Considering how much time you spend in it, your sleeping bag may be the one piece of gear you think least about while you use it assuming it’s doing its job. If you’re sound asleep at your campsite, it’s doing its job.
If you’re hiking blissfully along not cursing the shoulder-crushing Bugzilla in your pack, it’s doing its job. All we truly seek is a bag that keeps us warm enough to sleep well without being a burden to haul, store, or pay for.
The job is simple, but the technology to do it is anything but. And the complex science and standards behind bag testing can give even the gear-nerdiest among us a headache.
So first, get a primer on how to understand temperature ratings at the end of this article. Then come back and let’s look at some of our favorite sleep sacks for backpacking and car camping.
Sleeping Bags for Backpacking
REI Co-op Trailbreak
Best Budget-Friendly Backpacking Bag
- Versions: Men’s regular and long; women’s regular and long
- ISO lower limit: 18°F (men’s); 5°F (women’s)
- ISO comfort: 29°F (men’s); 18°F (women’s)
- Weight: 3 lbs. 7 oz. (men’s); 4 lbs. 13 oz. (women’s)
- Insulation: Polyester
- Price: Starting at $99.95
Finding a serious backpacking bag for less than $100 is a rarity. And finding a budget-friendly bag like this is especially nice if you’re just getting into the activity because it frees up dollars for other big-ticket items like your tent, pack, and sleeping pad.
The Trailbreak is suited to cold nights (18° is the lower limit rating for the men’s), as well as soggy conditions, thanks to its heavy-duty, water-resistant polyester fill that will help keep you warm in damp conditions. It also offers other nice touches that are typical of REI Co-op bags, such as multiple drawcords the can be adjusted by feel for fast, fumble-free cinching of the neck and hood openings at night.
A few compromises at this price are inevitable: At nearly 3.5 pounds, it sits at the heavier end of the weight spectrum. And some co-op reviewers have complained about a snagging zipper (though that’s an affliction that affects many bags). On balance, though, new backpackers could hardly find a better value. One customer reviewer sums it up nicely: “It’s a great combination of comfortable, practical and affordable.”
NEMO Forte
Best Backpacking Bag for Side Sleepers
- Versions: Men’s regular and long; women’s regular and long
- ISO lower limit: 22°F (men’s); 10°F (women’s)
- ISO comfort: 32°F (men’s); 20°F (women’s)
- Weight: 2 lbs. 14 oz. (men’s); 3 lbs. 5 oz. (women’s)
- Insulation: PrimaLoft® RISE synthetic
- Sustainability attributes: Insulation contains recycled materials.
- Price: Starting at $199.95
Side sleeping in a mummy bag always presents a dilemma. Do you attempt to roll both body and bag simultaneously? Or, do you pull arms and legs into a tight fetal position as you attempt to pivot sideways inside of it? Both methods work OK, but NEMO came up with a third and, in our opinion, a better option. Thanks to the added room at the elbows and knees, the Forte lets you casually rotate those joints sideways without bringing the whole bag with you. Simple.
The spoon shape might look a little odd at first, but it works beautifully. “Once someone is in this bag, they’re buying it,” says our Farmington, Utah, REI camping specialist. It’s also worth noting that the Forte’s hood articulation and oblong opening are also conducive to side sleeping because they help preserve breathing space after you roll.
The warming and cooling systems in this bag are also unique. Insulated with PrimaLoft® RISE an incredibly lightweight and efficient synthetic fill it’s rated for warmth down to 22° F, yet weighs less than 3 pounds. The “cooling” comes from two-gill vents on top, which dump excess heat efficiently when temps start to rise.
If all that wasn’t enough, the Forte also includes a pillow pocket that lets you stuff clothing inside to create a dreamy perch for your noggin.
Therm-a-Rest Polar Ranger
Best Bag for Extreme Cold
- Versions: Unisex regular and long
- Approximate temperature rating: -20°F
- Weight: 3 lbs. 4 oz.
- Insulation: 800-fill-power water-resistant down
- Sustainability attributes: Insulation meets the responsible down standard (RDS).
