A very powerful attributes of a sleeping bag for winter tenting and backpacking are heat insulation, compressibility, low weight, and ample inside area to retailer gear and water so it doesn’t freeze in a single day. Price can be an element, though a great winter sleeping bag will final fifteen years or extra if maintained and saved correctly. For winter backpacking and different cell pursuits corresponding to backcountry snowboarding and ski mountaineering, we advocate you get a down-insulated winter sleeping bag as a result of it packs up a lot smaller and is way lighter weight.
We expect the perfect bang in your buck is a 0-degree sleeping bag since you may increase its heat with a low-cost sleeping bag liner just like the Sea-to-Summit Reactor if you want to sleep in colder temperatures than that. However a -20 or -40 bag can be a great guess for those who’re a chilly sleeper or decided to sleep in additional excessive circumstances.
Listed here are our prime 10 beneficial down-filled winter sleeping baggage for cold-weather backpacking. For extra info and reply to frequent questions, see our analysis standards and shopping for recommendation beneath.
1. Marmot Lithium Sleeping Bag
2. The North Face Inferno 0 Sleeping Bag
3. NEMO Sonic 0 Down Sleeping Bag
4. Therm-a-Relaxation Parsec 0 Sleeping Bag
5. Western Mountaineering Kodiak 0 Down Sleeping Bag
6. Feathered Buddies Snowbunting EX 0 Sleeping Bag
7. Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 Down Sleeping Bag
8. Therm-a-Relaxation Polar Ranger -20
9. Western Mountaineering Puma MF -25
10. Feather Buddies Snow Goose EX -40
Winter Sleeping Bag FAQs
Mummy Sleeping Bag or Quilt?
A mummy sleeping bag is hotter and extra snug than an ultralight down quilt below 20 levels Fahrenheit. Whereas quilts are standard for heat climate use, mummy baggage are far much less drafty when the mercury drops beneath 20 levels. Additionally they present a heat in a single day area the place you may hold water, filters, and footwear in a single day to forestall them from freezing. That is more durable to do with an ultralight quilt, which is normally shorter and sized slim to avoid wasting weight. Sleeping in temperatures beneath freezing positively adjustments your conduct and requires a distinct skillset and kit checklist than common three-season tenting or backpacking in hotter climate.
Down vs. Artificial Insulation
Down insulation is extra compressible and hotter by weight than artificial insulation. How a lot hotter? The perfect artificial insulation is barely equal to 600 fill energy down. What about moisture accumulation contained in the bag? If you happen to’re simply going out for one evening or a number of nights in zero-degree climate, it’s unlikely that you simply’ll perspire sufficient to considerably scale back the insulation worth of a down bag. It’s a really completely different story for those who’re on an expedition the place you’re sleeping out in -40 diploma climate each evening for weeks on finish. Even then, most mountaineering guides and explorers nonetheless go for down-filled sleeping baggage over artificial ones as a result of they’re hotter, pack up a lot smaller, and are a lot lighter weight to hold. You too can dry out a sleeping bag throughout a visit within the solar to rid of it any additional moisture. Individuals do it on a regular basis.
Waterproof Down vs Non-Waterproof Down
There’s no such factor as waterproof down. Whereas so-called down waterproofing therapies enable all the way down to dry quicker if it will get damp from perspiration, most premium sleeping bag makers gained’t use it as a result of it reduces the perceived insulation worth of 800, 850, 900, advert 950 fill energy goose down.
Temperature Ranking
What’s the greatest sleeping bag temperature ranking to get for winter backpacking? Whereas there are certain to be regional variations, a zero-degree sleeping bag is normally a great baseline temperature to goal for as a result of you may simply make it hotter by 20 levels by sporting insulated garments or through the use of a sleeping bag liner, which may prevent a bit of cash. A zero-degree bag will also be utilized in hotter temps as much as about 20-30 levels by cracking open the zipper or loosening up the hood and venting it for those who’re too heat. The burden and packability of a zero-degree sleeping bag can be fairly cheap in comparison with a minus 20-degree bag or minus 40-degree bag and normally doesn’t require the acquisition of a bigger backpack to hold.
Greatest Sort of Insulation
If you happen to plan to do any winter backpacking, you’re going to need a down-insulated sleeping bag as a result of it’s the warmest insulation obtainable by weight. It compresses very properly, making it very packable. Purpose for down fill powers of 800, 850, or 900: the upper the higher. Greater fill energy down traps extra heat by weight than decrease fill energy down. Individuals usually ponder whether goose down is best than duck down. All down is graded the identical means, in a species-independent method. In different phrases 800 fill energy goose down is pretty much as good as 800 fill energy duck down, solely costlier as a result of there’s a smaller provide.
