease Restrict rankings is normally about 10 levels since girls really feel colder than males when sleeping. In case you’re a girl and determine to purchase a males’s or unisex bag, get one which’s 10 levels hotter than you want so that you’re comfy at evening
INSULATION and COMPRESSIBILITY: Excessive-quality goose and duck down with fill powers of 800, 850, 900, and 950 present glorious insulation by weight and are broadly most popular by backpackers and base campers as a result of they’re so light-weight. Some producers solely provide down that’s been handled with a water-repellent coating, whereas others favor to supply it unadulterated. Down is of course waterproof so the jury remains to be out on whether or not “handled” down makes a distinction within the long-term because it’s simple to maintain your sleeping bag dry with just a little care.
SIZING: The match of a sleeping bag is normally measured when it comes to size and girth. Girth measures the utmost inside circumference of the bag, normally on the shoulders, hips, and toes. Measure your self at these factors and examine them to the girth to see if the bag will match tightly or loosely. Folks with larger shoulders or sides sleepers are likely to really feel extra comfy in baggage with larger shoulder girths, whereas girls usually want a shorter size bag and a smaller shoulder girth as a result of they’ve narrower shoulders than males. It’s necessary to get a bag that minimizes the quantity of unoccupied inside area relative to your measurements, so your physique has much less air to warmth as much as keep heat. If a bag is just too massive, it should really feel colder than one that matches intently, since your physique must work more durable to fill the additional area with scorching air.
WEIGHT: Whereas gear weight is necessary, watch out to not sacrifice your consolation by choosing a sleeping bag that gained’t hold you heat or dry within the circumstances you want it to. When selecting between baggage with completely different outer shell materials, think about their breathability, so they are going to vent perspiration that may degrade your insulation, and whether or not they have a DWR coating, which will be necessary if the foot of your quilt will get moist frequently.
FEATURES: Most sleeping baggage are fairly comparable when it comes proper right down to it, however there are some options that set premium sleeping baggage higher than nonpremium baggage. These embrace draft collars, steady baffles, very excessive fill-power goose down, non-snagging zippers, draft tubes positioned behind zippers to seal out the chilly, ventable foot containers, and full-length zippers that assist prolong the vary of a bag in hotter climate.
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