Finding a sleeping bag that’s right for you may be the most confusing gear-buying task. Getting the right one is critical to sleeping comfortably in the backcountry—and in an emergency, your bag could save your life. But with the myriad choices out there, how do you tell them apart, beyond temperature rating and price? This article will explain how to evaluate the key differences between bags to make your choice much more simple.

I’ve slept in many, many bags of all types over three decades of testing gear—including the 10 years I spent as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog. I’ve zipped inside bags in all seasons, in temperatures from ridiculously warm to -30° F. (Ridiculously warm is more tolerable.)

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-books to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.

In this article, I’ll share what I’ve learned about picking out a sleeping bag—or more than one bag—that will be ideal for your body and your adventures.

I’d love to read what you think of my tips or any of your own. Please share them in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments. Click on any bag photo below to read its review.

General Tips For Buying a Sleeping Bag

•    Know your own body. Do you get cold easily or are you a furnace? Women tend to get cold more easily, and this is a simple function of physics: Women often have a higher ratio of body surface area to mass compared to men, so their bodies lose heat more readily. Those women are more comfortable in a bag made for women, which is shaped differently than a men’s bag and typically has extra insulation in areas like the feet. However, it also comes down to body metabolism.
•    If you get cold easily, get a bag rated 20 to 25 degrees colder than the coldest temperatures you plan to sleep outside in.
•    If you don’t get cold easily you may be more comfortable in a bag rated about five to 15 degrees below the coldest temperatures you plan to sleep outside in—and possibly even a bag rated right around the coldest temp you’ll encounter, provided you have extra clothing to put on, just in case. (I’ve spent many nights around freezing perfectly warm enough in a bag rated 30-32° F.) Being too hot is not really any more comfortable than being too cold and having a bag much warmer than needed means you’re carrying superfluous weight and bulk. (See “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.”)

See “10 Pro Tips for Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Down Vs. Synthetic Bags

Down has traditionally been lighter, more packable, and warmer than many synthetic insulations; but once wet, synthetics still kept you fairly warm, while down feathers become all but useless at retaining heat. Today, the lines between down and synthetic have been blurred somewhat with the development of high-quality, lightweight and compact synthetic insulations like PrimaLoft, and water-resistant down, which retains its ability to trap heat even when wet. 

Down is more packable and very durable, so it still holds an advantage as the insulation of choice if you don’t expect to get that bag wet; and water-resistant down enhances your bag’s performance in common circumstances where it may get damp, such as when condensation builds up inside a tent. Still, even water-resistant down, once saturated, loses much of its ability to keep you warm, and drying out any bag is extremely difficult, if not impossible, in prolonged, wet weather. Synthetic insulation remains the best choice for extended trips in wet environments.

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High-quality down (rated from 800- to 900-fill or higher) is the warmest, lightest, most packable insulation out there, but expensive, while lower-quality down (usually 600- to 700-fill) still has the advantages of down and makes a bag less expensive but also heavier and bulkier. Manufacturers use lower-grade synthetic insulation in bags priced cheaply, making them much heavier and bulkier than better synthetic and down bags—typically too heavy and bulky for backpacking (unless you’re on a very limited budget and don’t mind carrying a big pack).

So the down vs. synthetic choice still comes down to pocketbook issues and the likelihood of your bag actually getting wet.

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Temperature Rating

In the past, bag manufacturers decided on temperature ratings for their own bags; the outdoor industry lacked a standardized method for measuring that. In recent years, though, the industry widely adopted the EN (European Norm) temperature rating system, internationally considered the most reliable and objective standard.

Found on most new bags, the EN rating typically includes three temperature ratings:

•    Comfort rating, or the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep the average woman warm (based on the premise that women usually get cold more easily than men).
•    Lower-limit rating, or the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep the average man warm.
•    Extreme rating, or the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep someone alive, albeit not comfortable, in unexpected, extreme conditions.

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See all of my reviews of sleeping bags and air mattresses and sleeping pads that I like at The Big Outside.

See also my related stories:

5 Expert Tips For Buying the Right Backpacking Pack
10 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear
5 Expert Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent
A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking
5 Smart Steps to Lighten Your Backpacking Gear

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Head into the mountains in summer, or almost anywhere in fall or spring, and you can encounter nighttime and morning temperatures anywhere from the 40s Fahrenheit to well below freezing. That’s more than cold enough to pose a real risk of hypothermia or, at the least, result in a miserable night for you or a partner or child you’ve taken backpacking or camping—and would like to take more. Here’s the good news: The very simple techniques outlined in this article can turn a potentially unpleasant night into a comfortable one.

Countless frosty nights sleeping outside over the past three-plus decades—including the 10 years I spent as a field editor for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog—have taught me a few things about how to stay warm. (My coldest night was -30° F/-34° C, in winter in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. I don’t recommend it.)

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No matter how easily you get cold when sleeping outside, or whether you’re camping in the backcountry or at a campground, these 10 tips will keep you warmer on cool and chilly nights in your sleeping bag.

Tell me what you think of my tips, ask any questions, or share your own tips in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.

1. Clean Up

At the end of each hiking day, wash the dirt and dried sweat from your body; the latter can act like a heat conductor, chilling you, and getting a bit cleaner will just make you feel better. Swim in a lake, wade into creek and splash water all over yourself, or at least wet a bandanna or other cloth (or use wet wipes or other such products) and wipe yourself off.

2. Change Into Dry Clothes

Damp clothes promote conductive heat loss from the body. Change into dry clothing to sleep, as opposed to the clothes you sweated in while hiking.

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3. Dress Smartly

Inside your bag, wear a hat, socks, and extra layers on your body, but avoid putting on so many layers that you isolate your core, which is your body’s furnace, from your extremities, which get cold more easily. It’s often more effective to wear just one or two light to midweight base layers—that are highly breathable, so as to allow your core’s heat to disperse throughout the bag. If you need more warmth, lay an insulation piece over your torso and hips inside the bag, essentially boosting the bag’s insulation, and stuff other extra clothing around you or at the foot of your bag to provide added insulation for your entire body.

Planning your next big adventure? See “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips”
and “Tent Flap With a View: 25 Favorite Backcountry Campsites.”

4. Use a Hot-Water Bottle

Stick a water bottle filled with hot water in the foot of your bag; water that’s heated up is hot enough, boiling water may feel too hot directly against bare skin. If one bottle at your feet isn’t enough, put a second bottle filled with hot water in the middle of your bag. Make sure they’re sealed tightly and that you’re using a sturdy, plastic bottle that’s designed to hold hot liquids, like a Nalgene bottle; a cheap plastic bottle (like an empty soda bottle) could split open, a potentially very dangerous situation. An insulated or vacuum bottle would not release any heat, negating any benefit.

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5. Sleep on Insulation

Use an insulated pad or air mattress rated for the lowest temperatures you expect to encounter. Mats and pads with an R-value of between 3 and 4 are intended for three-season temperatures—generally, above freezing—while those with an R-value of over 5 are intended for use on frozen ground in below-freezing temperatures. If needed, add a second foam pad under your primary air mat if you’re sleeping atop frozen ground or snow.

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6. Augment Your Sleeping Pad

If you’re using a short air mattress or foam pad (to save weight in milder temperatures), lay your empty pack beneath your feet to insulate them from the ground, which can drain heat from your body even in summer. Or bring a short foam pad to provide more padding and insulation under a full-length air mat.

