sleeping bag is without doubt one of the greatest investments you may make as an outside fanatic. Packability, heat, weight, and flexibility are all vital elements to contemplate when shopping for the perfect sleeping bag for backpacking, and there’s loads to select from. From know-how to new materials, a fast Google search would possibly depart you with a dizzying quantity of choices, so we determined to do a few of the give you the results you want.
On this weblog publish, we checklist the perfect sleeping baggage for backpacking, plus data on how to decide on a backpacking sleeping bag. They’re a few of the hottest available on the market as a result of they adhere to the requirements of heat, weight, and luxury. You may not count on to get your greatest evening’s sleep whereas tenting or backpacking, however these sleeping baggage will certain assist you come shut.
Listed below are the perfect sleeping baggage for backpacking and suggestions that can assist you select the appropriate one for you.
Greatest Backpacking Sleeping Baggage At A Look
Professional-tip: backpacking sleeping bag is without doubt one of the bigger backpacking gear bills you’ll encounter so attempt to catch it on sale in the event you can! Use the hyperlinks under to buy round.
Nemo Disco 30
Most Comfy Sleeping Bag for Facet Sleepers
Key Options:
- Weight: 2 lbs, 5 oz
- Temperature Ranking: 30°F (additionally accessible in 15°F)
- Insulation: Down licensed to the Accountable Down Commonplace (RDS)
- Shell: 30-denier ripstop nylon
- Form: semi-rectangular
- Worth: $259.95
Verify value: NEMO | REI | Backcountry
Nice for: aspect and abdomen sleepers, individuals who toss & flip, 3-season backpacking
Execs: supplies most consolation, roomy to maneuver round, pillow pocket, foot field is fabricated from waterproof supplies which is useful defending the bag towards tent condensation
Cons: doesn’t compress down tremendous nicely, roomy baggage take longer to heat up, loose-fitting stuff sack
The NEMO Disco 30 is without doubt one of the hottest backpacking sleeping baggage available on the market with its distinctive Basic Spoon™ form, which supplies further assist on the elbows and knees so aspect sleepers can shift positions comfortably. This bag has Thermo Gills™ know-how which vents physique warmth to assist regulate temperature with out letting chilly drafts in.
It can be zipped along with one other NEMO bag (one proper zip and one left zip bag will zip collectively), making a two-person cocoon. You could find the boys’s model right here.
REI Co-op Magma 15 Sleeping Bag
Greatest All Round Sleeping Bag
Key Options:
- Weight: 2 lbs 4 oz
- Temperature Ranking: 17°F (additionally accessible in 30F)
- Insulation: 850-fill goose down (RDS licensed and bluesign® permitted)
- Shell: Pertex® 15-denier ripstop nylon (bluesign® permitted)
- Form: mummy
- Worth: $399
Verify value: REI
Nice for: 3-season backpacking, again sleepers
Execs: nice worth purchase for consolation, weight & value, stable warmth-to-weight ratio
Cons: comfortable, slim bag match (particularly the foot field)
This is without doubt one of the greatest light-weight sleeping baggage for backpacking on actually chilly nights. The REI Magma 15 has a trapezoidal footbox designed to maintain your ft further heat. It additionally has an anti-snag zipper so that you don’t have to fret about middle-of-the-night zipper snafus and a contoured hood so it suits comfortable to retain heat round your head and neck. For the value, high quality, and seasonality, this is without doubt one of the greatest backpacking sleeping baggage you should buy. You could find the boys’s model right here.
Sea to Summit Spark
Most Light-weight Sleeping Bag
Key Options:
- Weight: 12 oz – 1 lb 15oz
- Temperature Rankings: 5F, 18F, 28F, 40F
- Insulation: 850-fill UltraDry Down™
- Shell: 10-denier nylon
- Form: mummy
- Worth: $269-$589
Verify value: Sea to Summit | REI
Nice for: ultralight backpacking, 1-4 season backpacking
Execs: most light-weight bag on our checklist, accessible in a number of temperature rankings to suit your wants, extremely compressible
Cons: doesn’t match nicely within the included compression sack
The Sea to Summit Spark is the perfect sleeping bag choice available on the market for ultralight backpacking. With most Spark baggage weighing nicely beneath 1lb (lower than some sleeping pads!) and packing right down to the scale of a soccer, it’s good for saving a ton of weight and area in your backpack.
