10 Best Winter Sleeping Bags of 2022-2023

The most essential 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. Cost can be an element, though winter sleeping bag will final fifteen years or extra if maintained and saved correctly. For winter backpacking and different cell pursuits akin 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 far lighter weight.

We assume one of the best bang to 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 you want to sleep in colder temperatures than that. But a -20 or -40 bag can be wager if you happen to’re a chilly sleeper or decided to sleep in additional excessive situations.

Here are our high 10 really helpful 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 beneath.

1. Marmot Lithium Sleeping Bag

2. The North Face Inferno 0 Sleeping Bag

3. NEMO Sonic 0 Down Sleeping Bag

4. Therm-a-Rest Parsec 0 Sleeping Bag

5. Western Mountaineering Kodiak 0 Down Sleeping Bag

6. Feathered Friends Snowbunting EX 0 Sleeping Bag

7. Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 Down Sleeping Bag

8. Therm-a-Rest Polar Ranger -20

9. Western Mountaineering Puma MF -25

10. Feather Friends Snow Goose EX -40

Winter Sleeping Bag FAQs

Mummy Sleeping Bag or Quilt?

A mummy sleeping bag is hotter and extra comfy than an ultralight down quilt underneath 20 levels Fahrenheit. While quilts are widespread for heat climate use, mummy luggage are far much less drafty when the mercury drops beneath 20 levels. They additionally present a heat in a single day area the place you’ll be able to maintain water, filters, and footwear in a single day to forestall them from freezing. This is tougher to do with an ultralight quilt, which is often shorter and sized slender to save lots of weight. Sleeping in temperatures beneath freezing positively modifications your conduct and requires a special skillset and kit record than common three-season tenting or backpacking in hotter climate.

Down vs. Synthetic Insulation

Down insulation is extra compressible and hotter by weight than artificial insulation. How a lot hotter? The greatest artificial insulation is simply equal to 600 fill energy down. What about moisture accumulation contained in the bag? If you’re simply going out for one evening or a couple of nights in zero-degree climate, it’s unlikely that you just’ll perspire sufficient to considerably cut back the insulation worth of a down bag. It’s a really totally different story if you happen to’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 can even dry out a sleeping bag throughout a visit within the solar to rid of it any additional moisture. People do it on a regular basis.

Waterproof Down vs Non-Waterproof Down

There’s no such factor as waterproof down. While so-called down waterproofing therapies permit right 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 Rating

What is one of the best sleeping bag temperature score to get for winter backpacking? While there are certain to be regional variations, a zero-degree sleeping bag is often baseline temperature to intention for as a result of you’ll be able to simply make it hotter by 20 levels by sporting insulated garments or through the use of 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 if you happen to’re too heat. The weight 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 often doesn’t require the acquisition of a bigger backpack to hold.

Best Type of Insulation

If you propose to do any winter backpacking, you’re going to desire a down-insulated sleeping bag as a result of it’s the warmest insulation out there by weight. It compresses very properly, making it very packable. Aim for down fill powers of 800, 850, or 900: the upper the higher. Higher fill energy down traps extra heat by weight than decrease fill energy down. People usually wonder if goose down is healthier than duck down. All down is graded the identical approach, 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 frequent 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 means you’ll need some additional area in a cold-weather sleeping bag to retailer the gear whereas nonetheless sustaining your private consolation. In addition to added shoulder, hip, and foot width, some folks get an extended sleeping bag to allow them to retailer gear beneath their toes. Winter nights are lengthy and it pays to be comfy, particularly if it’s a must 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 Friends which makes seven girls’s particular sleeping luggage by our final rely together with 0, -10, and -25 diploma winter sleeping luggage.

Must-have Features

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 waterproof down are all nice-to-haves, however you will get by with out them to save lots of on price or as a result of they’re not strictly vital.