- Price: Starting at $689.95
Mountaineers and winter backpackers types don’t take their gear purchases lightly. If that’s you the sort of cold-seeking, masochistic type then you can rest assured that this bag does exactly what you need: Keeps you extremely warm without weighing you down. Having water-resistant 800-fill-power down is also key because dampness in extreme cold is a serious problem.
Therm-a-Rest added other intriguing features to this expedition-quality bag. The “snorkel” hood is ingenious, creating a chimney above your face to expel moisture-laden breath away from the bag. The walls of the snorkel itself have synthetic insulation to ensure its warmth won’t get compromised by all of the moist air passing through it.
Lastly, for those of you who consider a cuppa hot brew as essential to starting one’s day in subzero temps, the Polar Ranger has zippered armholes that let you enjoy that steaming elixir while wearing your bag in the morning.
REI Co-op Kindercone 25
Best Kids’ Bag
- Versions: Kids
- Approximate temperature rating: 25°F
- Weight: 3 lbs. 4 oz.
- Insulation: Synthetic
- Price: $69.95
REI Co-op has been making (and updating) the Kindercone seemingly for as long as outdoor adventurers have been having kids. It was developed in the early 2000s to fill a need for parents who wanted a legit bag for a child that they hoped to introduce to a lifelong love of the outdoors. Then and now, the bag has just the right mix of tech and hardiness that tends to keep both kids and parents happy.
The ripstop nylon shell stands up to wear and tear, as does the sturdy polyester fill. Using an inherently water-resistant synthetic fill instead of down keeps the price reasonable and the fear of water spills and splashes at bay. The Kindercone is estimated to 25°F, which should keep tykes plenty warm on most three-season backpacking trips, and because it tips the scales at just a hair over 3 pounds, budding backpackers can carry the thing, too.
Nice touch: a size-adjustment feature that lets the bag grow with your child. The included stuff sack is attached to the bottom of the bag, allowing you to snug extra length of the bag away, then cinch it taut to accommodate whatever growth-spurt stage your child is in.
Sleeping Bags for Car Camping
Kelty Discovery 30
Best Budget-Friendly Car-Camping Bag
- Versions: Unisex
- Approximate temperature rating: 30°F
- Weight: 5 lbs.
- Insulation: Synthetic
- Price: $49.95
This is Kelty’s ultimate “Hey, I’m going car camping for the first time and I need a bag” bag. Compared to other sleeping bags on the market, it’s the most affordable choice for sleepovers, summer camps, cabin camping, and backyard camping. The rectangular shape gives sleepers plenty of room to move around, and the polyester shell and fill are both water-resistant.
As it is with all rectangular bags, the 30° temp rating is a rough guideline rather than a rigorously tested evaluation, which is fine for situations where warmer refuges are typically close at hand.
The North Face Dolomite One Duo
Best Double Bag for Car Camping
- Versions: Unisex double and unisex single
- Approximate temperature rating: 15°F / 30°F / 50°F
- Weight: 8 lbs. 13 oz.
- Insulation: Polyester
- Sustainability attributes: Insulation contains recycled materials.
Quality sleeping bags for two can be hard to find, but this one qualifies. We might just as rightfully have called Dolomite One Duo our most versatile car-camping bag, though, thanks to an elegant design that allows you to deploy it at three different warmth levels.
This bag features a classic rectangular shape rendered in the modular form: The base is separate from the top layers, each of which can be used by itself or doubled. Using just the lightweight blue layer on top works fine on balmy nights; the cozier yellow top layer is better when things get chillier.
When temps dip below freezing, it’s time to zip-on both for a double-whammy that The North Face rates to approximately 15°F. All of the zippers in this elaborate setup work smoothly to make quick work of layer reconfigurations. One customer reviewer sums it up this way: “Ingenious design and high-quality construction. Truly three great bags in one.”
Finishing touches in the Dolomite One Duo include a silky soft lining and a handy stash pocket.
Buying Advice
When the vehicle is doing the heavy lifting, weight is not a pressing issue, which changes your choices when it comes to car-camping sleeping bags. You can simply pick the warmest, roomiest bag in your price range.
