Crucial attributes of a sleeping bag for winter tenting and backpacking are heat insulation, compressibility, low weight, and ample inside house to retailer gear and water so it doesn’t freeze in a single day. Value can also be an element, though winter sleeping bag will final fifteen years or extra if maintained and saved correctly. For winter backpacking and different cellular pursuits similar 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 one of the best bang on your buck is a 0-degree sleeping bag since you’ll be able to increase its heat with a low-cost sleeping bag liner just like the Sea-to-Summit Reactor if it’s essential to sleep in colder temperatures than that. However a -20 or -40 bag can also be wager in the event you’re a chilly sleeper or decided to sleep in additional excessive situations.
Listed here are our prime 10 advisable down-filled winter sleeping luggage for cold-weather backpacking. For extra data and reply to frequent questions, see our analysis standards and shopping for recommendation under.
1. Marmot Lithium Sleeping Bag
2. The North Face Inferno 0 Sleeping Bag
3. NEMO Sonic 0 Down Sleeping Bag
4. Sea-to-Summit Spark 0 Down Sleeping Bag
5. Western Mountaineering Kodiak 0 Down Sleeping Bag
6. Feathered Buddies Snowbunting ES 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 ES -40
Winter Sleeping Bag FAQs
Mummy Sleeping Bag or Quilt?
A mummy sleeping bag is hotter and extra comfy than an ultralight down quilt below 20 levels Fahrenheit. Whereas quilts are common for heat climate use, mummy luggage are far much less drafty when the mercury drops under 20 levels. Additionally they present a heat in a single day house the place you’ll be able to hold water, filters, and footwear in a single day to forestall them from freezing. That is tougher to do with an ultralight quilt, which is normally shorter and sized slender to avoid wasting weight. Sleeping in temperatures under freezing undoubtedly modifications your habits and requires a distinct skillset and kit listing 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 most effective artificial insulation is just equal to 600 fill energy down. What about moisture accumulation contained in the bag? In case you’re simply going out for one night time 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 totally different story in the event you’re on an expedition the place you’re sleeping out in -40 diploma climate each night time for weeks on finish. Even then, most mountaineering guides and explorers nonetheless go for down-filled sleeping luggage over artificial ones as a result of they’re hotter, pack up a lot smaller, and are a lot lighter weight to hold. It’s also possible to dry out a sleeping bag throughout a visit within the solar to rid of it any further moisture. Folks 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 permit all the way down to dry quicker if it will get damp from perspiration, most premium sleeping bag makers received’t use it as a result of it reduces the perceived insulation worth of 800, 850, 900, advert 950 fill energy goose down.
Temperature Score
What’s the finest sleeping bag temperature score to get for winter backpacking? Whereas there are certain to be regional variations, a zero-degree sleeping bag is normally baseline temperature to goal for as a result of you’ll be able to simply make it hotter by 20 levels by carrying insulated garments or by utilizing a sleeping bag liner, which might 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 in the event you’re too heat. The load and packability of a zero-degree sleeping bag can also 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
In case you plan to do any winter backpacking, you’re going to desire a down-insulated sleeping bag as a result of it’s the warmest insulation accessible by weight. It compresses very nicely, making it very packable. Intention 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. Folks typically ponder whether goose down is healthier than duck down. All down is graded the identical manner, 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 further house 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 folks get an extended sleeping bag to allow them to retailer gear under their ft. Winter nights are lengthy and it pays to be comfy, particularly if you need to sleep with chilly, damp boots and water bottles.
Gender
Most zero-degree winter sleeping luggage are unisex. The one exception to that is Featured Buddies which makes seven ladies’s particular sleeping luggage by our final depend together with 0, -10, and -25 diploma winter sleeping luggage.
Should-have Options
Winter sleeping luggage ought to have a draft collar, zipper draft tubes, and snag-free zippers at a minimal. Partial size zippers, steady baffles, vents, and even water resistant down are all nice-to-haves, however you will get by with out them to avoid wasting on price or as a result of they’re not strictly crucial.
Draft Collar
Most winter sleeping luggage 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 if you transfer round inside. The best draft collar is a down tube that covers the entrance of your chest. Greater-end luggage add a second draft collar across the again of your shoulders and neck and supply extra controls, so you’ll be able to tighten or loosen it.
Zipper Draft Tubes
Draft tubes are down-filled tubes of material that cowl up the facet zipper so your legs don’t are available in contact with it (as a result of it’s chilly). Additionally they forestall chilly air from leaking into the bag by the needle holes which are created when stitching the zipper to the bag. Most winter luggage have not less than one zipper draft tube, though some have two, each prime and backside, that fall into place if you zip up your bag.
Snag Free Zipper
Snag-free zippers forestall the facet zipper’s tooth 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 luggage dry. In case you 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 permit you to shake the down within the baffles and transfer it to a distinct location. For instance, in the event you’re too heat, you would shake the down so it fell down the perimeters of the bag, moderately 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 manner of undertaking this purpose.