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. Without it, the nice and cozy air contained in the bag will rush out round your neck whenever you transfer round inside. The easiest draft collar is a down tube that covers the entrance of your chest. Higher-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 cloth that cowl up the aspect zipper so your legs don’t are available contact with it (as a result of it’s chilly). They additionally forestall chilly air from leaking into the bag by way of the needle holes which might be created when stitching the zipper to the bag. Most winter luggage have at the least 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 often 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.

Nice-to-have options

Water-Resistant Down

Water-resistant down is a pleasant to have, not a must have in a winter sleeping bag. The fact is most individuals can maintain their sleeping luggage dry. If you discover moisture on the skin of your sleeping bag within the morning, it doesn’t imply that the down inside is moist. Simply drape it over your tent within the solar whilst you eat breakfast and it’ll dry very quickly.

Continuous baffles

Continuous baffles often run horizontally throughout a bag. They help you shake the down within the baffles and transfer it to a special location. For instance, if you happen to’re too heat, you can shake the down so it fell down the edges of the bag, somewhat than maintain it in your chest. While steady baffles allow you to customise the distribution of down for various wants, many individuals want baffles that maintain 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, nevertheless, they’ll cut 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 approach of undertaking this aim.

Which is healthier in winter, a mummy sleeping bag, or an oblong sleeping bag?

Mummy luggage are usually 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 determined by how chilly you wish to go. Most folks change from quilts to mummy sleeping luggage at about 20 levels Fahrenheit as a result of sleeping luggage are a lot better at blocking chilly drafts than quilt-pad attachment straps. A quilt can actually work right down to 0 levels if you happen to increase it with a down hood (successfully replicating a mummy bag hood and draft collar) to maintain your head, neck, and higher chest heat. Below zero, you’ll be able to strive stacking quilts however I extremely advocate testing out this technique at residence earlier than attempting it someplace the place it counts.

What’s one of the best insulation, down or artificial?

If you’re concerned about winter backpacking, your greatest wager is to get a down sleeping bag with the very best down fill energy (see beneath) 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 crammed with artificial insulation. Winter backpacking gear could be very heavy whenever 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 many others. so it actually does pay to save lots of as a lot weight and pack area as you’ll be able to through the use of the lightest and smallest winter sleeping bag that can maintain you heat.

Which is healthier, waterproof down, or common untreated down?

So-called waterproof down isn’t truly waterproof, however waterproof. If you dunk it in water, it’s going to fail to insulate, though it’s going to dry quicker than untreated down. Therefore, if you happen to plan on sleeping in snow caves or out within the open in a bivy sack, waterproof down might be a greater choice for the reason that down will dry quicker if the material shell of your bag will get moist. If you’re sleeping in a comfy tent with a water-proof ground, it most likely doesn’t matter that a lot, besides if you happen to’re on a multi-day journey the place the buildup of perspiration passing by way of your insulation and out the breathable shell of your sleeping bag can accumulate within the down, degrading its loft and talent to retain heat. Waterproof down could be higher in these circumstances.

What is down fill-power?

Down consists of fluffy filaments which might be 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 could be very springy so you’ll be able to scrunch it up by compressing it, however it’s going to spring again into form nearly 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 might be measured. Down with a better fill energy score is extra resilient to compression, lofts higher, and may lure extra air. Besides being hotter, this additionally signifies that sleeping luggage or parkas with larger fill scores 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 approach throughout totally different animals and species. In different phrases 750 fill energy goose down offers the identical stage of insulation as 750 fill energy duck down.

Is there a value distinction between totally different down fill-powers?

Yes. The larger the fill energy, the costlier it is going to be. Prices have dropped lately nevertheless since there’s a worldwide surplus of down, the upper fill powers stay the most costly.

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 scores?

While heat climate sleeping bag scores have turn into 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 scores. While the EN and ISO temperature scores 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 method to fee the temperature score of sleeping luggage rated beneath 10 levels, together with all winter sleeping luggage.

