Down-insulated sleeping baggage are nonetheless the preferred nighttime insulation possibility 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 forms of sleeping baggage which have change into out there within the 5 years, together with ones designed for facet 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 need to haul it in a backpack. Sleeping baggage insulated with 800-950 goose or duck down are one of the best by way of heat by weight, however you’ll pay a premium on the high finish.
Listed below are our high 10 down sleeping bag and hybrid sleeping bag picks at quite a lot of value factors.
Make sure to learn our suggestions under on how to decide on one of the best sleeping bag to your wants.
1. REI Magma 15 (unisex)
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 easy accessibility 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 out there in a
30-degree model.
Quite than make a males’s and ladies’s model of the Magma 15 and Magma 30, REI now provides these sleeping baggage in 9 sizes (sure 9) so you may select a bag that’s optimized to your dimensions no matter your intercourse which is the actual metric on which males’s and ladies’s baggage are designed. That mentioned, I’d advocate making an attempt this bag in an REI retailer in order for you an ideal match.
Store at REI
2. Western Mountaineering Versalite 10 (unisex)
The Western Mountaineering Versalite is a heat and spacious sleeping bag with loads of inside room. It has steady baffles so you may 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 facet sleepers. The Versalite is offered 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 out there in three lengths, making it best for backpackers who hike in cool mountain climates.
Learn the SectionHiker Versalite Evaluate.
3. Therm-a-Relaxation Parsec 20 (unisex)
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 scale 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 may vent the bag in case you really feel too heat. Particular sleeping pad straps assist stop you from rolling off your pad at night time, whereas exterior loops allow you to layer appropriate quilts or technical blankets on high to spice up the Parsec’s temperature score.
Learn the SectionHiker Parsec overview.
4. Mountain Hardwear Phantom 15 (unisex)
The Mountain {Hardware} Phantom 15 is a light-weight high-performance mummy sleeping insulated with 850-fill energy goose down. It has a beefy draft collar and zipper draft tube to lock in heat with vertical and horizontal baffles to maintain the down positioned the place you want essentially the most insulation. A two-way anti-snag zipper offers you the choice to vent the bag in case you’re too heat, whereas an anatomically formed trapezoidal foot field retains your ft from compressing the insulation and creating chilly spots. The Phantom 15 weighs 31.8 ouncesand is reduce slim to maintain it as light-weight as doable for summit makes an attempt. Proper-hand and left-hand zipper fashions can be found and a light-weight compression sack and mesh storage sack are included.
Store at Backcountry
5. NEMO Disco 15 (males’s and ladies’s)
The NEMO Disco 15 is a spoon-shaped sleeping bag designed for facet sleepers that provides room on the elbows and knees however is formed to save lots of 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 will help you vent extra warmth, extending the vary of the bag for hotter climate. The Disco weighs 2 lbs 11 ouncesand suits males as much as 6′ tall.
A girls’s Disco 15 can also be out there.
6. Zenbivy Ultralight Mattress (unisex)
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 elements can nonetheless be bought individually, the diploma of integration between the elements together with a 900-fill energy down quilt, an inflatable sleeping pad, a sheet, and an non-obligatory hood supplies an unparalleled and draft-free sleep expertise. The Ultralight Mattress is offered in a number of sizes and at a number of temperature scores. 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 Gentle Mattress, which may be very comparable.
Store at ZenBivy
7. Feathered Pals Flicker UL 20 (unisex)
The Feathered Pals Flicker UL 20 is a extremely versatile hoodless sleeping bag that’s best for facet 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 utterly. 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 time nights in alpine terrain and thru-hikes.
Learn the SectionHiker Flicker Evaluate.
Store at Feathered Pals
8. Feathered Pals Egret UL 20 (girls’s)
The Feathered Pals Egret UL 20 is a top-shelf technical sleeping bag tailor-made for the feminine type that options further fill within the foot field and across the chest. It additionally supplies extra room within the elbows together with house to attract your knees up within the bag in case you prefer to sleep that method. The contoured hood opens broad in hotter climate, making it simple for facet 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 ft to fall in a pure pose with out compressing the perimeters. Obtainable 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.
Store at Feathered Pals
9. Enlightened Tools Convert (unisex)
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 utterly closed like a hoodless sleeping bag, utterly 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 an important alternative for facet sleepers whereas the full-length zipper and foot field offers it extra temperature flexibility than a quilt or sleeping bag alone. When ordering you may specify the temperature score or width you’d like. For spring and autumn climate, we’d advocate a ten or 20 diploma bag, because it’s really easy to vent for hotter climate. For ladies, we recommend including one other 10 levels’ price of insulation.
Learn the SectionHiker Evaluate.
Enlightened Tools
10. REI Magma Quilt 30 (unisex)
The REI Magma Quilt 30 is an effective guess for hotter climate use as a result of it provides the comfortable heat of a mummy bag however with nice means to regulate your heat as wanted. The magma Quilt is insulated with water resistant 850-fill-power goose down with a supersoft Pertex shell cloth. Like premium sleeping baggage, it has an adjustable, insulated draft collar that may be cinched round your neck to maintain heat air in and has a roomy trapezoidal foot field to maintain your ft comfortable and heat. Pad cords allow you to modify match and heat and maintain you focused in your sleep pad all night time (we advocate utilizing an inflatable pad for optimum consolation.)
View at REI
Sleeping Bag Buy Standards
Here’s a listing of a very powerful issue to contemplate when buying a sleeping bag for backpacking, so it suits your wants and preferences.
TEMPERATURE RATINGS: The introduction of standardized sleeping bag temperature scores by the outside trade considerably improved their reliability. Baggage examined with the European Norm (EN) 13537 get two scores: a Consolation score and Decrease restrict score. The Consolation score is the bottom temperature at which the bag will maintain the common lady (or “chilly sleeper”) comfy, and the Decrease Restrict score is the bottom temperature at which the bag will maintain an common man (or “heat sleeper”) comfy. The distinction within the Consolation and Decrease Restrict scores is normally about 10 levels since girls really feel colder than males when sleeping. For those who’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 night time
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 choose to supply it unadulterated. Down is of course water resistant 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 a bit care.
SIZING: The match of a sleeping bag is normally measured by way of size and girth. Girth measures the utmost inside circumference of the bag, normally on the shoulders, hips, and ft. Measure your self at these factors and examine them to the girth to see if the bag will match tightly or loosely. Individuals with greater shoulders or sides sleepers are likely to really feel extra comfy in baggage with increased 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 vital to get a bag that minimizes the quantity of unoccupied inside house relative to your measurements, so your physique has much less air to warmth as much as keep heat. If a bag is simply too giant, it can really feel colder than one that matches intently, since your physique must work tougher to fill the additional house with scorching air.
WEIGHT: Whereas gear weight is vital, watch out to not sacrifice your consolation by choosing a sleeping bag that received’t maintain you heat or dry within the situations you want it to. When selecting between baggage with completely different outer shell materials, take into account their breathability, so they’ll vent perspiration that may degrade your insulation, and whether or not they have a DWR coating, which will be vital if the foot of your quilt will get moist commonly.
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 embody 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 lengthen the vary of a bag in hotter climate.
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