Which is healthier in winter, a mummy sleeping bag, or an oblong sleeping bag?
Mummy luggage are typically lighter weight as a result of they’re form-fitting, making them higher for winter backpacking if you desire a light-weight, compressible sleeping bag. Rectangular sleeping luggage will be simply as heat, however they’re extra applicable 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 wish to go. Most individuals swap from quilts to mummy sleeping luggage at about 20 levels Fahrenheit as a result of sleeping luggage are significantly better at blocking chilly drafts than quilt-pad attachment straps. A quilt can definitely work all the way down to 0 levels in the event you 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’ll be able to attempt stacking quilts however I extremely advocate testing out this technique at dwelling earlier than attempting it someplace the place it counts.
What’s one of the best insulation, down or artificial?
In case you’re desirous about winter backpacking, your finest wager is to get a down sleeping bag with the best down fill energy (see under) you’ll be able to afford as a result of it’s ounce-for-ounce lighter weight and extra compressible than a winter sleeping bag full of artificial insulation. Winter backpacking gear may be very heavy if you add up the burden of insulated boots, a high-capacity backpack, a four-season tent, winter sleeping pad(s), a liquid gas range, gas, snowshoes, crampons, and so on. so it actually does pay to avoid wasting as a lot weight and pack house as you’ll be able to by utilizing the lightest and smallest winter sleeping bag that can hold you heat.
Which is healthier, waterproof down, or common untreated down?
So-called waterproof down isn’t truly waterproof, however water resistant. In case you dunk it in water, it can fail to insulate, though it can dry quicker than untreated down. Subsequently, in the event you plan on sleeping in snow caves or out within the open in a bivy sack, waterproof down might be a greater possibility because the down will dry quicker if the material shell of your bag will get moist. In case you’re sleeping in a comfortable tent with a water-proof flooring, it in all probability doesn’t matter that a lot, besides in the event you’re on a multi-day journey the place the buildup of perspiration passing by 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 are rather a lot like human hair. A single ounce of common high quality down accommodates about 2 million of those filaments which interlock to maintain heat air in and chilly air out. This layer may be very springy so you’ll be able to scrunch it up by compressing it, however it can spring again into form virtually instantly. Fill energy measures the lofting energy of goose down which is its capacity to lure air. To measure fill energy, one ounce of down is compressed in a small glass cylinder. When the burden is eliminated, the down’s capacity to spring again will be measured. Down with the next fill energy score is extra resilient to compression, lofts higher, and might lure extra air. Apart from being hotter, this additionally implies that sleeping luggage or parkas with greater fill rankings require much less insulation by weight to supply the identical stage 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 manner throughout totally different animals and species. In different phrases 750 fill energy goose down supplies the identical stage of insulation as 750 fill energy duck down.
Is there a value distinction between totally different down fill-powers?
Sure. The upper the fill energy, the costlier it is going to be. Costs have dropped lately nonetheless since there’s a worldwide surplus of down, the upper fill powers stay the costliest.
What’s one of the best down fill-power for a winter sleeping bag?
The lightest weight, most compressible winter sleeping luggage 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 rankings?
Whereas heat climate sleeping bag rankings have grow to be far more goal lately with the adoption of worldwide temperature score requirements and third-party testing, the identical can’t be stated about winter sleeping bag temperature rankings. Whereas the EN and ISO temperature rankings printed for heat climate sleeping luggage rated to 10 levels and better have confirmed to be dependable, research have proven that it’s not a statistically dependable technique to charge the temperature score of sleeping luggage rated under 10 levels, together with all winter sleeping luggage.
As an alternative, sleeping producers charge their very own sleeping luggage by having folks sleep in chilly rooms, mainly walk-in freezers, to see in the event that they keep heat at totally different temperature settings. This may generate very subjective outcomes relying on who does the testing, whether or not they’re male or feminine, what their physique weight is, how nicely a sleeping bag matches them, the heat of the lengthy underwear they’re carrying, whether or not they’re carrying a hat or not, what sleeping pad they’re utilizing, once they final ate, and so forth.
So who are you able to belief? Your finest wager 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 score.
Feathered Buddies and Western Mountaineering have constructed their enterprise round word-of-mouth testimonials, which is why folks choose their winter sleeping luggage over all others. Nobody else supplies 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 every kind of methods to increase the vary of a 0-degree sleeping bag for colder climate, particularly if gear weight or bulk is a giant concern:
- by carrying insulated clothes inside your sleeping bag with a view to increase its efficient temperature score
- sleeping with scorching water bottles
- sleeping with chemical hand heaters
- utilizing a sleeping bag liner
- stuff all your spare clothes inside so your physique has to warmth much less open house
- 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 automobile earlier than it’s essential to depend on them in a wilderness survival scenario.
If you’re on a serious 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 luggage, which might prevent the expense of shopping for one for one-time use.