Sleeping Bag Dimensions
It is not uncommon to sleep with boot liners or boots, water bottles, and different objects, like water filters, that ought to not freeze in a single day. This implies you’ll need some additional area in a cold-weather sleeping bag to retailer the gear whereas nonetheless sustaining your private consolation. Along with added shoulder, hip, and foot width, some individuals get an extended sleeping bag to allow them to retailer gear beneath their ft. Winter nights are lengthy and it pays to be snug, particularly if you need to sleep with chilly, damp boots and water bottles.
Gender
Most zero-degree winter sleeping baggage are unisex. The one exception to that is Featured Buddies which makes seven girls’s particular sleeping baggage by our final depend together with 0, -10, and -25 diploma winter sleeping baggage.
Should-have Options
Winter sleeping baggage ought to have a draft collar, zipper draft tubes, and snag-free zippers at a minimal. Partial size zippers, steady baffles, vents, and even waterproof down are all nice-to-haves, however you will get by with out them to avoid wasting on value or as a result of they’re not strictly needed.
Draft Collar
Most winter sleeping baggage have draft collars and I think about it a cold-weather important. A draft collar is a tube of insulation that drapes over your chest and neck and seals within the bag’s heat. With out it, the nice and cozy air contained in the bag will rush out round your neck whenever you transfer round inside. The best draft collar is a down tube that covers the entrance of your chest. Greater-end baggage add a second draft collar across the again of your shoulders and neck and supply extra controls, so you may tighten or loosen it.
Zipper Draft Tubes
Draft tubes are down-filled tubes of material that cowl up the aspect zipper so your legs don’t are available in contact with it (as a result of it’s chilly). Additionally they stop chilly air from leaking into the bag by means of the needle holes which might be created when stitching the zipper to the bag. Most winter baggage have not less than one zipper draft tube, though some have two, each prime and backside, that fall into place whenever you zip up your bag.
Snag Free Zipper
Snag-free zippers stop the aspect zipper’s enamel from tearing the shell cloth of your bag and spilling its insulation. The zipper is normally bordered by stiff cloth tape, to maintain it away from the down baffles and stop it from getting snagged on the bag’s outer shell.
Good-to-have options
Water-Resistant Down
Waterproof down is a pleasant to have, not vital in a winter sleeping bag. The reality is most individuals can hold their sleeping baggage dry. If you happen to discover moisture on the surface of your sleeping bag within the morning, it doesn’t imply that the down inside is moist. Merely drape it over your tent within the solar when you eat breakfast and it’ll dry very quickly.
Steady baffles
Steady baffles normally run horizontally throughout a bag. They help you shake the down within the baffles and transfer it to a distinct location. For instance, for those who’re too heat, you might shake the down so it fell down the perimeters of the bag, reasonably than hold it in your chest. Whereas steady baffles allow you to customise the distribution of down for various wants, many individuals choose baffles that hold the down in a single place reliably and completely. It’s one much less factor to fret about.
Partial size zippers
Partial size zippers are sometimes used as a weight-saving characteristic, nonetheless, they will scale back use throughout a wider temperature vary by limiting your venting choices.
Vents
Vents like NEMO’s Thermogills can enhance the temperature vary of a sleeping bag, however they’re only one means of engaging in this objective.
Which is best in winter, a mummy sleeping bag, or an oblong sleeping bag?
Mummy baggage are usually lighter weight as a result of they’re form-fitting, making them higher for winter backpacking whenever you need a light-weight, compressible sleeping bag. Rectangular sleeping baggage might be simply as heat, however they’re extra acceptable for winter tenting, not backpacking, as a result of they’re not as form-fitting, they’re heavier, and have much less environment friendly hoods to maintain your head heat.
Can you utilize a quilt as a substitute of a sleeping bag in winter?
It actually will depend on how chilly you need to go. Most individuals change from quilts to mummy sleeping baggage at about 20 levels Fahrenheit as a result of sleeping baggage are significantly better at blocking chilly drafts than quilt-pad attachment straps. A quilt can definitely work all the way down to 0 levels for those who increase it with a down hood (successfully replicating a mummy bag hood and draft collar) to maintain your head, neck, and higher chest heat. Beneath zero, you may strive stacking quilts however I extremely advocate testing out this technique at house earlier than attempting it someplace the place it counts.
