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. Value 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 cellular pursuits resembling backcountry snowboarding and ski mountaineering, we suggest 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 to your buck is a 0-degree sleeping bag since you possibly can increase its heat with a low-cost sleeping bag liner just like the Sea-to-Summit Reactor if you could sleep in colder temperatures than that. However a -20 or -40 bag can be a great wager in the event you’re a chilly sleeper or decided to sleep in additional excessive circumstances.
Listed below are our high 10 beneficial down-filled winter sleeping luggage for cold-weather backpacking. For extra info 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 Mates 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 Mates Snow Goose ES -40
Winter Sleeping Bag FAQs
Mummy Sleeping Bag or Quilt?
A mummy sleeping bag is hotter and extra snug than an ultralight down quilt beneath 20 levels Fahrenheit. Whereas quilts are standard 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 area the place you possibly can hold water, filters, and footwear in a single day to stop them from freezing. That is more durable to do with an ultralight quilt, which is normally shorter and sized slim to save lots of weight. Sleeping in temperatures under freezing undoubtedly adjustments your conduct and requires a unique skillset and kit record 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 simply equal to 600 fill energy down. What about moisture accumulation contained in the bag? Should you’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 cut 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 evening 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. 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 remedies enable 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 Ranking
What’s the greatest sleeping bag temperature score to get for winter backpacking? Whereas there are sure to be regional variations, a zero-degree sleeping bag is normally a great baseline temperature to purpose for as a result of you possibly can simply make it hotter by 20 levels by carrying insulated garments or through the use of a sleeping bag liner, which may prevent a bit of cash. A zero-degree bag may 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 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 Kind of Insulation
Should 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 properly, making it very packable. Purpose for down fill powers of 800, 850, or 900: the upper the higher. Larger fill energy down traps extra heat by weight than decrease fill energy down. Individuals typically wonder if goose down is best than duck down. All down is graded the identical approach, in a species-independent method. In different phrases 800 fill energy goose down is nearly as good as 800 fill energy duck down, solely dearer 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 folks get an extended sleeping bag to allow them to retailer gear under their ft. Winter nights are lengthy and it pays to be snug, particularly if it’s important 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 Mates which makes seven girls’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 may get by with out them to save lots of on price or as a result of they’re not strictly mandatory.
Draft Collar
Most winter sleeping luggage have draft collars and I contemplate 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. Larger-end luggage add a second draft collar across the again of your shoulders and neck and supply extra controls, so you possibly can 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 forestall chilly air from leaking into the bag by the needle holes which might be created when stitching the zipper to the bag. Most winter luggage have a minimum of one zipper draft tube, though some have two, each high and backside, that fall into place whenever you zip up your bag.
Snag Free Zipper
Snag-free zippers forestall 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 essential in a winter sleeping bag. The reality is most individuals can hold their sleeping luggage dry. Should you discover moisture on the skin 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 let you shake the down within the baffles and transfer it to a unique location. For instance, in the event you’re too heat, you could possibly 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 favor 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 function, nonetheless, they will cut back use throughout a wider temperature vary by limiting your venting choices.
Vents
Vents like NEMO’s Thermogills can improve the temperature vary of a sleeping bag, however they’re only one approach of carrying out this purpose.
Which is best 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 whenever you desire a light-weight, compressible sleeping bag. Rectangular sleeping luggage 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 an alternative of a sleeping bag in winter?
It actually is dependent upon how chilly you need to go. Most individuals change 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 actually 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 possibly can strive stacking quilts however I extremely suggest testing out this technique at house earlier than making an attempt it someplace the place it counts.
What’s one of the best insulation, down or artificial?
Should you’re excited about winter backpacking, your greatest wager is to get a down sleeping bag with the best down fill energy (see under) you possibly can afford as a result of it’s ounce-for-ounce lighter weight and extra compressible than a winter sleeping bag stuffed with artificial insulation. Winter backpacking gear may 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 gas range, gas, snowshoes, crampons, and many others. so it actually does pay to save lots of as a lot weight and pack area as you possibly can through the use of the lightest and smallest winter sleeping bag that can hold you heat.
Which is best, waterproof down, or common untreated down?
So-called waterproof down isn’t truly waterproof, however water resistant. Should you dunk it in water, it would fail to insulate, though it would 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. Should 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 might be loads like human hair. A single ounce of common high quality down incorporates 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 possibly can scrunch it up by compressing it, however it would spring again into form nearly instantly. Fill energy measures the lofting energy of goose down which is its potential 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 potential to spring again might be measured. Down with a better fill energy score is extra resilient to compression, lofts higher, and might entice 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 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 approach throughout totally different animals and species. In different phrases 750 fill energy goose down supplies the identical degree 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 dearer it will likely 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 high of the road.
How reliable are winter sleeping bag temperature rankings?