BFT’s Director Linda makes use of the ladies’s model of the Spark (Sea to Summit Flame 25F) and it’s by far the lightest and warmest backpacking sleeping bag she’s ever used. Each the Spark and Flame are available in quite a lot of temperature rankings, so you’ll be able to determine which most closely fits your wants.
Enlightened Gear Revelation Quilt
Greatest Backpacking Quilt
Key Options:
- Weight: 1 lbs 4 oz (20 diploma common model)
- Temperature Ranking: accessible in 0° – 50°F
- Insulation: 850-fill down ethically sourced
- Shell: ultralight nylon cloth coated with Sturdy Water Repellant
- Handmade in Minnesota, USA
- Worth: $320
Verify value: Enlightened Gear
Nice for: ultralight backpacking, 3-season backpacking, individuals who transfer round loads whereas sleeping or don’t wish to really feel constricted in a sleeping bag
Execs: one of many lightest baggage on our checklist, customizable, extremely compressible, can simply be used as a blanket across the hearth
Cons: requires a correct sleeping pad for max heat, customized orders can take some time to ship
In the event you’ve ever thought of ditching the sleeping bag for a quilt, Enlightened Gear’s Revelation quilt is the one to make use of. This quilt is ideal for backpackers – ultralight and ultra-versatile. For heat nights, you’ll be able to merely lay it out as a blanket and on colder nights, you’ll be able to cinch the adjustable footbed closed. This design is ideal for thru-hikers and anybody who needs a bag that can be utilized in varied temperatures and climates. Be aware that quilts are supposed to be paired with a sleeping pad – in the event you’re additionally available in the market for a sleeping pad, we’ve rounded up the greatest sleeping pads for backpacking as nicely.
Together with the opposite benefits, this quilt weighs nicely beneath 2 kilos (relying on temperature and fill), making it perfect for ultralight backpackers. I’ve been utilizing Enlightened Gear 2-Man Confederate Quilt and I like it. In the event you’re trying to snuggle up along with your associate, try our roundup of the perfect 2-person sleeping baggage.
North Face Eco Path Artificial 20
Greatest Artificial Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Key Options:
- Weight: 3 lbs 14 oz
- Temperature Ranking: 20°F
- Insulation: Recycled polyester
- Shell: Recycled polyester
- Form: mummy
- Worth: $129
Verify value: REI | Backcountry | Moosejaw
Nice for: 3-season backpacking, vegans, moist climate tenting, newbie backpackers
Execs: budget-friendly, holds up higher than down in moist climate, fabricated from all-recycled supplies
Cons: one of many heaviest backpacking sleeping baggage, doesn’t compress down nicely
The North Face Eco Path Artificial 20 is a superb 3-season bag that gives eco-friendly all-recycled development (minus the zipper tooth). It has recycled artificial insulation that may preserve you heat even in moist tenting circumstances. This bag additionally has prolonged width within the knees and a vaulted footbed, providing you with further mobility. This bag is extremely heat and sturdy. It’s not the lightest sleeping bag for backpacking, but it surely’s an amazing eco-friendly and budget-friendly choice that will get the job executed.
Western Mountaineering Kodiak MF 0F Down
Greatest Chilly Climate Sleeping Bag
Key Options:
- Weight: 2lbs 12 oz
- Temperature Ranking: 0F
- Insulation: 850-fill down with 7″ of loft
- Form: mummy
- Out there sizes: 6′, 6’6, 7′
- Worth: $730
Verify Worth: Backcountry | Moosejaw
Nice for: winter backpacking, individuals who run chilly at evening
Execs: warmest bag on our checklist, 7 inches of loft supplies most heat and luxury
Cons: costly funding, may be too giant for smaller our bodies
Western Mountaineering has lengthy been the chief for chilly climate sleeping baggage and the Kodiak MF 0F Down Sleeping Bag takes the cake for its heat, consolation, and measurement. What makes this bag stand out is the additional wiggle room, particularly within the shoulders, which supplies you loads of room to maneuver round in the event you’re a aspect or abdomen sleeper. The additional room additionally offers you area to stuff your garments and electronics inside your bag to remain toasty for the morning. What makes this bag even comfier is the total 7 inches of loft – it will make even the coldest of temperatures appear toasty!