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7. Pile Extra Clothing Underfoot

Your feet get cold more easily than other body parts because they lie the farthest from your heart and, inside a sleeping bag, are not close to your furnace: your body’s core. They can also get cold because the ground under your sleeping pad is cold. Pile extra clothing under the foot end of your bag to give your feet more insulation against the cold ground.

Never get cold again (well, almost never).
See my “5 Tips For Staying Warm and Dry While Hiking.”

8. Use a Bag Liner

Use a sleeping bag liner, which can add the equivalent of several degrees of warmth rating to a bag.

9. Eat Fat and Sugar (The Fun Tip)

Eat a snack high in fat right before bed, like a candy bar, and have a hot drink with sugar in it, like hot cocoa. Both will fuel your body’s furnace through the night.

10. Use Your Partner

If you’re sharing a tent with a partner who doesn’t get cold as easily as you, ask that person to sleep on the tent’s windward side. If you have two warm-sleeping partners, sleep between them, or at least position your bags and pads close together to benefit from one another’s body heat. Or maybe best of all, zip your bags together and directly share body heat.

See my “Pro Tips For Buying Sleeping Bags” and all of my reviews of sleeping bags, air mats, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my stories “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

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So you’re planning to thru-hike the John Muir Trail and making all of the necessary preparations, and now you’re wondering: What’s the best gear for a JMT hike? Having thru-hiked the JMT as well as taken numerous other backpacking trips all over the High Sierra—mostly between late August and late September, which I consider that the best time to walk the Sierra, to avoid snow and the voracious mosquitoes and blazing hot afternoons of mid-summer—I offer the following picks for the best ultralight and lightweight backpacking gear and apparel for a JMT thru-hike.

Indisputably one of the best backpacking trips in America—and among the very best I’ve taken over three decades of backpacking, including the 10 years I spent as Northwest Editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog—the JMT meanders for 211 miles through the magnificent High Sierra, from Yosemite Valley to the summit of the highest peak in the Lower 48, 14,505-foot Mount Whitney (where backpackers must then descend another 11 miles to finish the trip at Whitney Portal trailhead). See my story about thru-hiking the JMT in seven days.

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With few opportunities to resupply along the trail—and given the generally dry weather in the Sierra in summer—you can easily and should hike the JMT with the lightest gear that works for you (or that you can afford). Maximum pack weight will depend on how many days you spend on the trail and your food weight, but it’s quite feasible to keep your base pack weight (everything but food and water) within 15 pounds or less—and certainly no more than 20 pounds—without compromising safety or comfort in camp.

See my stories “Thru-Hiking the John Muir Trail: What You Need to Know,” “Thru-Hiking the John Muir Trail: The Ultimate, 10-Day, Ultralight Plan,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how I can help you plan your JMT thru-hike and any trip you read about at The Big Outside, and my expert e-books to backpacking trips in Yosemite and other parks.

The following suggestions for major gear items would also be solid picks for almost any backpacker who wants to go lighter and hike more comfortably in many mid-latitude mountain ranges in summer—although items like your tent and footwear would depend on the typical weather and bugs (and time of year).

Most recommendations below have a link to my full review of each. Click on the name of any product to buy it; those are affiliate links, meaning you can support my work on this blog by purchasing through them, at no cost to you.

Please share your thoughts on these gear suggestions for the JMT, or your own suggested gear, in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.

Planning to hike the John Muir Trail?
Click here for expert, detailed advice you won’t get elsewhere.

Backpack

For a backpack, I like a few models that weigh under three pounds: two top-loaders with traditional features like lots of external pockets, the Osprey men’s Exos 58 or 48 ($260, 2 lbs. 11 oz. for the Exos 58) and women’s Osprey Eja 58 or 48 (read my review) and the Deuter Aircontact Ultra 50+5 and Aircontact Ultra 45+5 SL ($250, 2 lbs. 11 oz. for the 50+5, read my review); and two mimimalist, utralight packs, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Windrider ($349, 55L, 1 lb. 15 oz., read my review) and Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60 ($315, 60L/3,661 c.i., 1 lb. 14 oz., read my review).

See my picks for the best ultralight backpacks.

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Tent

In late summer, outside the buggy season in the High Sierra, I prefer using a backpacking tarp shelter like the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 2 ($699, 1 lb. 2 oz., read my review), Sea to Summit Escapist Tarp ($229-$249, 10.5-15.5 oz., two sizes), and Slingfin SplitWing Shelter Bundle ($355, 1 lb. 5 oz., read my review). I often sleep under the stars on a clear night, but a tarp, besides protecting you from rain and some wind, can trap a surprising amount of warmth underneath it on a calm night.

If you want a two-person tent, get one that weighs under three pounds, like the MSR Freelite 2 ($465, 2 lbs., read my review), the Nemo Hornet Osmo 2p ($430, 2 lbs. 1 oz., read my review), the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 ($480, 2 lbs. 3 oz., read my review), the Slingfin 2Lite, which can pitch with trekking poles ($505, 2 lbs. 10 oz. or 2 lbs. 6 oz, read my review), or if you’ll accept higher weight for more space, the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 ($550, 2 lbs. 11 oz., read my review).

My top picks for a solo ultralight are two that pitch with trekking poles, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Mid-1 ($599, 16.8 oz., read my review) and the Gossamer Gear The One ($255, 1 lb. 2 oz., read my review). For a solo ultralight tent that’s semi-freestanding, check out the Nemo Hornet Osmo 1p ($400, 1 lb. 13 oz., read my review).

See “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents,” all backpacking tent reviews at The Big Outside, plus “5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent” and “How to Choose the Best Ultralight Backpacking Tent For You.”

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Sleeping Bag

For backpacking the JMT in late summer, I carry a down sleeping bag rated around 30 degrees F, with a high down fill rating (800 or above), because it’s warmer, lighter, and more packable than a synthetic bag or down bag with lower fill quality (if also more expensive), and well suited to the dry Sierra summers, where there’s little risk of getting a bag wet.

People who get cold more easily may want a bag rated 20 to 25 degrees, although you can wear layers to supplement the bag’s warmth.

Looking for an affordable down bag? I recommend the men’s or women’s Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 30 ($245, 1 lb. 12 oz., read my review).

See “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags,” “10 Pro Tips For Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag” and all sleeping bag reviews at The Big Outside.

Want to tackle the JMT?
See “Thru-Hiking the John Muir Trail: What You Need to Know.”

Insulation

When nighttime lows will generally remain above freezing, as is usually the case on the JMT at least into mid-September, take an ultralight puffy jacket like the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer  2 Down Hoody ($360, 8.8 oz., read my review), the Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody ($360, 10 oz., read my review), the Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody ($329, 9 oz., read my review), or the warmer Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket ($389, 11 oz. , read my review) or Himali Accelerator Down Jacket ($330, 12.5 oz., read my review).

See “The 12 Best Down Jackets,” “How You Can Tell How Warm a Down Jacket Is” and all puffy jacket reviews at The Big Outside.

