A great sleeping bag is without doubt one of the greatest investments you can also make as an outside fanatic. Packability, heat, weight, and flexibility are all essential elements to contemplate when shopping for the very best sleeping bag for backpacking, and there’s so much to select from. From know-how to new materials, a fast Google search may depart you with a dizzying quantity of choices, so we determined to do among the be just right for you.
On this weblog publish, we listing the very best sleeping baggage for backpacking, plus data on how to decide on a backpacking sleeping bag. They’re among the hottest available on the market as a result of they adhere to the requirements of heat, weight, and luxury.
Why belief us? The Bearfoot Workforce has greater than twenty years of collective climbing and tenting expertise and have backpacked in distant areas of Alaska, the John Muir Path, South America, and extra. We’ve tried dozens of sleeping baggage and are all the time staying on high of the newest tendencies and developments in tenting gear and gear.
Finest Backpacking Sleeping Baggage at a Look
Backpacking Sleeping Baggage Comparability Desk
See the comparability desk beneath for a fast abstract of every of the highest sleeping baggage for backpacking. You may click on on the columns to type by what’s most essential to you.
Nemo Disco 30
Most Comfy Sleeping Bag for Aspect Sleepers
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: facet and abdomen sleepers, individuals who toss & flip, 3-season backpacking
- What we like: offers most consolation, roomy to maneuver round, pillow pocket, foot field is manufactured from waterproof supplies which is useful in defending the bag in opposition to tent condensation
- What we don’t like: doesn’t compress down tremendous properly, 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 offers additional assist on the elbows and knees so facet 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 will discover the lads’s model right here.
REI Co-op Magma 15 Sleeping Bag
Finest All Round Sleeping Bag
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: 3-season backpacking, again sleepers
- What we like: nice worth purchase for consolation, weight & worth, stable warmth-to-weight ratio
- What we don’t like: comfortable, slender 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 toes additional 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 matches comfortable to retain heat round your head and neck. For the worth, high quality, and seasonality, this is without doubt one of the greatest backpacking sleeping baggage you should purchase. You will discover the lads’s model right here.
Sea to Summit Spark
Finest Ultralight Mummy Sleeping Bag
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: ultralight backpacking, 1-4 season backpacking
- What we like: most light-weight bag on our listing, out there in a number of temperature rankings to suit your wants, extremely compressible
- What we don’t like: doesn’t match properly within the included compression sack
The Sea to Summit Spark is the very best sleeping bag choice available on the market for ultralight backpacking. With most Spark baggage weighing properly beneath 1lb (lower than some sleeping pads!) and packing all the way 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 a wide range of temperature rankings, so you’ll be able to resolve which most closely fits your wants.
What units the Ember/Spark other than a standard down sleeping bag is that they use a water-repellent remedy on the material which protects the down from exterior moisture and condensation. Anybody whose ever handled a moist down bag is aware of that it’s not enjoyable (and might shorten the lifespan of the bag), so this additional safety is an added bonus.
In the event you desire a quilt over a mummy bag, the Sea to Summit Ember is the quilt model of the Spark, comprised of the identical high-quality supplies and baffling system. BFT Workforce Member Courtney makes use of the Ember on backpacking journeys and as a facet sleeper who tosses and turns usually, she prefers the quilt vs. a full-zip sleeping bag with extra freedom of movement.
Store Sea to Summit Ember at:
Enlightened Gear Revelation Quilt
Finest Backpacking Quilt
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: ultralight backpacking, 3-season backpacking, individuals who transfer round so much whereas sleeping or don’t wish to really feel constricted in a sleeping bag
- What we like: one of many lightest baggage on our listing, customizable, extremely compressible, can simply be used as a blanket across the fireplace
- What we don’t like: requires a correct sleeping pad for optimum 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, and it may be personalized to your top, desired fill weight, and temperature score. 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 and neck collar closed. This design is ideal for thru-hikers and anybody who desires a bag that can be utilized in numerous temperatures and climates. The quilt comes with a set of elastic straps that let you connect the quilt to your sleeping pad to eradicate drafts and forestall it from shifting round through the night time.
Together with the opposite benefits, this quilt weighs properly beneath 2 kilos (relying on temperature and fill), making it ultimate for ultralight backpackers. I’ve been utilizing Enlightened Gear 2-Man Confederate Quilt and I find it irresistible. In the event you’re trying to snuggle up along with your associate, try our roundup of the very best 2-person sleeping baggage.
The draw back of the Enlightened Gear Quilts is that they don’t have a hood, a design supposed to shave weight. You may both put on a beanie to mattress or Enlightened Gear additionally sells a separate Torrid Hood that solely weighs 2 or 4 ounces relying on fill.
Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 20 Sleeping Bag
Finest Artificial Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: 3-season backpacking, vegans, moist climate tenting, newbie backpackers
- What we like: budget-friendly, holds up higher than down in moist climate
- What we don’t like: one of many heaviest and least compressible sleeping baggage on our listing
The Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 20 Sleeping Bag is a superb 3-season bag that provides all-synthetic development that can maintain you heat even in moist tenting circumstances.
This bag is comprised of recycled supplies, making it a sustainable selection for environmentally-conscious campers. Moreover, the bag encompasses a distinctive wave development that helps to eradicate chilly spots and offers wonderful insulation.
Nonetheless, one potential draw back of artificial insulation is that it’s usually heavier and bulkier than down insulation making it much less ultimate for these trying to decrease their pack weight.
Moreover, some customers have reported that the bag’s zipper might be troublesome to make use of, which might be irritating when attempting to get out and in of the bag. Regardless of these minor drawbacks, this bag stays an ideal selection for anybody in search of a sustainable and dependable artificial sleeping bag.
Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0F
Finest Sleeping Bag for Sub-Freezing Temps
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: winter backpacking, chilly climate journeys, individuals who run chilly at night time
- What we like: warmest bag on our listing, pretty compact for a way heat it’s
- What we don’t like: costly funding, bag is kind of slender
The Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0F Down Sleeping Bag is our selection for winter backpacking as a result of its high-quality insulation and environment friendly design. With a temperature score of 0F, this sleeping bag is particularly designed to maintain you toasty heat in chilly winter circumstances.
The bag is stuffed with high-loft down that gives wonderful insulation, whereas the light-weight and compressible design makes it straightforward to pack and carry. Moreover, the bag encompasses a draft collar and hood that assist to lure warmth inside and maintain you comfy all through the night time.
For temperatures all the way down to 0 levels, you’ll be able to’t discover a sleeping bag higher than this one. It might be on the high of your worth bracket at round $650, understandably. However, with correct care, this sleeping bag ought to final you a really, very very long time.
Kelty Cosmic 20
Finest Price range Down Sleeping Bag
Key Options
The place to buy
- Nice for: 3-season backpacking, newbie backpackers
- What we like: nice worth for worth, tremendous comfy and heat
- What we don’t like: delicate within the washer, not as compressible as different baggage
For lower than $210, the Kelty Cosmic 20 Sleeping Bag has gained many awards for being an all-around good-quality sleeping bag. Made with hydrophobic down, it’s light-weight however it is not going to carry out as properly in moist climate. Accessible in 0° and 20°, it’s among the best sleeping baggage for backpacking in its worth vary and an ideal choice for brand spanking new backpackers trying to get into the game. It’s additionally out there in a males’s model.
Learn how to Select a Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Choosing out a brand new backpacking sleeping bag for any out of doors journey might be tremendous overwhelming. There are such a lot of decisions and so many options to contemplate, to not point out the worth tag. So, we’ve put collectively this easy information on how to decide on a backpacking sleeping bag on your subsequent nice journey. Hopefully, this makes your gear-buying course of simpler.
Sleeping Bag Temperature Score
The sleeping bag temperature score is the primary place to start out when choosing out a brand new backpacking sleeping bag. Take into consideration when and the place you propose to make use of it probably the most.
Sleeping baggage might be damaged down into three easy classes: summer season, 3-season, and winter based mostly on the temperature rankings proven within the desk beneath.
Most individuals will probably be proud of a 3-season bag, which can maintain you comfy many of the yr. Bear in mind you’ll be able to all the time zip down the bag for a summer season tenting journey or add a sleeping bag liner to your bag for an occasional winter tenting journey. Most 3-season backpacking baggage will listing a European Norm (EN) testing score with two temperature rankings often called the “consolation score” and the “lower-limit score”. EU rankings are standardized score techniques that maintain temperature rankings constant throughout manufacturers.
Consolation score is the bottom temperature at which the bag will maintain the common lady or “chilly sleeper” comfy. Decrease-limit score is the bottom temperature at which the bag will maintain a person or “heat sleeper” comfy. Girls are likely to run colder and for girls’s sleeping bag rankings that’s usually taken under consideration. Word that EN rankings are based mostly on a sleeper sporting 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 Score. So, for most individuals, the Nemo Disco 30 could be comfy in 40F sleeping temperatures.
Sleeping Bag Form
Whereas the sleeping bag form won’t appear essential, it’s for two large causes:
First, sleeping baggage maintain 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! Choosing a bag based mostly in your physique dimension and form is essential for effectivity and heat. Roomier sleeping baggage will usually be heavier as properly, however they are going to be extra comfy for side-sleepers.
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 gained’t even entertain the concept of a sleeping bag, and as an alternative, go for a tenting quilt. Quilts are a light-weight backcountry choice usually designed to be paired with a sleeping pad. It’s principally a blanket with a foot field that can maintain you heat with none pointless insulation or weight. Quilts provide a greater warmth-to-weight ratio since they minimize out materials that’s usually compressed beneath your physique in a standard mummy bag.
Nonetheless, quilts are extra drafty than mummy baggage, so in chilly or windy circumstances we’d go for a mummy bag. Be sure you try Enlightened Gear when you’re interested by going ultralight with a sleeping quilt.
Artificial vs. Down Sleeping Bag Insulation
Since switching to a plant-based food regimen and eliminating all animal merchandise from my food regimen, I’ve additionally questioned whether or not or to not swap out my out of doors gear comprised of animals – one of many greatest culprits being down (feathers). I’ve outlined the important thing variations and execs/cons beneath, 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, they usually’re non-allergenic. One of many downsides of artificial baggage is that they don’t compress as small as down sleeping baggage, they usually are typically 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 comprised of plastic bottles and different recycled plastics for extra sustainable choices.
Down Backpacking Sleeping Baggage
The largest benefit of down over artificial sleeping baggage is that down baggage are typically lighter and compress smaller when packed away – key traits if you’re in search of the very best backpacking sleeping bag. Typically down is costlier than artificial, and a few folks 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. Nonetheless, many down sleeping baggage are actually coated with a water-repellent end that can maintain you heat and dry in damp circumstances. In any other case, down sleeping baggage are a light-weight, heat, and packable selection for backpacking.
A lot of the notable out of doors gear corporations have instituted the Accountable Down Customary (RDS), or International Traceable Down Customary (TDS). These requirements be certain that the down and feathers utilized in these merchandise got here from animals that had been handled properly, 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 possibly imply the distinction between being freezing at night time 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 the pinnacle with out 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 would be able to stuff with garments to create a pillow. Others include stash pockets to maintain your glasses, a watch, headlamp, or mobile 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 night time. The additional cloth may add to the full weight of the bag, however it’s a matter of non-public desire and desires.
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