When backpacking, however, you’ll want the lightest bag that will keep you warm enough for a cozy night’s sleep and still fits your budget. Not surprisingly, the lighter and warmer the bag, the more it will cost. Below are some of the article’s key points to keep in mind when choosing a backpacking bag:
Temperature Rating
Insulation in a bag is key to how warm it will be, but factors like how snug it fits also matter. Thankfully, you don’t have to contemplate that complexity because sleeping bag ratings do it for you.
For the backpacking bags in this guide, your choices roughly break down into moderate-weather bags, cool-weather bags, cold-weather bags, and extreme cold-weather bags.
You might quibble about whether 20°F is “cool weather” or 30°F is “moderate weather.” Consider, though, that you’re seeking a bag that will keep you warm at a temperature that’s slightly lower than the lowest nighttime temperature you might encounter on your trips. Most people err on the side of getting extra warmth, too, because they always have the option to shed layers or to unzip their bag in milder conditions.
For car camping, you can be less temperature focused, because your vehicle is your backup option if your bag’s warmth isn’t a match for an unexpectedly frosty night. Car-camping options in this guide are nominally rated at 30°F and 40°F, and one that lets you adapt it to 30°F, 40°F, or 50°F, depending on how you mix and match the sleeping bag’s top sections.
Type of Insulation
Down or synthetic? Synthetics offer solid performance and lower costs. Down is warmer for its weight, lighter and more compressible, and costs substantially more. Down’s knock used to be that dampness degraded its insulating ability, but many premia down fills have a water-resistant treatment to mitigate that problem. A higher fill-power rating indicates a downgrade that offers more warmth for less weight.
Weight
Insulation is a big factor, but materials and shape also matter. Related to weight is compressibility how small a bag stuffs down for packing. Generally, though, lighter bags stuff down smaller, too. When you compare weights, make sure you compare bags with the same temperature rating.
The REI Magma 15, thanks in part to its 850-fill power down insulation, has an astoundingly good warmth-to-weight ratio. At 1 pound, 12.2 ounces for the men’s regular, it’s both the lightest and the warmest ISO-tested backpacking bag on this list. At 1 pound, 14 ounces for the men’s regular, the Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 30 features a respectable warmth-to-weight ratio among this guide’s synthetic bags.
Temperature Ratings Explained
Being able to compare one brand’s 20° bag against another’s used to be a problem because outdoor brands tested them differently. Decades of work to standardize those ratings thankfully means nearly all brands play by the same rules now, though those rules are complicated:
An “ISO” or “EN” temperature rating indicates the test standard used. Either requires rigorous, standardized testing, and the two standards are roughly comparable. So, as long as a bag has one of those acronyms, you can compare their temperature ratings.
Note that, while these test standards can be applied to most backpacking bags, certain sleep sacks are not covered by the standards. Sleeping bags without hoods, quilts, bags rated for extreme cold, and kids’ bags all were assigned temperature ratings by varying tests used by each brand.
Bags are assigned two temperature ratings: comfort and limit ratings. Comfort rating is the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep the average cold sleeper comfortable and is generally the temperature assigned to women-specific bags.
A lower-limit rating is the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep a warm sleeper comfortable and is generally the temperature assigned to men’s or unisex bags. If a temperature rating omits the term “comfort” or “limit,” then it’s likely a brand’s estimate, not an ISO or EN test result.
Not-so-fun fact: Women’s bags that use the warmer “comfort rating” as their standard will inevitably be heavier than the equivalent men’s bags. It simply requires more of given insulation to achieve more warmth. The rating standards aren’t intended to give women bag buyers a weight penalty, but the net result is that’s exactly what happens for most bags.
A temperature rating is not a guarantee of warmth. Standardized ratings are super important because you can reliably compare bags from different brands. But metabolisms vary greatly from person to person, as do variables like humidity, wind, type of shelter, ground conditions, clothing, and personal preferences.
Sleep Systems
One big factor in your warmth level is the sleeping pad you pair with your sleeping bag. This combo is your sleep system, which gives a more accurate picture of how warm you’ll sleep.
If you use a less-insulated pad at colder temps, your sleeping bag might not live up to its temperature rating. To learn more about pad warmth ratings and get a look at how bags and pads work in tandem to keep you warm, read How to Choose a Sleeping Pad.
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