Plan your next great backpacking adventure in Yosemite and other flagship parks
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Rain Shell

On the John Muir Trail—or anywhere in the High Sierra—in summer, where rain occurs only rarely and most often as a passing (although possibly quite intense) thunderstorm, you don’t need the kind of super-technical (and heavier) rain shell you might use in, say, in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest or the Northeast. In fact, if you generally head out in warm, dry weather—common in many Western mountain ranges in summer—you may only need a less-expensive and ideally lightweight shell, like the Black Diamond Fineline Rain Shell ($189, 10 oz./283.5g, read my review), an impressive value in part because it has an adjustable, full-coverage hood, a feature sometimes lacking in moderately priced rain jackets, and solid rain protection even for wet environments.

Another option for backpackers who rarely see rain is an ultralight, waterproof-breathable rain jacket, like the Rab Downpour Light Waterproof Jacket ($165, 7.7 oz., read my review) or the Outdoor Research Helium Rain Jacket ($170-$180, 6 oz., read my review).

See all reviews of rain jackets and outdoor apparel at The Big Outside, “The Best Ultralight Hiking and Running Jackets,” and my “5 Expert Tips For Buying a Rain Jacket for Hiking.”

See “10 Great John Muir Trail Section Hikes.”

Shoes and Boots

If all of your gear is light, on a well-constructed trail like the JMT that’s often dry in summer, get lightweight, highly breathable, non-waterproof boots or low-cut shoes like the PCT-inspired Danner Trail 2650 ($170, 1 lb. 7.5 oz., read my review), the La Sportiva TX3 ($159, 1 lb. 9 oz., read my review), or trail runners like the Hoka One One Speedgoat 6 ($155, 1 lb. 3 oz.), also available in a very light mid-cut, the Hoka One One Speedgoat 6 Mid GTX ($180, 1 lb. 9 oz., read my review).

If you prefer more supportive footwear that’s still relatively light, I recommend two shoes that are a super value and come in waterproof-breathable and non-waterproof, mid-cut and low-cut models: the Hoka One One Anacapa series shoes ($155-$185, 1 lb. 10.5 oz.-2 lbs., read my review), and the Oboz Katabatic series ($145-$190, 1 lb. 9 oz. to 2 lbs., read my review).

See all reviews of hiking shoes at The Big Outside.

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Trekking Poles

Trekking poles should be essential gear on any backpacking trip, but for the JMT—if you’re going lightweight or ultralight, as you should be—get very light poles that are ideally adjustable and very packable. Among the best are the folding and adjustable Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ ($220, 12 oz./pair, 105-125cm, read my review), the collapsible and adjustable Gossamer Gear LT5 ($195, 10 oz./pair, read my review), and the folding, adjustable MSR Dynalock Ascent Poles ($190, 1 lb. 1  oz./pair, read my review).

If you want to use a tent that pitches with trekking poles—eliminating the significant weight of tent poles from your pack—make sure your poles are sufficiently sturdy and telescope out to the needed length for pitching your tent; those poles are also usually collapsible (rather than folding or fixed).

See “The Best Trekking Poles” and my stories “How to Choose Trekking Poles” and “10 Best Expert Tips for Hiking With Trekking Poles.”

Get the gear that’s right for you. See my specific tips on buying a pack, tent, boots, and sleeping bag and all reviews of backpacking gear, ultralight backpacking gear, and hiking gear and all stories about backpacking the John Muir Trail at The Big Outside.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my stories “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be,” “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

Are you in the market for a new backpack, boots, tent, sleeping bag or other backpacking gear or apparel? How do you find something that’s just right for you? What should you be looking for? How much should you spend? These are questions I’ve heard from many friends and readers over the years as they’ve waded through the myriad choices out there. This article lays out five simple but helpful tips to keep in mind when buying gear.

I’ve learned these steps over three decades of testing and reviewing gear—including the 10 years I spent as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog—and helping people find gear they love. No matter what you’re shopping for—boots, pack, tent, sleeping bag, other backpacking gear, or some major piece of apparel like a rain shell or insulated jacket—you face a daunting array of choices, and everyone’s needs are different.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-books to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.

But finding the gear that performs well and that you’ll be happy with really comes down to following a simple thought process described in the five easy steps below, which you can follow when buying almost any gear. Below them, you’ll find links to my stories offering specific tips on buying a new pack, boots, tent, sleeping bag, rain shell, and insulated jacket, plus reviews covering my top picks in several categories.

Please share your thoughts on my tips or your own, best gear-buying advice in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.

Gear up smartly for your trips.
See the best-in-category reviews and expert buying tips at my Gear Reviews page.

No. 1 Decide Exactly What It’s For

A friend once asked me to recommend boots he could buy for backpacking that would also work well for climbing glaciated peaks (in the Pacific Northwest); I told him that was a little like shopping for a dump truck that would also give him good mileage as a commuting vehicle. If you set out in search of a pack or boots for every hike you ever take, then you will probably wind up with just that—which may serve your needs in an overly general way, but not be quite right for anything.

Focus on how you intend to use that item most of the time and buy something that’s good for that purpose. When you actually need or can afford more specialized gear that you will only use occasionally, get it then.

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No. 2 Decide Exactly What You Need

Do you need solid ankle support, or do you prefer really lightweight, nimble footwear? Are you a big guy who needs a roomy tent, or a lightweight or ultralight backpacker or parent backpacking with a young child with a top priority of minimizing gear weight? Do you want the lightest bag you can afford, or do you get cold easily and need a bag that’s a little fatter and warmer than the average person uses?

The reason for the almost infinite number of choices in gear is the infinite variability in the wants and needs of consumers. That can seem confusing but it’s ultimately good for you. Your first step in buying may simply be writing down your customized answers to numbers one and two in this list of tips and using that as a guide as you begin winnowing your short list.

Trips go better with the right gear.
See “The 10 Best Backpacking Packs” and “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents.”

No. 3 Get the Fit Right

Especially with footwear, packs, and performance apparel, fit and personal satisfaction go together like chips and salsa. You can be happy with a sleeping bag or tent that are not quite what you wanted (but are what you could afford); but no matter how much you spend, you’ll never be happy with a pack or boots that don’t fit you well. A poorly fitting pack can make you miserable, and poorly fitting boots can end a trip.

With those gear items for which fit becomes critical—boots and a pack—narrow your list to perhaps three or more options, based on steps one and two (above). Then go try them on and you will find the model you like.

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No. 4 Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

The best way to spend more than you want or need to spend—and be forced to settle for something that’s not quite what you wanted—is to wait until the last day or two before a trip and rush out to buy something.

You wouldn’t buy a car or a house that way, because you want to take the time to find something that feels just right for you.

Treat buying boots, a pack, tent, bag, or other major gear or apparel item the same way—those aren’t like batteries or stove fuel that you dash out to pick up at the last minute.

Plus, shopping around weeks or even months in advance gives you time to wait for sale prices—and that’s truly the best way to get the most value out of every dollar you spend.

Plan your next great backpacking adventure in Yosemite, Grand Teton, Glacier,
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No. 5 Spend What You Can Afford

This last nugget of advice goes both ways: If you can only afford an entry-level pack or other piece of gear, look for the best-quality item that’s within your budget (and fits you) and just buy it. Some brands that sell directly to consumer offer high-quality gear at very competitive prices. (Tip: Pick a brand name known for high quality, because they usually bring similar attention to quality to their affordable gear as they do to their pricier gear.)

Maybe it won’t be as comfortable or last as long as the high-end gear you coveted, but it will enable you to get out there and have fun and may last until you can afford something better.

