How to Choose a Sleeping Bag

Along together with your tent and backpack, selecting the best sleeping bag is among the most essential—and costly—selections you’ll make when filling out your backcountry package. To lower by way of all of the choices and discover the bag that’s best for you, you’ll want a very good understanding of what crucial differentiators are, learn how to weigh efficiency versus price, and extra. Here we’ll check out among the largest concerns that will help you make the only option in your functions. 

Shape

Retangular

This is the basic sleeping bag form, what you most likely keep in mind from sleepovers as a child. It had loads of room for stressed children to toss and switch whereas they slept, and it’s acquired loads of area so that you can do the identical. The draw back is that if you’re heading out into something worse than prime summertime climate, you would possibly get a bit chilly. The purpose for that is easy: rectangular sleeping baggage are simply not that nice at preserving warmth in, primarily as a result of potential for drafts on the high of the bag. In truth, rectangular baggage are so unhealthy at preserving warmth in that the majority aren’t made to deal with severe temps. But they’re comparatively comfy, as they permit people to toss and switch to their coronary heart’s content material—if you already know that you simply’ll be out in hotter temps, then these generally is a good possibility. 

Mummy

So-called mummy baggage get their identify from their hood and close-fitting, restrictive form: simply vast sufficient on the shoulders to suit a mean grownup, tapering diagonally right down to a slender footbox that’s simply vast sufficient in your toes. You’re principally pressured to sleep in your again in a mummy bag, probably together with your arms crossed over your chest. You get the image. Plenty of individuals discover these baggage troublesome or not possible to get comfy in. 

The purpose these baggage grew to become so fashionable is that they’re nice at maximizing heat for weight. There are a number of causes for this. The first is that as a result of the bag is so restrictive, there’s just about no further air within the bag that must be heated up. The design of the collar additionally does an ideal job at stopping drafts from sneaking inside, whereas the hood retains warmth from escaping out the highest of your head. If you’re a sound sleeper who naturally sleeps in your again, then this is a superb alternative for you. Everyone else, hold studying. 

Semi-Rectangular

Think of those because the compromise between the mum bag and the basic rectangular bag. Semi-rectangular sleeping baggage taper some between the shoulders and the footbox, however not sufficient to stop you from rolling over. They often incorporate a hood, and might sometimes be cinched up across the neck to stop a draft from creeping in. They additionally come at temperature rankings which can be applicable for each shoulder season and winter actions. 

Quilts

Quilts are the comparative newcomer to the scene, and have been rising in reputation in recent times. The thought right here is that by chopping out the underside of your sleeping bag, it can save you weight with a negligible lack of heat (assuming you will have secured an applicable sleeping pad). Many aspect sleepers and abdomen sleepers additionally discover that the greatest backpacking quilts are considerably simpler to get comfy within than sleeping baggage. 

The draw back of quilts is that they’re extra difficult to make use of, as it is advisable use care in the way you connect the quilt to your sleeping pad to keep away from drafts. Quilts are sometimes not an ideal alternative for anybody simply beginning out with their backcountry package. 

Read Next: Best Sleeping Bags 

Temperature Rating

The very first thing it is advisable find out about a sleeping bag’s temperature score is that there isn’t going to be only one quantity: there’s a “comfort” temperature, a “lower limit” or “transition” temperature, and a “risk” temperature. The consolation quantity is what it appears like—that is the temperature at which you’re the most definitely to really be comfy. The “lower limit” or “transition” temperature is when you’ll begin to really feel uncomfortable—you’re not shivering essentially, however you’re not sleeping nicely both. The “risk” temperature is the temperature at which you might be in peril of hypothermia.

The difficult half is that the marketed temperature score for a sleeping bag is generally the consolation temperature and generally the transition or decrease restrict score. Sleeping bag producers and retailers are beginning to do a greater job of promoting this distinction, however it could actually nonetheless be straightforward to skim over. Be certain to verify what you’re taking a look at earlier than making a call.

The excellent news about these temperature rankings is that they aren’t based mostly on the private choices of the producers—there’s an precise commonplace that the temperature of a sleeping bag is judged on (two, in truth). Sleeping bag temperature rankings are assessed utilizing a heat-producing manikin with temperature sensors positioned within a local weather managed room on high of a 4.8-R rated sleeping bag—I’m vastly paraphrasing right here, however you get the thought of what an intense course of that is. The upshot of all this effort on the a part of the sleeping bag producers is that if you already know your ISO-rated or EN-rated 30-degree bag is the precise temperature for you, you may be fairly assured in buying a 30-degree bag from a special producer. 

The draw back is that the temperature rankings are simply that: rankings. Human our bodies are totally different, and solely you already know if you’re chilly, scorching, or surface-of-the-sun scorching. If you run chilly, go together with a minimum of 10 levels hotter than you assume you want. 

Gender

Most of the time, the distinction between a males’s sleeping bag and a girls’s sleeping bag is simply in regards to the measurement and form (and, too usually, the colour), however generally there are variations in the place and the way the bag’s insulation is concentrated to replicate the variations in how women and men dispel warmth. Women’s baggage are additionally extra more likely to checklist the consolation temperature score, versus the transition score (producers usually assume that ladies run colder than males), however this varies by model: all the time verify the fantastic print earlier than committing to a purchase order. 

Fill

One of crucial distinctions between sleeping baggage is whether or not they use artificial or down fill. Most price range sleeping baggage get their heat from artificial (sometimes polyester) fill—consider the bag you used for sleepovers as a child. Synthetic-fill sleeping baggage are usually heavier, decrease price, and higher in a position to retain warmth when moist. Most high-end baggage, nevertheless, are full of tender, fluffy feathers, discovered beneath the powerful exterior feathers of geese or geese. Down-filled sleeping baggage are sometimes dearer, lighter, and hotter.