What’s the perfect insulation, down or artificial?
If you happen to’re all for winter backpacking, your greatest guess is to get a down sleeping bag with the best down fill energy (see beneath) you may afford as a result of it’s ounce-for-ounce lighter weight and extra compressible than a winter sleeping bag crammed with artificial insulation. Winter backpacking gear could be very heavy whenever you add up the load of insulated boots, a high-capacity backpack, a four-season tent, winter sleeping pad(s), a liquid gasoline range, gasoline, snowshoes, crampons, and many others. so it actually does pay to avoid wasting as a lot weight and pack area as you may through the use of the lightest and smallest winter sleeping bag that may hold you heat.
Which is best, waterproof down, or common untreated down?
So-called waterproof down isn’t really waterproof, however waterproof. If you happen to dunk it in water, it’ll fail to insulate, though it’ll dry quicker than untreated down. Due to this fact, for those who plan on sleeping in snow caves or out within the open in a bivy sack, waterproof down might be a greater choice because the down will dry quicker if the material shell of your bag will get moist. If you happen to’re sleeping in a comfy tent with a water-proof ground, it most likely doesn’t matter that a lot, besides for those who’re on a multi-day journey the place the buildup of perspiration passing by means of your insulation and out the breathable shell of your sleeping bag can accumulate within the down, degrading its loft and skill to retain heat. Waterproof down could be higher in these circumstances.
What’s down fill-power?
Down consists of fluffy filaments which might be lots like human hair. A single ounce of common high quality down comprises about 2 million of those filaments which interlock to maintain heat air in and chilly air out. This layer could be very springy so you may scrunch it up by compressing it, however it’ll spring again into form nearly instantly. Fill energy measures the lofting energy of goose down which is its means to entice air. To measure fill energy, one ounce of down is compressed in a small glass cylinder. When the load is eliminated, the down’s means to spring again might be measured. Down with a better fill energy ranking is extra resilient to compression, lofts higher, and may entice extra air. In addition to being hotter, this additionally implies that sleeping baggage or parkas with greater fill scores require much less insulation by weight to supply the identical degree of heat than an merchandise made with decrease high quality down.
Is there a heat distinction between goose down and duck down?
No. Fill energy is measured the identical means throughout completely different animals and species. In different phrases 750 fill energy goose down offers the identical degree of insulation as 750 fill energy duck down.
Is there a price distinction between completely different down fill-powers?
Sure. The upper the fill energy, the costlier it will likely be. Costs have dropped lately nonetheless since there’s a worldwide surplus of down, the upper fill powers stay the most costly.
What’s the perfect down fill-power for a winter sleeping bag?
The lightest weight, most compressible winter sleeping baggage are insulated with 800, 850, 900, or 950 fill energy down. A 950 fill-power down bag is prime of the road.
How reliable are winter sleeping bag temperature scores?
Whereas heat climate sleeping bag scores have change into way more goal lately with the adoption of worldwide temperature ranking requirements and third-party testing, the identical can’t be mentioned about winter sleeping bag temperature scores. Whereas the EN and ISO temperature scores revealed for heat climate sleeping baggage rated to 10 levels and better have confirmed to be dependable, research have proven that it isn’t a statistically dependable option to fee the temperature ranking of sleeping baggage rated beneath 10 levels, together with all winter sleeping baggage.
As an alternative, sleeping producers fee their very own sleeping baggage by having individuals sleep in chilly rooms, mainly walk-in freezers, to see in the event that they keep heat at completely different temperature settings. This could generate very subjective outcomes relying on who does the testing, whether or not they’re male or feminine, what their physique weight is, how properly a sleeping bag suits them, the heat of the lengthy underwear they’re sporting, whether or not they’re sporting a hat or not, what sleeping pad they’re utilizing, after they final ate, and so forth.
So who are you able to belief? Your greatest guess is to purchase a winter sleeping bag mannequin that’s been in the marketplace for some time and has a loyal following of people that will attest to the accuracy of its temperature ranking.
Feathered Buddies and Western Mountaineering have constructed their enterprise round word-of-mouth testimonials, which is why individuals choose their winter sleeping baggage over all others. Nobody else offers the vary of choice or technical options supplied by these two producers.
Can you utilize a 0-degree winter sleeping bag as a substitute of a -20 diploma winter sleeping bag?