See my “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear.”

By the same token, I always tell friends or readers seeking advice: If you can afford the best, why settle for something that will be less comfortable, or heavier, or not fit or perform as well as pricier pieces of gear or apparel that are within your budget? Measure the value in terms of your enjoyment and comfort as well as the cost per mile or day of use, because higher-quality gear, while pricier, often proves much more durable than cheaper stuff. That’s money well spent.

See my story “Why and When to Spend More on Hiking and Backpacking Gear.”

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See these articles at The Big Outside for my pro tips on buying gear (most of them require a subscription to my blog):

“5 Expert Tips For Buying the Right Backpacking Pack”
“5 Expert Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent”
“How to Choose the Best Ultralight Backpacking Tent for You”
“Expert Tips For Buying the Right Boots”
“Pro Tips for Buying a Backpacking Sleeping Bag”
“5 Expert Tips For Buying a Rain Jacket for Hiking”
“The 12 Best Down Jackets” (includes buying tips for down and synthetic jackets)

Planning your next big adventure? See “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips”
and “Tent Flap With a View: 25 Favorite Backcountry Campsites.”

See also these reviews of top picks:

“The 10 Best Backpacking Packs”
“The 10 Best Backpacking Tents”
“The Best Ultralight Backpacks”
“The Best Rain Jackets for Hiking and Backpacking”

“25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories”
“The Best Trekking Poles”
“The Best Headlamps”
“The 10 Best Hiking Daypacks”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

We woke up from our first night in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains in mid-September, at well over 10,000 feet beside a creek that sang soft lullabys to us all night, to find ice crystals in our water bottles and one full water bladder that had been left outside the tent partly frozen. But the overnight temperature dropping to below freezing had hardly registered with me as I slumbered soundly zipped up inside my Sea to Summit Spark Pro -9C/15F sleeping bag—one of the warmest for its weight, most packable, and well constructed ultralight sleeping bags you’ll find.

I slept in the Spark Pro -9C/15Fbag for three nights backpacking in the San Juans in mid-September, with the other two nights at over 11,000 feet along the Continental Divide Trail, where the low temperature remained only slightly above freezing (no ice in our water).

I also stayed comfortably warm inside it, wearing a couple of light and midweight tops, long underwear, a wool hat, and socks, for three nights backpacking mostly on the Uinta Highline Trail in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness in the first week of October, when we slept under the stars each night and awoke to frost and moisture on our bags, that substantial dampness not penetrating noticeably through the shell or appearing to compromise the bag’s loft or warmth much.

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Stuffed with one pound, 0.9 ounces/480 grams of water- repellent, 950-fill Ultra-Dry Down (in the 15-degree regular; the 30-degree regular has 10.9 ounces/310 grams of down and the long versions of both bags, of course, have a bit more), the Spark Pro ranks among an elite group of the few very best down sleeping bags for warmth per ounce of bag weight, packability, and in the down’s resistance to water: Compared to standard down bags, it keeps you warmer when invaded by any moisture, whether condensation inside a tent, rain penetrating a backpack and the bag’s stuff sack, or condensation inside the bag from moisture released by your body.

The Ultra-Dry Down’s non-PFAS treatment also enables those goose feathers to dry much more quickly than standard down if the bag gets wet. Vertical baffles in the chest, horizontal baffles in lower bag’s top side and throughout the bottom side, plus box-wall baffle construction distribute the down evenly, avoiding cold spots. And this bag provides a visual demonstration of its high-quality down every time you pull it out of its stuff sack, quickly lofting up to about four inches thick.

And at just one pound, 11 ounces/765.4 grams (for the regular, on my scale), the total weight of the Spark Pro -9C/15F compares with many good-quality, 30-degree mummy bags.

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Sea to Summit uses an international standard called ISO 23537 to test and assign two temperature ratings to its sleeping bags: a lower limit and a comfort rating. The -9° C/15° F rating represents this bag’s lower limit; its comfort limit is -3° C/27° F.

On the night the temperature dropped below freezing, with the bag zipped up completely, I slept comfortably for most of the night in just a light wool T-shirt, underwear, and socks, only pulling on a long-sleeve top and a wool hat in early morning (the coldest time of the night and the time when your body often feels coldest because it needs more food). To me, that demonstrates this bag is true to its comfort rating. In temperatures at its lower limit, I would personally expect to need a base layer or two, top and bottom, plus a wool hat to feel warm enough.

I’ve pushed plenty of bags to their limits without getting miserably cold, but I sleep warm; people who don’t would definitely not enjoy pushing this or any bag to its lower limit, but would probably find the Spark Pro -9C/15Fidealfor nights no colder than several degrees above freezing Fahrenheit/three to four degrees above freezing Celsius. (See my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags.”)

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Sea to Summit’s Free-Flow three-zipper design expands the versatility of the Spark Pro bags. A quarter-length zipper on the upper right side of the bag enables you to fold down the top of the bag like a quilt on mild nights. A footbox zipper ventilates that end of the bag—a feature I virtually never use in bags because my feet are rarely too hot, but which makes more sense in combination with the ability to fold the top of the bag down like a blanket. The two-way, full-length main zipper (left side) slides remarkably smoothly—never snagging, which isn’t true of most “no-snag” zippers in bags I’ve used.

Some ultralight sleeping bags achieve their low weights by using less insulation (read: less warm) or by reducing fabric and insulation weight through tighter dimensions (read: feels claustrophobic to some people). But the Spark and Spark Pro series bags have comfortable dimensions of 61x53x40 inches/155x135x102 centimeters (at the shoulders, hips, and feet, size regular), which compares with some of the better ultralight bags I’ve reviewed.

I found it has adequate space while maintaining thermal efficiency and without making the bag overly bulky: I could fit a long-sleeve top and pants in the foot of the bag (to add a little insulation and keep those clothes warm for when I put them on in the morning) and easily lift both knees to my chest while lying on my back in the bag, as well as dress in the bag with it zipped up. The 72-inch/185-centimeter length is standard for regular bags.

While the Spark Pro is not available in women’s sizes, and the unisex sizing likely favors the builds of more men than women, some women will find the unisex bag works for them because body shapes and sizes vary greatly within genders as much as between genders, rendering the fit of sleeping bags less gender-dependent. Sea to Summit recommends women use the comfort temp rating as their guide.

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In the smart features department, waterproof-breathable fabric in the hood and footbox repels moisture from condensation on tent walls in the areas of the bag most likely to brush against walls. The hood and collar cinch closely around your head using separate drawcords on opposite sides, which I find simplifies a task that’s often done in the dark when half-asleep; but if you’re a side sleeper (like me), either of those cords might brush against your cheek (as with many bags).

Stuffed inside the durable, 40-denier compression sack that comes with the bag, the Spark Pro 15F/-9C regular packs down to seven liters in volume, according to Sea to Summit—although I think I compressed it significantly smaller than that, to about the size of a soccer ball. Either way, that’s a very compact package for a bag with this much warmth. Sea to Summit gives the compressed volume of the 30F/-1C as 5.3 liters; based on my experience with the 15F/-9C, I suspect it can go smaller than that.