Whereas heat climate sleeping bag rankings have turn out to be rather more goal lately with the adoption of worldwide temperature score requirements and third-party testing, the identical can’t be mentioned about winter sleeping bag temperature rankings. Whereas the EN and ISO temperature rankings revealed 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 strategy to charge the temperature score of sleeping luggage rated under 10 levels, together with all winter sleeping luggage.
As a substitute, 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 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 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, after they final ate, and so forth.
So who are you able to belief? Your greatest wager is to purchase a winter sleeping bag mannequin that’s been available on the market for some time and has a loyal following of people that will attest to the accuracy of its temperature score.
Feathered Mates and Western Mountaineering have constructed their enterprise round word-of-mouth testimonials, which is why folks favor 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 an alternative of a -20 diploma winter sleeping bag?
There are every kind 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 carrying insulated clothes inside your sleeping bag with a view to increase its efficient temperature score
- sleeping with sizzling water bottles
- sleeping with chemical hand heaters
- utilizing a sleeping bag liner
- stuff your entire spare clothes inside so your physique has to warmth much less open area
- eat a heavy dinner with a lot of 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 could depend on them in a wilderness survival state of affairs.
In case you are on a significant expedition and your information requires a -20 diploma or -40 diploma bag for sustained frigid climate, it’s best to seek the advice of with them about utilizing a winter sleeping bag rated for hotter temperatures. Many guides hire cold-weather luggage, which may prevent the expense of shopping for one for one-time use.
An alternative choice is to cancel journeys the place you understand the climate might be too chilly to 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 get pleasure from your self.
Do girls want hotter winter sleeping luggage 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 with a view to keep as heat as a person in a 0-degree winter sleeping bag. Nonetheless, that’s not the case, in the event you purchase a winter sleeping bag designed for a lady. 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 luggage?
Ladies’s sleeping luggage are sometimes shorter in size, narrower within the shoulders, and wider within the hips. They might 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 totally different from sleeping in a three-season or summer time sleeping bag as a result of you could sleep with a few of your gear from freezing in a single day (boots, water bottles, electronics) or as a result of you could put on extra insulated garments in your sleeping bag like a down parka and down-filled pants.
To dimension up, folks sometimes 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 may decide to get a 6′ 6″ lengthy bag as an alternative of a 6′ lengthy sleeping bag with a view to retailer a few of his gear within the sleeping bag foot field. Alternatively, you possibly can decide to get a bag with wider shoulders or chest measurements so you possibly can hug your additional gear at evening to maintain it heat or tuck it behind your again (in the event you’re a aspect sleeper.) That’s at all times been my desire, as an alternative of getting a longer-length sleeping bag.
How do you establish your wants and preferences? Strive on a lot of 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 crucial options to search for on winter sleeping luggage?
After match, crucial options are having a draft collar, draft tubes, zipper guards, and a well-fitting hood. It’s additionally vital 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 and not using a waterproof/breathable exterior cloth.
What’s a draft collar?
A draft colour is an insulated tube of insulation that covers the highest of your chest and again and seals in the entire heat under it in your bag so it will possibly’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 pressured out by the highest of your sleeping bag whenever you transfer round at evening. You may 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 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 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 vital function 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 material 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 stuffed 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 luggage like these from Feathered Mates or Western Mountaineering, steady baffles are a extremely fascinating function for some folks that permits you to transfer the insulation to the components 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 referred to as aspect block baffles or V-block baffles are utilized in excessive loft, winter expedition sleeping luggage to stop 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 concept of protecting 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 inner condensation on the skin of your sleeping bag whenever you contact your tent’s partitions at evening. However expertise has proven that protecting 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 a lot of the non-waterproof shell materials used on the outside of sleeping luggage at present. You will get the identical waterproof profit by spraying a DWR coating on the skin of those lighter-weight, extra breathable materials, which is able to repel water droplets that fall onto the skin 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 possibly can apply it at house utilizing Nikwax TX Direct or comparable merchandise.
As well as, most sleeping bag producers don’t tape or seam seal the entire seams of their luggage, which is admittedly required for true waterproofing. Take into consideration the entire 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 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 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 private desire, however you desire a hood that can match round your head with none air gaps that leak heat. It needs to be simple to regulate (many aren’t), transfer with you in the event you roll onto your aspect, and never turn out to be saturated with water vapor whenever you exhale at evening by your mouth. One of the simplest ways to find out hood match is to get inside a sleeping bag and take a look at it out. It’s vital to get a hood which you can spend 12 hours or extra in comfortably since winter nights are so lengthy.
How vital is a excessive R-value sleeping pad?
A winter sleeping bag and not using a excessive R-value sleeping pad is sort of a sheep with out wool. With out one, your physique warmth might be sucked into the chilly floor. We suggest utilizing a sleeping dangerous with an R-value of 5 or higher. R-values are additive, so it’s also possible to use two sleeping pads, one stacked on high 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 suggest utilizing ones which have been 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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