There are all types of tips to increase the vary of a 0-degree sleeping bag for colder climate, particularly if gear weight or bulk is an enormous concern:
- by sporting insulated clothes inside your sleeping bag as a way to increase its efficient temperature ranking
- sleeping with scorching water bottles
- sleeping with chemical hand heaters
- utilizing a sleeping bag liner
- stuff your whole spare clothes inside so your physique has to warmth much less open area
- eat a heavy dinner with numerous fats and protein earlier than going to mattress
- and so forth…
It’s best to experiment with these in your yard or inside strolling distance of your automotive earlier than you want to depend on them in a wilderness survival scenario.
In case you are on a significant expedition and your information requires a -20 diploma or -40 diploma bag for sustained frigid climate, you need to seek the advice of with them about utilizing a winter sleeping bag rated for hotter temperatures. Many guides lease cold-weather baggage, which may prevent the expense of shopping for one for one-time use.
Another choice is to cancel journeys the place you already know the climate will likely be too chilly in your sleeping bag. As a winter backpacking journey information, my companions and I routinely cancel journeys the place the climate forecast requires -20 nighttime temperatures because it’s actually no enjoyable to take a seat exterior and soften consuming water in climate like that. There’s no disgrace in bailing on a visit when it’s too chilly exterior to take pleasure in your self.
Do girls want hotter winter sleeping baggage than males?
Ladies are inclined to sleep colder than males, so it’s beneficial that they get a sleeping bag that’s 10 levels hotter when shopping for a unisex or males’s sleeping bag. For instance, girls should purchase a -10 diploma winter sleeping bag as a way to keep as heat as a person in a 0-degree winter sleeping bag. Nonetheless, that’s not the case, for those who purchase a winter sleeping bag designed for a girl. A girls’s 0-degree winter sleeping bag ought to hold you as heat as a males’s 0-degree sleeping bag.
What’s the distinction between males’s and girls’s sleeping baggage?
Ladies’s sleeping baggage are sometimes shorter in size, narrower within the shoulders, and wider within the hips. They could even have additional insulation over the chest, within the hood, and within the footbox, since girls have a more durable time retaining their heads, palms, and ft heat.
How do you dimension a winter sleeping bag?
Sleeping in a winter sleeping bag is completely different from sleeping in a three-season or summer time sleeping bag as a result of you want to sleep with a few of your gear from freezing in a single day (boots, water bottles, electronics) or as a result of you want to put on extra insulated garments in your sleeping bag like a down parka and down-filled pants.
To dimension up, individuals usually get a longer-sized sleeping bag or one which has a wider shoulder girth. Shoulder girth measures the circumference of the sleeping bag at shoulder top. When becoming a winter sleeping bag, you need to decrease the quantity of additional inside free-space that your physique has to warmth up whereas not compressing the loft of your insulation by getting a bag that’s too tight.
For instance, a 5′ 10″ tall man would possibly choose to get a 6′ 6″ lengthy bag as a substitute of a 6′ lengthy sleeping bag as a way to retailer a few of his gear within the sleeping bag foot field. Alternatively, you may choose to get a bag with wider shoulders or chest measurements so you may hug your additional gear at evening to maintain it heat or tuck it behind your again (for those who’re a aspect sleeper.) That’s at all times been my choice, as a substitute of getting a longer-length sleeping bag.
How do you identify your wants and preferences? Attempt on numerous sleeping baggage whereas sporting your in a single day gear, even when it means shopping for baggage and returning them to retailers in the event that they don’t match.
What are an important options to search for on winter sleeping baggage?
After match, an important options are having a draft collar, draft tubes, zipper guards, and a well-fitting hood. It’s additionally essential to get a sleeping bag with a breathable exterior shell that may vent perspiration however is waterproof. Sleeping baggage with waterproof/breathable shells are sometimes much less breathable than these with no waterproof/breathable exterior cloth.
What’s a draft collar?
A draft shade is an insulated tube of insulation that covers the highest of your chest and again and seals in all the heat beneath it in your bag so it could possibly’t escape. It prevents what’s known as the “bellows impact”, the place the nice and cozy air round your legs and core is pressured out by means of the highest of your sleeping bag whenever you transfer round at evening. You possibly can obtain the same impact by wrapping a climate or down jacket round your higher chest or neck as properly.
What’s a draft tube?