That’s due, in part, to the ultralight, 10-denier nylon lining and shell with a non-PFAS DWR (durable, water-resistant treatment), which is lighter and more packable than shell fabrics used in heavier sleeping bags, but also slightly less durable—although most users are very unlikely to tear a sleeping bag.

The Sea to Summit Spark Pro -1C/30F ($549, 1 lb. 5.8 oz./619g, regular) is a good choice for someone who doesn’t get cold easily and typically sleeps outside on nights around or well above freezing.

Another option, Sea to Summit’s Spark series of bags rated 45, 30, 15, and 0 degrees ($349 to $649), differfrom the Spark Pro primarily in that they use 850+-fill Ultra-Dry Down, lack the footbox zipper and short right-side zipper, and come in women’s sizes. In other words, at $100 cheaper for the same temp rating than the Pro series, you get an ultralight bag that’s still quite warm for its weight and packable—and actually a few ounces lighter than its Pro counterpart, due to having fewer features.

The Verdict

Featuring virtually the highest quality down available, giving it superior packability and warmest for its weight, as well as comfortable dimensions, excellent construction, and versatility in a wide range of temperatures, the Sea to Summit Spark Pro -9C/15F sleeping bag ranks among the few very best ultralight sleeping bags out there today.

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See all reviews of sleeping bags, air mattresses, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside, plus my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all gear reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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For backpackers prioritizing low gear weight who don’t tend to get cold very easily, a sleeping bag rated 30 degrees Fahrenheit can function as their go-to for most three-season trips. And Marmot’s Hydrogen 30 remains one of the perhaps three highest-quality and warmest ultralight mummy bags at this temperature rating, as I affirmed sleeping in it for two nights on southern Utah’s Owl and Fish canyons loop in early May, four nights in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains in August, and five nights on the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route in mid-April.

Just three of those backpacking nights that I slept in the Hydrogen 30 were inside a tent: one quite windy night in the high 30s F, with a below-freezing wind chill, in Owl Canyon, and two nights in the Grand Canyon. My four nights sleeping out under the stars included a calm night in the mid-40s in Fish Canyon and three nights with winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour at times and overnight lows in the 40s and 50s in the Grand Canyon. In every circumstance, I stayed perfectly warm, even partly opening the bag on the milder nights. I also slept quite well in this bag out under the stars for two nights in the 50s in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

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The 800-fill down, treated with ExpeDry to make it dry faster if it gets wet, gives it a high warmth-to-weight ratio and an EN comfort rating of 36° F/2° C, limit rating of 27° F/-3° C, and extreme rating of -3° F/-19° C—while still weighing a modest one pound 9.4 ounces/720 grams (regular length).

Its weight trails close behind the very lightest and it’s warmer than all but a couple of them with which the Hydrogen 30 compares closely for warmth: As I wrote above, it packs enough warmth for nights that creep toward its temp rating (unless you sleep cold; see my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” for tips on that). And it stuffs down to a compact 4.6 liters/280 cubic inches/12.2×5.9 inches. When pulled from its stuff sack the Hydrogen lofts up to about three to four inches.

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This bag kept me warm on nights that fell within the temperature range that backpackers will typically encounter in summer in mid-latitude mountains and in spring and fall in the desert Southwest.

Warmth if boosted, of course, by the adjustable hood, which closes evenly and comfortably around my face and head, while the draft collar and tube along the zipper protected me from chilly air outside and strong, cool gusts when I enjoyed long, deep slumber under the stars.

On mild nights when I kept the bag partly open to ventilate, the short second zipper on the upper right side of the bag’s top side (opposite the main zipper) enabled me to fold a flap of the bag down off my shoulders and upper torso, like a blanket—a nice feature because opening the main zipper just on one side to fold a triangle of the top of the bag off you often just results in the flap flipping back over you. The anti-snag slider on the full-length main zipper (on the left) works well. The wraparound construction of the footbox also boosts warmth.

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The circumference measures 61 inches at the shoulders, 56 inches at the hips, and 44.5 inches at the feet—roomier than other leading ultralight, 30-degree bags like the Mountain Hardwear Phantom 30 and Feathered Friends Hummingbird UL 30 at a weight penalty of just a few ounces and a price lower than both. I found there’s plenty of space to move my feet around and stuff a little extra clothing down there to boost insulation and keep that clothing warm for morning. Its length is the standard 72 inches/183 centimeters (regular bag). An internal zippered pocket fits a smartphone to keep it out of the cold.

While the sizes are unisex, I think unisex sizing makes sense in sleeping bags because body shapes and sizes vary greatly within genders as much as between genders.

The 75 percent recycled, Pertex Ultralight 20-denier ripstop shell fabric, with a PFC-free DWR (durable, water-repellent treatment), blocked those strong gusts quite well when I slept under the stars.

For backpackers on a budget, the Marmot Lost Coast 30 ($219, 2 lbs. 6 oz./1.07 kg, regular), with 600-fill down, while heavier and bulkier, is even slightly roomier and has the zippered internal pocket.

The Verdict

With a bit more space than some of the best and lightest ultralight down sleeping bags, while weighing just a few ounces more—and costing less—plus a high warmth-to-weight ratio and packability, the Marmot Hydrogen 30 certainly ranks among the few very best ultralight, 30-degree, mummy bags.

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See all reviews of sleeping bags, air mattresses, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside, plus my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all gear reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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Nemo’s Riff down sleeping bags have long carved out a unique space among high-end backpacking bags with their spoon shape and comfortable dimensions, as well as the zippered “thermo gills” on the chest area for adjusting the bag’s degree of warmth to vent on mild nights or batten down the hatches on chilly nights. Spending eight nights in the 2024 update, the Riff 30 Endless Promise, in Glacier National Park in September and in southern Utah in early October, I found that Nemo maintained or improved on the Riff’s exclusive features—while making the bags fully recyclable.

I slept quite comfortably and stayed perfectly warm in the men’s Riff 30 Endless Promise for six nights in Glacier in September, with lows from around 50° to the upper 30s Fahrenheit, and for two clear nights in the high 40s on the Boulder Mail Trail-Death Hollow-Escalante River Loop in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in early October.

Part of Nemo’s line of Endless Promise products, the Riff bags are 100 percent recyclable at the end of their life: Every Endless Promise product is designed to be repaired, resold, and ultimately recycled to keep them out of landfills. Each carries a QR code and customers receive a pre-paid shipping label and a $20 Nemo gift card for returning a product to be recycled into new fabrics or insulation.

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Stuffed with 10 ounces/295 grams of PFAS-free, RDS-certified, 800-fill duck down, the Riff 30 has good warmth for its weight, carrying a comfort rating of 40° F/4° C, a limit rating of 29° F/-2° C, and an extreme rating of -1° F/-18° C. Baffles are aligned vertically over the torso for comfort and horizontally below the waist to prevent down migration.

The hydrophobic down repels moisture, meaning it still traps heat efficiently when wet—the traditional weakness of standard down—and dries faster. It will not, of course, keep you as warm when damp or wet as when dry; think of it as allowing you to get through a night that may feel somewhere between uncomfortable and miserable. Better to keep your bag dry.

Assisting in that goal, the Riff bags have a somewhat rare feature I’ve long thought should be an automatic addition to all high-end bags, especially down models: Reinforced hood and footbox fabric treated with PFAS-free waterproofing to prevent tent condensation from penetrating the shell and getting the down wet—and it’s the head and footbox, of course, that are most likely to get damp with condensation from brushing against tent walls.