For temperatures right down to 0 levels, you’ll be able to’t discover a sleeping bag higher than this one. It could be on the high of your value bracket at round $730, understandably. However, with correct care, this sleeping bag ought to final you a really, very very long time.
Mountain Hardwear Bishop Go 30
Greatest Worth for Worth
Key Options:
- Weight: 1 lb 14 oz
- Temperature Ranking: 30°F (additionally accessible in 15F)
- Insulation: 650-fill-power fluorine-free RDS down (80% down/20% feather)
- Shell: 20-denier ripstop nylon
- Form: mummy
- Worth: $235
Verify value: REI | Backcountry | Moosejaw
Nice for: 3-season backpacking, light-weight backpacking
Execs: light-weight and simply compressible, could be zipped along with one other bag to create a 2-person sleeping bag
Cons: not nice for aspect sleepers, a number of reviewers felt chilly in temperatures round 30-40F
The Mountain Hardwear Bishop Go 30 is a superb light-weight value-driven down sleeping bag for 3-season backpacking adventures. The bag’s mummy lower suits near the physique for heat and effectivity however leaves extra wiggle room than the usual mummy bag. This bag can be zipped to pick Mountain Hardwear sleeping baggage with the opposing zipper aspect to create a 2-person bag. You could find the boys’s model right here.
Kelty Cosmic 20
Greatest Price range Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Nice for: 3-season backpacking, newbie backpackers
Execs: nice worth for value, simply compressible
Cons: delicate within the washer, not as compressible as different baggage
For lower than $210, the Kelty Cosmic 20 Sleeping Bag has received many awards for being an all-around good-quality sleeping bag. Made with hydrophobic down, it’s light-weight but it surely is not going to carry out as nicely in moist climate. Out there in 0° and 20°, it’s top-of-the-line sleeping baggage for backpacking in its value vary and an amazing choice for brand spanking new backpackers trying to get into the game. It’s additionally accessible in a males’s model.
Tips on how to Select a Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Selecting out a brand new backpacking sleeping bag for any outside journey could be tremendous overwhelming. There are such a lot of decisions and so many options to contemplate, to not point out the value tag. So, we’ve put collectively this straightforward information on how to decide on a backpacking sleeping bag on your subsequent nice journey. Hopefully, this makes your gear shopping for course of simpler.
Sleeping Bag Temperature Ranking
The sleeping bag temperature ranking is the primary place to start out when choosing out a brand new backpacking sleeping bag. Take into consideration when and the place you intend to make use of it essentially the most.
Sleeping baggage could be damaged down into three easy classes: summer time, 3-season, and winter primarily based on the temperature rankings proven within the desk under.
Most individuals will likely be proud of a 3-season bag, which can preserve you snug a lot of the 12 months. Bear in mind you’ll be able to all the time zip down the bag for a summer time tenting journey or add a sleeping bag liner to your bag for an occasional winter tenting journey. Most 3-season backpacking baggage will checklist a European Norm (EN) testing ranking with two temperature rankings generally known as the “consolation ranking” and the “lower-limit ranking”. EU rankings are standardized ranking programs that preserve temperature rankings constant throughout manufacturers.
Consolation ranking is the bottom temperature at which the bag will preserve the typical girl or “chilly sleeper” snug. Decrease-limit ranking is the bottom temperature at which the bag will preserve a person or “heat sleeper” snug. (EN rankings are primarily based on a sleeper carrying one lengthy underwear layer and a hat, and sleeping on a single one-inch thick insulating pad.)
The quantity listed with most sleeping baggage (instance: Nemo Disco 30) is the EN Decrease Restrict which is normally 10-15 levels decrease than the EN Consolation Ranking. So, for most individuals, the Nemo Disco 30 could be snug in 40F sleeping temperatures.
Sleeping Bag Form
Whereas the sleeping bag form may not appear vital, it’s for two massive causes:
First, sleeping baggage preserve you heat by trapping air and holding it in a layer subsequent to your physique. Your physique heats up this layer of trapped air to maintain you heat. The much less air area there’s within the bag, the quicker you heat up and keep heat! Selecting a bag primarily based in your physique measurement and form is vital for effectivity and heat. Roomier sleeping baggage will usually be heavier as nicely.