Another choice is to cancel journeys the place you recognize the climate will likely be too chilly on 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 outdoors and soften ingesting water in climate like that. There’s no disgrace in bailing on a visit when it’s too chilly outdoors to get pleasure from your self.
Do ladies want hotter winter sleeping luggage than males?
Ladies are likely to sleep colder than males, so it’s advisable that they get a sleeping bag that’s 10 levels hotter when shopping for a unisex or males’s sleeping bag. For instance, ladies can purchase a -10 diploma winter sleeping bag with a view to keep as heat as a person in a 0-degree winter sleeping bag. Nevertheless, that’s not the case, in the event you purchase a winter sleeping bag designed for a girl. A ladies’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 ladies’s sleeping luggage?
Ladies’s sleeping luggage are sometimes shorter in size, narrower within the shoulders, and wider within the hips. They could even have further insulation over the chest, within the hood, and within the footbox, since ladies have a tougher time protecting their heads, arms, and ft heat.
How do you measurement a winter sleeping bag?
Sleeping in a winter sleeping bag is totally different from sleeping in a three-season or summer season sleeping bag as a result of it’s essential to sleep with a few of your gear from freezing in a single day (boots, water bottles, electronics) or as a result of it’s essential to put on extra insulated garments in your sleeping bag like a down parka and down-filled pants.
To measurement up, folks 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 peak. When becoming a winter sleeping bag, you wish to reduce 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 with a view to retailer a few of his gear within the sleeping bag foot field. Alternatively, you’ll be able to choose to get a bag with wider shoulders or chest measurements so you’ll be able to hug your further gear at night time to maintain it heat or tuck it behind your again (in the event you’re a facet sleeper.) That’s all the time been my choice, as a substitute of getting a longer-length sleeping bag.
How do you establish your wants and preferences? Strive on numerous sleeping luggage whereas carrying your in a single day gear, even when it means shopping for luggage and returning them to retailers in the event that they don’t match.
What are a very powerful options to search for on winter sleeping luggage?
After match, a very powerful 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 water resistant. Sleeping luggage with waterproof/breathable shells are sometimes much less breathable than these with no waterproof/breathable exterior cloth.
What’s a draft collar?
A draft coloration is an insulated tube of insulation that covers the highest of your chest and again and seals in all the heat under it in your bag so it might’t escape. It prevents what’s referred to as the “bellows impact”, the place the nice and cozy air round your legs and core is compelled out by the highest of your sleeping bag if you transfer round at night time. You may obtain an identical impact by wrapping a climate or down jacket round your higher chest or neck as nicely.
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 luggage just like the Western Mountaineering Puma -25 have two interlocking draft tubes, one above and one under the zipper.
What’s a zipper guard?
A zipper guard is a bit 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 forestall 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 luggage.
What are steady baffles?
Steady baffles are cloth tubes full of 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 luggage like these from Feathered Buddies or Western Mountaineering, steady baffles are a extremely fascinating characteristic for some folks that allows you to transfer the insulation to the elements of you which are 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 referred to as facet block baffles or V-block baffles are utilized in excessive loft, winter expedition sleeping luggage to forestall down from shifting from the highest of a sleeping bag to its sides.
What are the professionals and cons of sleeping luggage which have waterproof breathable exterior shells like Gore-tex?
Sadly, they’re principally cons. The thought of overlaying a sleeping bag with a water-proof/breathable shell cloth is interesting as a result of it could imply that you simply don’t want to hold a bivy sack to sleep in a snow shelter or fear about getting inside condensation on the surface of your sleeping bag if you contact your tent’s partitions at night time. However expertise has proven that overlaying the outside of a sleeping bag with a water-proof breathable shell tends to lure 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 a lot of the non-waterproof shell materials used on the outside of sleeping luggage at present. You may get the identical waterproof profit by spraying a DWR coating on the surface of those lighter-weight, extra breathable materials, which can repel water droplets that fall onto the surface of the bag, inflicting them to bead and roll off, identical to a rain jacket. Most sleeping producers already do that on the manufacturing unit. But when the DWR coating wears off, you’ll be able to apply it at dwelling utilizing Nikwax TX Direct or comparable merchandise.
As well as, most sleeping bag producers don’t tape or seam seal all the seams of their luggage, which is absolutely 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 luggage made with waterproof/breathable materials have taped seams or will be simply sealed with a seam sealer. You actually can’t do the identical with a sleeping bag.
What’s the finest 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 decent sufficient weave and/or a DWR coating that can 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 desire a hood that can match round your head with none air gaps that leak heat. It needs to be straightforward to regulate (many aren’t), transfer with you in the event you roll onto your facet, and never grow to be saturated with water vapor if you exhale at night time by your mouth. The easiest way to find out hood match is to get inside a sleeping bag and check out it out. It’s essential to get a hood that you may 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 may as well use two sleeping pads, one stacked on prime of the opposite to realize the next 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 were rated utilizing the brand new sleeping bag commonplace, such because the Therm-a-Relaxation XTherm, which has an R-value of 6.9
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