Available in men’s and women’s regular and long models rated to 30 and 15 degrees, the Riff still has the key features that set it apart from other sleeping bags. The spoon-shaped cut balances thermal and weight efficiency with extra space at the elbows and knees—particularly nice for side sleepers like me.

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And the brand’s signature thermo gills, parallel zippers over your torso that open to a narrow panel of solid, uninsulated fabric, allow venting without exposing you directly to cold air. In the 2024 Riff update, Nemo added interior zippers to both gills (which previously just had the exterior zippers), creating another level of venting that’s actually useful: I sleep warmly, so on nights around 50° F, I could open all four zippers on the two gills and effectively create a bag equal to one rated perhaps 10 degrees higher than the Riff 30.

With its warmth and my comfort range (and perhaps wearing an extra layer top and bottom), I can also use this bag in temperatures slightly below its rating, meaning the gills give me a bag I could use on about 80 percent of my backcountry nights.

In both the men’s and women’s Riff 30 regular, the girth measures a comfortable 60 inches/152 centimeters at the shoulders, tapers to 53 inches/135 centimeters at the hips, and 57 inches/145 centimeters at the feet, creating a roomier bed than you’ll get in some significantly lighter bags with the same temp rating. (Those measurements increase by one to two inches in the long bags.)

Nemo reduced those girth measures by one to two inches in the men’s models compared with the previous generation of the Riff (which I reviewed), presumably for the achieved benefit of shaving a few ounces from it. At five feet, eight inches and 153 pounds, I find the men’s regular (fits people up to six feet/183 centimeters) spacious without being so voluminous that it compromises thermal efficiency: I have space to pull on my pants inside the bag on chilly mornings, which I like.

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I also like the redesigned, fat draft collar—what Nemo calls its Blanket Fold—both for when I zip the bag up completely, because of how that flap thoroughly seals out cold air and seals in body heat, and when I leave the bag partly open at the top because I can use it sort of like a blanket to cover my shoulders or throw it off as desired. That’s particularly nice for a side sleeper like me, as is the tiny cord for cinching the hood tighter, with a small barrel knot as a grip rather than an obnoxious plastic tab tapping my cheek while sleeping.

The warm, adjustable hood closes neatly to a small blowhole and readily loosens, but the cord doesn’t slip when you want it to remain closed up. An integrated pillow pocket can be stuffed with clothing or a Nemo Fillo pillow. All zippers run smoothly with no annoying tendency to snag.

And count me as a fan of the Riff’s compression stuff sack and the very cool (these things excite me), rectangular, zippered storage sack, which makes storing it among other gear noticeably easier.

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At 31 ounces/879 grams (on my scale for the men’s Riff 30 regular; Nemo gives a weight of 1 lb. 14 oz./845g), with a packed size of 10.5×7.5 inches/26×19 centimeters/four liters in volume, the Riff is certainly competitively light and packable—but still not among the most ultralight or compact down sleeping bags (when comparing identical temperature ratings). Yes, those bags achieve lower weights and better packability through higher rated down and/or a tighter fit (and often carry a higher price). Weight, packability, and price versus a roomier fit are essentially the tradeoffs between the Riff and the best ultralight bags.

The lightweight, 100 percent recycled, polyester ripstop shell and lining fabric offers the amount of durability that will prevent tears or punctures with reasonable care when using it.

The Nemo Riff 15 ($400, 2 lbs. 7 oz./1.12 kg regular), in men’s and women’s models, provides added warmth for shoulder seasons or people who tend to sleep cold.

The Verdict

For backpacking, the updated-for-2024 Nemo Riff 30 Endless Promise and Riff 15 Endless Promise bags still deliver a level of comfort that rises above many competitors while remaining lightweight and packable—and they are now fully recyclable, an important step toward preserving the places we like to sleep outside that we should all embrace and encourage through our choices as consumers.

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See all reviews of sleeping bags and backpacking gear at The Big Outside and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See the Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Look at specs when shopping for a high-quality, ultralight, three-season sleeping bag and you might quickly trim your short list to about five models, all at basically similar weights and price points. But having slept in most of those top bags—and after sleeping in Mountain Hardwear’s Phantom 30 on cool nights on backpacking trips from a section of the Arizona Trail in the first days of April and camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks in June to the Canadian Rockies and Wind River Range in August—I place the Phantom 30 among the two or (maybe) three very best ultralight mummy bags for its strategic balance between low weight and excellent warmth. Here’s why.

I slept oblivious to the air temp wearing just underwear and a light T-shirt or a midweight, long-sleeve top on nights in the 40s F/4-8° C on several trips: for three nights in the Wind River Range in mid-August, where we had a lot of wind every night; for a total of four nights on the Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park and the Nigel, Cataract, and Cline Passes Route in the White Goat Wilderness of the Canadian Rockies in early August; while backpacking a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River in the first days of April; and camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve in June. In the White Goat Wilderness, we had very heavy dew both nights that soaked our tents inside and out, with the condensation inside getting our bag shells wet but not appearing to affect this bag’s warmth or loft at all.

On another, five-night hike through the Winds in early September, I had two nights around freezing, when I had to wear a wool hat and fleece hoodie and stuff my down jacket into the foot end of my Phantom 30 to keep my feet warm; those measures made the bag warm enough for me to sleep, but I don’t get cold easily and I think many users would not want to push this (or virtually any 30-degree bag) to its limit.

Beyond its status as one of the perhaps five very lightest mummy bags you’ll find in this temperature rating category, the Phantom 30 compares in weight to the lightest and nicest ultralight backpacking quilts.

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But I’d argue it’s one of the two or three best ultralight mummy bags for its excellent balance of both low weight and warmth for a bag rated around freezing. That comes down to a key material in Hardwear’s Phantom series bags: the 850-fill down, very nearly the highest fill rating found in sleeping bags (and only six percent less warmth and loft per ounce/gram compared to 900-fill down). That lends the Phantom a top-of-the-charts warmth-to-weight ratio and packability among ultralight sleeping bags.

Also, the bag contains 10 ounces/284 grams of down fill (in the regular), giving the Phantom a fat four inches of loft. That translates to the Phantom 30 weighing a few ounces more than the very lightest bags with this temp rating—but also delivering noticeably more warmth. That means you can push this bag to its temp rating—or lower—without regret (unless you normally sleep cold; see my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” for tips on that.)

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That helped keep me warm—even, at times, keeping the bag partly unzipped because I felt too warm—on nights that fell into the temperature range most backpackers will encounter in summer in mid-latitude mountains and in spring and fall in the desert Southwest. As someone who sleeps relatively warm, I’d confidently take this bag out on trips with expected overnight lows around freezing and slightly below (adding some clothing layers as needed).

The adjustable hood‘s face gasket closes evenly and comfortably around my face and head when I want to burrow deeply inside the bag, while the draft collar and tube along the zipper protected me from chilly air outside.The lightweight, anti-snag, two-way zipper has a nice pull tab for grabbing even with light gloves on and never caught on shell fabric.

The Phantom’s dimensions reflect a design priority for minimizing weight and packed volume, measuring 58 ins./147cm at the shoulders and 52 ins./132cm at the hips, and the standard 72 inches/182cm long (regular bag); and while Hardwear does not provide a girth measurement at the foot box, I found there’s plenty of space to move my feet around and stuff a little extra clothing down there to boost insulation and keep that clothing warm for morning.