We suggest deciding on a semi-rectangular bag or mummy bag which is flexible and might work for backpacking in addition to automobile tenting. Semi-rectangular baggage are good for backpackers with bigger frames or those that don’t just like the constrictive feeling of a mummy bag.
To Quilt or To not Quilt?
Some light-weight backpackers received’t even entertain the thought of a sleeping bag, and as an alternative, go for a tenting quilt. Quilts are a light-weight backcountry choice typically designed to be paired with a sleeping pad. It’s mainly a blanket with a foot field that may preserve you heat with none pointless insulation or weight. Quilts provide a greater warmth-to-weight ratio since they lower out materials that’s usually compressed beneath your physique in a conventional mummy bag.
Nevertheless, quilts are extra drafty than mummy baggage, so in chilly or windy circumstances we’d go for a mummy bag. Remember to try Enlightened Gear in the event you’re fascinated with going ultralight with a sleeping quilt.
Artificial vs. Down Sleeping Bag Insulation
Since switching to a plant-based weight loss program and eliminating all animal merchandise from my weight loss program, I’ve additionally questioned whether or not or to not change out my outside gear created from animals – one of many largest culprits being down (feathers). I’ve outlined the important thing variations and execs/cons under, however you’ll be able to deep dive into the ethics of shopping for/utilizing down on this weblog publish that can assist you perceive the ethics and sustainability behind down feathers.
Artificial Backpacking Sleeping Baggage
Artificial sleeping baggage are normally insulated with polyester. Artificial baggage are quick-drying and nonetheless maintain as much as their insulation energy even when damp or moist. Typically, they’re cheaper than down, and so they’re non-allergenic. One of many downsides of artificial baggage is that they don’t compress as small as down sleeping baggage, and so they are usually heavier than down (however that’s not all the time the case as know-how improves). Additionally, polyester is normally derived from petroleum, though recycled polyester is now being created from plastic bottles and different recycled plastics for extra sustainable choices.
Artificial sleeping baggage are an excellent choice for those who reside a vegan way of life as a result of pure down is produced from geese or geese.
Down Backpacking Sleeping Baggage
The most important benefit of down over artificial sleeping baggage is that down baggage are usually lighter and compress smaller when packed away – key traits whenever you’re in search of the perfect backpacking sleeping bag. Typically down is costlier than artificial, and a few individuals say it’s extra sturdy, so it’s a long-lasting funding. The first draw back to down is that it loses its insulation energy when it will get moist. So, it’s most suited to cool, dry circumstances. Nevertheless, many down sleeping baggage are actually coated with a water-repellent end that may preserve you heat and dry in damp circumstances. In any other case, down sleeping baggage are a light-weight, heat, and packable alternative for backpacking.
A lot of the notable outside gear corporations have instituted the Accountable Down Commonplace (RDS), or International Traceable Down Commonplace (TDS). These requirements make sure that the down and feathers utilized in these merchandise got here from animals that had been handled nicely, and weren’t force-fed or live-plucked. The entire down sleeping baggage listed below are licensed to the RDS or TDS.
Different Essential Backpacking Sleeping Bag Options
Sleeping Bag Hood
Having a hood in your sleeping bag could make or break your sleeping consolation. It may well imply the distinction between being freezing at evening or toasty heat. As a result of the remainder of your physique is encapsulated in your mummy bag, your physique’s warmth would escape by way of the pinnacle and not using a hood. And, that defeats the aim of the sleeping bag. So, go for a bag with a hood if you wish to be heat and comfy. Most mummy baggage and semi-rectangular baggage include a hood anyway. Quilts usually don’t have a hood, however many corporations promote hoods as an add-on buy. In the event you plan to backpack in heat environments all the time, it’s not as essential. However, it’s higher to be protected than sorry.
Pockets
Some baggage include pockets that you may stuff with garments to create a pillow. Others include stash pockets to maintain your glasses, a watch, headlamp, or cellular phone close by. Some baggage additionally include a pocket or sleeve designed to suit a sleeping pad so that you don’t roll off in the course of the evening. The additional cloth would possibly add to the full weight of the bag, but it surely’s a matter of non-public choice and wishes.
What’s your favourite backpacking sleeping bag? Share your feedback and questions under.