Instead, sleeping producers fee 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 can 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 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 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 Friends and Western Mountaineering have constructed their enterprise round word-of-mouth testimonials, which is why folks want their winter sleeping luggage over all others. No one else offers 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 all types of methods 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 score
• sleeping with sizzling 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 a number of fats and protein earlier than going to mattress
• and so forth…

It is greatest to experiment with these in your yard or inside strolling distance of your automobile earlier than you want to rely on them in a wilderness survival scenario.

If you might be 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 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 the climate will probably 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 outdoors and soften consuming 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 girls want hotter winter sleeping luggage than males?

Women are likely to sleep colder than males, so it’s really helpful that they get a sleeping bag that’s 10 levels hotter when shopping for a unisex or males’s sleeping bag. For instance, girls can buy a -10 diploma winter sleeping bag as a way to keep as heat as a person in a 0-degree winter sleeping bag. However, that’s not the case, if you happen to purchase a winter sleeping bag designed for a girl. A girls’s 0-degree winter sleeping bag ought to maintain you as heat as a males’s 0-degree sleeping bag.

What’s the distinction between males’s and girls’s sleeping luggage?

Women’s sleeping luggage are sometimes shorter in size, narrower within the shoulders, and wider within the hips. They may have additional insulation over the chest, within the hood, and within the footbox, since girls have a tougher time holding their heads, palms, and toes 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 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 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 top. When becoming a winter sleeping bag, you wish 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 decide to get a 6′ 6″ lengthy bag as an alternative of a 6′ lengthy sleeping bag as a way to retailer a few of his gear within the sleeping bag foot field. Alternatively, you’ll be able to decide to get a bag with wider shoulders or chest measurements so you’ll be able to hug your additional gear at evening to maintain it heat or tuck it behind your again (if you happen to’re a aspect sleeper.) That’s at all times been my choice, as an alternative of getting a longer-length sleeping bag.

How do you establish your wants and preferences? Try on a number of sleeping luggage whereas sporting 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 an important options to search for on winter sleeping luggage?

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 luggage with waterproof/breathable shells are sometimes much less breathable than these with no waterproof/breathable exterior cloth.

What is 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 may’t escape. It prevents what’s referred to as the “bellows effect”, the place the nice and cozy air round your legs and core is pressured out by way of the highest of your sleeping bag whenever you transfer round at evening. You can obtain the same impact by wrapping a climate or down jacket round your higher chest or neck as properly.

What is 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 beneath the zipper.

What is a zipper guard?

A zipper guard is a chunk of cloth 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 is a sleeping bag baffle?

A baffle is a material tube containing down or artificial insulation. They’re often oriented horizontally or vertically in sleeping luggage.

What are steady baffles?

Continuous baffles are cloth tubes crammed with down insulation that often run horizontally round a sleeping bag. They allow you to shake the down inside them to maneuver it the place you need it, often to the highest of a sleeping bag, or down the edges. Found in high-end quilts and sleeping luggage like these from Feathered Friends 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 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 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?

Unfortunately, they’re largely cons. The thought of masking a sleeping bag with a water-proof/breathable shell cloth is interesting as a result of it might imply that you just 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. But expertise has proven that masking 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.

Contrary to what you’d count on, 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 right this moment. You can 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 facility. But if the DWR coating wears off, you’ll be able to apply it at residence utilizing Nikwax TX Direct or related merchandise.

In addition, most sleeping bag producers don’t tape or seam seal all the seams of their luggage, which is admittedly required for true waterproofing. Think about 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 might be simply sealed with a seam sealer. You actually can’t do the identical with a sleeping bag.

What is one of the best 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 Shield and microfiber calendared nylon are good examples of materials with these properties.

How ought to a winter sleeping bag hood match?

This 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 ought to be simple to regulate (many aren’t), transfer with you if you happen to roll onto your aspect, and never turn into saturated with water vapor whenever you exhale at evening by way of your mouth. The greatest method to decide 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. Without one, your physique warmth will probably 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 too can use two sleeping pads, one stacked on high of the opposite to realize 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 were rated utilizing the brand new sleeping bag normal, such because the Therm-a-Rest XTherm, which has an R-value of 6.9

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