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Overall, at five feet, eight inches and about 150 pounds, I found the regular Phantom 30 certainly efficient in its internal space but also more than roomy enough—for a mummy bag. I believe unisex sizing makes sense in sleeping bags because body shapes and sizes vary greatly within genders as much as between genders. That said, larger or wider people might prefer a bag with more generous dimensions.

The regular Phantom measures just 6×13 ins./15x33cm in its compression stuff sack (2.5 oz./71g), which outweighs standard stuff sacks by perhaps an ounce but delivers added value of $15 to $30 (the cost of buying a compression sack separately) and makes the bag more packable.

The 100 percent recycled, 10-denier ripstop nylon shell with a DWR (durable, water-repellent treatment), among the lightest fabrics used in bags, is adequately durable for normal use with some care.

Mountain Hardwear also offers the Phantom 15 ($580-$610, 2 lbs. 1 oz./941g) and Phantom 0 ($700-$740, 2 lbs. 11 oz./1162g). See my review of the Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 sleeping bag.

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See all reviews of sleeping bags and all reviews of backpacking gear at The Big Outside, and my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my picks for “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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Stepping out of my tent on our first morning in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon in the first week of April, I was greeted by an air temperature barely above freezing and a steady wind sailing through our camp at about 20 to 30 miles per hour. So I reacted in the only way that made sense: I wore my sleeping bag in camp. And I could do that and walk around easily (while my friends assumed postures of cold discomfort wearing their down jackets outside—or simply stayed in their tent) because my bag was the Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 15° F/-9° C.

I stayed warm wearing the Mobile Mummy 15° F/-9° C around camp on evenings and mornings in those temps and slept in quite comfortably in it—not even having to always zip it up completely while wearing just a T-shirt, underwear, and socks—on nights ranging from just above freezing to the low 40s Fahrenheit. I also slept under the stars very warmly zipped up inside the Mobile Mummy on a late September night in the upper 30s in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve. My wife found it more than warm enough on four nights backpacking in late summer in the Wind River Range, where the lows dropped into the 40s F—the kind of temps for which she prefers a 15- or 20-degree bag because she gets cold easily—and in similar temps for a total of four nights on three-day hikes on both the Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park and the Nigel, Cataract, and Cline Passes Route in the White Goat Wilderness of the Canadian Rockies in early August. In the White Goat Wilderness, we had very heavy dew both nights that soaked our tents inside and out, with the condensation inside getting our bag shells wet but not appearing to affect this bag’s warmth or loft at all.

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After removing it from their product line for nearly four years, Sierra Designs has brought back the Mobile Mummy (which I’ve reviewed in its previous version), updating it with 55 percent partially recycled, 20-denier nylon ripstop fabric with a PFC-free, durable, water repellent treatment (DWR). That 20-denier fabric is heavier and more durable than what you’ll see in many backpacking sleeping bags.

Remaining unchanged in the Mobile Mummy are its long, two-way center zipper extending to the footbox and the zipper-less armholes with overlapping flaps to seal out drafts while sleeping. The center zipper is not only great forside sleepers, it makes sense for most users and I’ve long wondered why that’s not standard in most backpacking sleeping bags. The armholes, of course, enable you to extend your arms outside the bag while wearing it.

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But understand that you still need a layer with warm sleeves on cold mornings—which means that a Mobile Mummy may not necessarily replace an insulated jacket, but it may allow you to bring a lighter jacket that’s augmented by this wearable bag. (You also may need an insulated jacket during the daytime or while on the trail and you can’t wear the Mobile Mummy for that—it would be far too warm and it doesn’t give your legs enough freedom of movement for real hiking.)

Most distinctively, when unzipped from the bottom end, the Mobile Mummy’s footbox can be lifted up and toggled to the outer shell so you can wear is like a very long down parka, even walking around camp in it. That’s why it made sense for SD to make the Mobile Mummy for sub-freezing temps (or even above freezing for users who get cold easily): On mild backcountry nights, you don’t need a wearable sleeping bag.

Stuffed with 18.6 oz./525g (in the men’s regular) of 800-fill power, water-resistant DriDown, the bag carries an ISO comfort rating of 27° F/-3° C and a limit rating of 16° F/-9° C. That high-quality down makes the bag reasonably warm for its weight and more packable than down bags with a lower fill rating and virtually any synthetic sleeping bag. The wide, front zipper draft tube is reinforced with stiff fabric to preclude any possibility of snagging, as are the ample draft tubes at the hood and armholes.

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With a fit length of 72 ins./183cm and circumferences of 60 ins./147cm at the shoulders, 58 ins./147cm at the hips, and 40 ins./102cm at the feet (men’s regular), the bag feels adequately roomy even as its mummy shape remains heat-efficient and minimizes bulk when packed.

The non-adjustable hood (read: no cords in your face when sleeping on your side) features enough elasticity for a snug closure around your head and face and to move with your head even with the front zipper quite open—as it did for me flopping from side to side during nights. That conveniently eliminates the step of closing and opening the hood when entering and exiting the bag; and by just opening the front zipper a few inches, you can easily push the hood off your head when needed.

The bag packs into a stuff sack measuring 8×16 ins./20.3×40.6 cm, which is compact for a bag this warm. It’s also available in a men’s long and a women’s model. 

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a men’s or women’s Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 15F/-9C at sierradesigns.com or rei.com.

See all reviews of sleeping bags and all reviews of backpacking gear at The Big Outside, and my “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my picks for “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

Plan your next great backpacking trip in Yosemite, Grand Teton, and other parks using my expert e-guides.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” “10 Tricks for Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” the 10 tricks for making hiking and backpacking easier, and the lightweight backpacking guide without having a paid membership.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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For seven nights in huts on Iceland’s Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails in July—and to fit all of my clothing layers, food for a week, and other stuff inside my 40-liter pack while keeping it as light as possible—I decided to take the Therm-a-Rest Vesper 32 Quilt for its minimalist weight and excellent packability. And it turned out, that hut trek mimicked sleeping outside on mild nights, presenting ideal circumstances for weighing an ultralight backpacking quilt’s strengths and shortcomings.

I slept quite comfortably under the Vesper 32 in full hut dormitory rooms, with windows usually open for ventilation and nighttime lows outside in the 30s and 40s Fahrenheit, though it was always warmer in the hut—probably in the low 50s on the coolest nights and much warmer on other nights in crowded rooms with the heat of many bodies and little ventilation. Given that range of sleeping conditions, I was glad to have a quilt, which I could pull over me or throw off as needed, like a blanket in a bed, without fumbling with a zipper.

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Ultralight backpacking quilts are most popular among thru-hikers and weight-conscious backpackers. But many backpackers would find a quilt adequately warm for their summer trips and reap the benefits of its thermally efficient, lightweight, compact design; for some people, it feels much more comfortable than a snug sleeping bag. There are good reasons that backpackers who switch from a bag to a quilt rarely switch back.

The Vesper’s box baffle construction uses mesh walls to maximize loft and eliminate cold spots and perimeter side baffles to help trap body heat. Unlike a simple blanket, the Vesper has a knee-deep, insulated foot box with a 37-inch girth that keeps feet tucked warmly inside and helps anchor the quilt so that it doesn’t slip off while sleeping.