A draft tube is an insulated tube of insulation that runs alongside the zipper and prevents chilly air from leaking in your sleeping bag or heat air from leaking out. Some sleeping baggage just like the Western Mountaineering Puma -25 have two interlocking draft tubes, one above and one beneath the zipper.
What’s a zipper guard?
A zipper guard is a chunk of material or stiffened cloth tape that runs alongside a zipper and prevents it from snagging on the within lining of your sleeping bag. It’s an essential characteristic of a sleeping bag because it eliminates snags that may stop you from closing the zipper in frigid climate.
What’s a sleeping bag baffle?
A baffle is a cloth tube containing down or artificial insulation. They’re normally oriented horizontally or vertically in sleeping baggage.
What are steady baffles?
Steady baffles are cloth tubes crammed with down insulation that normally run horizontally round a sleeping bag. They allow you to shake the down inside them to maneuver it the place you need it, normally to the highest of a sleeping bag, or down the perimeters. Present in high-end quilts and sleeping baggage like these from Feathered Buddies or Western Mountaineering, steady baffles are a extremely fascinating characteristic for some individuals that allows you to transfer the insulation to the elements of you which might be chilly. For others, it’s a curse, as a result of the down insulation can shift the place you don’t need it to go, creating chilly spots.
What are block baffles?
Blocking baffles, additionally known as aspect block baffles or V-block baffles are utilized in excessive loft, winter expedition sleeping baggage to forestall down from shifting from the highest of a sleeping bag to its sides.
What are the professionals and cons of sleeping baggage which have waterproof breathable exterior shells like Gore-tex?
Sadly, they’re largely cons. The concept of masking a sleeping bag with a water-proof/breathable shell cloth is interesting as a result of it will imply that you simply don’t want to hold a bivy sack to sleep in a snow shelter or fear about getting inner condensation on the surface of your sleeping bag whenever you contact your tent’s partitions at evening. However expertise has proven that masking the outside of a sleeping bag with a water-proof breathable shell tends to entice extra perspiration contained in the insulation of a sleeping bag than one with a a lot lighter shell cloth.
Opposite to what you’d anticipate, waterproof/breathable materials are literally far much less breathable than many of the non-waterproof shell materials used on the outside of sleeping baggage in the present day. You may get the identical waterproof profit by spraying a DWR coating on the surface of those lighter-weight, extra breathable materials, which is able to repel water droplets that fall onto the surface of the bag, inflicting them to bead and roll off, similar to a rain jacket. Most sleeping producers already do that on the manufacturing facility. But when the DWR coating wears off, you may apply it at house utilizing Nikwax TX Direct or related merchandise.
As well as, most sleeping bag producers don’t tape or seam seal all the seams of their baggage, which is admittedly required for true waterproofing. Take into consideration all the tiny needle holes within the baffling of a down bag. Taping or seam sealing all of them could be very pricey. In distinction, most bivy baggage made with waterproof/breathable materials have taped seams or might be simply sealed with a seam sealer. You actually can’t do the identical with a sleeping bag.
What’s the greatest exterior cloth for a winter sleeping bag?
You need an exterior shell cloth that’s robust sufficient to be sturdy and has good breathability, with a good sufficient weave and/or a DWR coating that may make water roll off its floor. Pertex Defend and microfiber calendared nylon are good examples of materials with these properties.
How ought to a winter sleeping bag hood match?
That is an space of non-public choice, however you need a hood that may match round your head with none air gaps that leak heat. It ought to be simple to regulate (many aren’t), transfer with you for those who roll onto your aspect, and never change into saturated with water vapor whenever you exhale at evening by means of your mouth. The easiest way to find out hood match is to get inside a sleeping bag and take a look at it out. It’s essential to get a hood which you could spend 12 hours or extra in comfortably since winter nights are so lengthy.
How essential is a excessive R-value sleeping pad?
A winter sleeping bag with no excessive R-value sleeping pad is sort of a sheep with out wool. With out one, your physique warmth will likely be sucked into the chilly floor. We advocate utilizing a sleeping unhealthy with an R-value of 5 or higher. R-values are additive, so you can too use two sleeping pads, one stacked on prime of the opposite to attain a better composite R-value. Many winter backpackers will carry a foam pad, which can be utilized as a seat when cooking or snow melting, along with an inflatable sleeping pad for consolation. When selecting winter pads, we advocate utilizing ones which have been rated utilizing the brand new sleeping bag normal, such because the Therm-a-Relaxation XTherm, which has an R-value of 6.9
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