If you take a look at a down feather (they have an inclination to poke their means by way of sleeping bag cloth now and again), you’ll see that it’s made up of innumerable wisps linked to a brief shaft. The lack of construction to those feathers creates small air pockets, which entice warmth out of your physique and insulate it from the chilly outdoors air. Down-feather high quality is measured by fill energy (fp), or how a lot down it takes to fill one cubic inch of area. For occasion, one ounce of 550fp down will fill about 9 liters, whereas one ounce of 900fp will fill virtually 15 liters. In sleeping baggage, utilizing down with excessive fill energy can lead to important weight financial savings. The Achilles heel of down feathers has all the time been moisture—when down will get moist, the pockets of air disappear, eliminating just about all of its insulating properties. In latest years, sleeping-bag producers have began utilizing down feathers handled with a waterproof coating, generally known as DownTek, however there are a number of totally different names. While a soaking moist sleeping bag utilizing DownTek remains to be going to make for an uncomfortable night within the backcountry, waterproof down does scale back the warmth loss brought on by in a single day condensation inside your tent. When buying a down sleeping bag, we suggest in search of a bag that’s RDS (Responsible Down Standard) licensed, which helps be sure that no geese or geese had been unnecessarily harmed (resembling stay plucking). 

While the sleeping baggage of slumber events are a very good instance of artificial fill, high-end artificial fill mimics the qualities of down, utilizing brief filaments that create pockets to entice your physique warmth. Further, artificial fill retains warmth whereas moist with out the necessity for extra remedy. The highest high quality artificial fills can strategy the insulation-to-weight ratio of 650fp down, however these synthetics additionally strategy the price of the decrease high quality down. In some situations, sleeping baggage will incorporate each down and artificial fills to stability the professionals and cons of each.

Shell and Lining Materials

Holding in all that cozy fill is the shell (outdoors of your bag) and lining (within your bag, closest to your physique). These are sometimes made out of both nylon or polyester, that are each fairly comfy and fairly sturdy. High-quality sleeping baggage may also inform you the thickness of the fabric (rated in denier (D)), with thicker supplies weighing extra however providing extra sturdiness, and thinner supplies needing some TLC, however contributing to an general lighter weight. Generally, 30D is a reasonably strong materials whereas 10D or decrease can be thought-about light-weight. Sometimes you’ll additionally see that the shell or lining is “ripstop,” which is a kind of weave that forestalls the fabric from ripping additional if it will get a tear (helpful, for those who plan to restore your gear). Sometimes the liner is marketed as “taffeta,” which is principally a flowery means of claiming the fabric is supposed to be tender (outcomes could fluctuate). Sometimes the shell may also have a sturdy water repellent (DWR) coating, which may be helpful for those who count on to expertise condensation inside your tent. 

Additional Features

Hood

You lose a major chunk of physique warmth out of your head, so having a hood in your sleeping bag (sometimes full of the identical fill as the remainder of the bag) makes a number of sense. Hoods are commonest on mummy baggage, though in addition they seem on many fashions of semi-rectangular baggage. 

Vents

The drawback with that 15-degree bag is that now and again you’re making an attempt to sleep in 60-degree temps—generally on the identical journey wherein you count on to come across freezing temps. To assist present extra versatility, some sleeping baggage incorporate zip vents alongside the midsection of the bag, which you’ll be able to divulge heart’s contents to launch warmth. 

Draft Collar

These are further down-filled flaps situated on the entrance aspect of the neck opening. On colder nights, you possibly can tuck them contained in the bag, to assist stop drafts from sneaking contained in the sleeping bag. 

Filling Out Your Sleep System

After you’ve chosen your sleeping bag, it’s time to consider your sleep system, which additionally features a sleeping pad, and probably a liner and/or pillow. 

Sleeping Pad

In order in your sleeping bag to function at its said temperature vary, it’s essential to pair it with an applicable sleeping pad. The purpose for it will make sense to anybody who has ever tried to take a seat down on the bottom on a freezing winter’s day—for those who thought the air round your physique was chilly, simply wait till you expertise the chilly of the bottom. A high-quality sleeping pad is a should for shoulder season and winter adventures. 

Annoyingly, not like sleeping baggage, sleeping pads are given rankings on an R-scale, that are somewhat bit more durable to suss by way of. But usually, you’ll want between a 1 and a 2 for many summer season adventuring beneath treeline, between a 3 and a 4 while you’re headed up into the alpine or beginning to encroach on shoulder season, between 4 and 6 for those who’re headed into shoulder season correct, and upwards of 6 for many winter actions. 

Read Next: Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads

Sleeping Bag Liner

Sleeping bag liners have a twin objective: preserving the oils and dust and dirt away out of your sleeping bag (which, along with being gross, can affect the down or artificial fill’s means to do its job) and so as to add an additional increase of heat. So, as an illustration, some individuals will use a 30-degree bag for many of their adventuring however then add a liner once they know that temperatures are going to dip down at night time. Either means, utilizing a liner is fully elective. 

Pillow

Sure, you possibly can origami-fold your puffer jacket for a makeshift pillow within the backcountry, however most of the time you’re going to finish up really carrying your puffer jacket whereas sleeping. Adding a backpacking pillow might help align your backbone (similar to your pillow at dwelling), making for a extra restful night time’s sleep.