The 8.5 ounces of 900-fill Nikwax Hydrophobic Down makes the Vesper quite warm for its wispy weight (EN comfort rating 41° F and limit 32° F)—I could immediately feel warmth encompass me when I covered myself with the quilt—and as light and compressible as any sleeping system you’ll find, besting even the lightest bags. It packs down to 5×6 inches in its stuff sack and even smaller when using a compression sack.

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Therm-a-Rest and Nikwax say Nikwax Hydrophobic Down absorbs 90 percent less water and dries three times faster than untreated, standard down feathers, retaining its loft much more effectively when wet than standard down. (Learn more about Nikwax Hydrophobic Down at nikwax.com/en-us/materials/nhd, where a video shows a person floating in a glacial lagoon in Iceland inside a sleeping bag stuffed with that hydrophobic down; there’s no indication of whether the bag’s shell is waterproof with taped seams.)

Like other hydrophobic down, it will lose loft when it gets quite wet. While many people using a backpacking quilt will not likely sleep in situations where it could get quite wet, that can happen in common situations like heavy condensation inside a small, ultralight, single-wall tent or an unexpectedly heavy dew when sleeping outside.

A snap at the top corners of the hoodless quilt keeps it wrapped around your shoulders and two detachable, stretch straps connecting the quilt’s sides around your torso and thighs help keep the quilt wrapped around you.

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But as with any quilt, lacking a zipper means it doesn’t seal around your body, of course, and at 58 inches wide at the shoulders and 51 inches at the hips, the Vesper just barely wraps completely around me. (I’m five feet eight inches, 150 pounds, with a 38-inch chest and 30-inch waist.) The Verper Quilt flaps don’t overlap, leaving a small gap, which I positioned beneath me (against my air mattress); but some users, especially people who shift position a lot in their sleep, might prefer a quilt that wraps more completely around their body.

Some sleeping bags have a greater circumference at the shoulders, including Therm-a-Rest’s Parsec 32, at 62 inches—but it’s a half-pound heavier than the Vesper.

The 10-denier nylon ripstop shell and liner fabric is about as light as you’ll find in any quilt or bag; it’ll last as long as you’re somewhat careful with it.

Besides those minimal features, it’s otherwise basically a high-quality blanket, best for mild to cool nights backpacking—depending on your personal cold tolerance—or summer hut trips. For some people, colder temperatures demand an enclosed sleeping bag for your body, especially backpackers (like me) who toss around in their sleep.

The Vesper line includes the Vesper 20 Quilt ($430, 1 lb. 3 oz. regular), for backpackers who need more warmth, and Vesper 45 Quilt ($350, 12 oz. regular), for backpackers seeking the lightest, most compact quilt for mild nights.

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See all reviews of sleeping bags and all reviews of backpacking gear at The Big Outside and “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

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Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Mummy-style sleeping bags deliver high warmth efficiency for their weight because they trap heat so well—but can sometimes feel like they’re trapping you inside, too. Backpacking quilts mimic the feeling of sleeping under a comforter at home, but may too easily let cold air underneath on chilly nights outdoors. With its zipperless design and integrated comforter in the bag’s upper half, the Sierra Designs Cloud 35 bag achieves the strengths of mummies and quilts without their weaknesses.

I slept in the ultralight men’s Cloud 35-degree for eight nights on a backpacking trip of nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail, with lows often in the 40s Fahrenheit and strong wind; for four nights that ranged from the high 40s to near 60° F on a 78-mile backpacking trip on the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier in early September; and on five nights of camping in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve in June and early October, with lows down to the 40s—staying quite warm wrapped inside the bag in temps not far above its EN comfort rating of 36° F/2° C. The 35-degree bag has an EN limit rating of 26° F/-3° C.

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Weighing just under 1.5 pounds, the Cloud 35 has a good warmth-to-weight ratio, thanks to being stuffed with 9.5 ounces of PFC-free, 800-fill, water-resistant Dridown down (in the regular, 10.4 ounces in the men’s long, and 20.5 ounces in the women’s 20-degree version). That high-quality down also makes the 35-degree bag very packable, stuffing to 13×7 inches or smaller.

Most unique about the Cloud bags is their zipperless, comforter-style design with a crescent-shaped flap on the upper half of the bag that you can flip to one side or wrap around your torso like a blanket. The comforter flap’s crescent shape maintains some tension on the flap to keep it from opening up while you sleep, and an insulated shoulder pocket at the flap’s upper corner helps keep it wrapped around you.

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The design’s benefits include much easier ventilation and exiting the bag—no fumbling with a zipper in the middle of the night—and a sleeping experience more like lying in your bed than squeezed inside a zipped-up mummy bag. The single flap also reduces bag weight compared to having two overlapping flaps.

While not as secure as a zipper, the flap mostly stayed wrapped around me unless I turned a lot. As a side sleeper, I found the flap, not surprisingly, stayed in place over me better when I slept on the side where the flap opens, with a hand in the shoulder pocket to hold the flap in place, than when I slept on my opposite side, where the flap and shoulder pocket could slip off my elevated shoulder. On a night that I slept under the stars and the wind blew hard most of the night, it did continually blow the flap off me unless I slept on the same side, with my hand securing the flap closed.

The Cloud 35’s dimensions of 60 inches at the shoulders, 58 inches at the hips, and 40 inches at the feet (men’s regular) offer unusually spacious dimensions for moving around—again, replicating a sleeping experience closer to your bed at home than a mummy bag.

The adjustable hood snugged fairly well around my head on cooler nights. You can insert a 20-inch-wide air mattress into the half-length fitted sleeve on the bag’s bottom side to keep from sliding off the mat—although that prevents side sleepers from turning the bag (and its hood) with their body. The 15-denier shell fabric has enough durability for normal use, but avoid catching this lightweight fabric on sharp edges.

The Sierra Designs Cloud 20 ($340, 1 lb. 15 oz.) comes in both men’s and women’s versions; the women’s bag comes in one size with a length of 74 inches and differs from the men’s primarily in the amount and placement of the down fill.

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See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” “10 Tricks for Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” the 10 tricks for making hiking and backpacking easier, and the lightweight backpacking guide without having a paid membership.

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NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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It was an amazing spot to sleep under the stars for our last night on an early-April backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon: perched on a plateau high above the Inner Gorge of the Colorado River, gazing across the canyon at the Tonto Plateau and South Rim. We waited until dusk had nearly faded to darkness to lay out our sleeping bags atop our completely exposed, flat cowboy-camping ledges, hoping the relentless, strong wind would abate with evening’s arrival and not threaten to launch our bags to New Mexico—but it didn’t. So I burrowed inside my Therm-a-Rest Parsec 32 for warmth—and only opened my eyes once or twice briefly during the night, enough to glimpse the brilliant glow of the Milky Way.

I stayed perfectly warm sleeping in this bag under the stars (no tent) for five nights on a six-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in April, with lows in the 40s and low 50s F and strong winds some nights that made it feel chillier than the ambient air temps. That experience aligns with the Parsec 32’s EN temperature ratings of 41° F comfort, 32° F limit, and 5° F extreme.

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It’s warm enough for typical overnight temps of summer in most mid-latitude mountain ranges or spring and fall in the Southwest canyon country except for people who tend to get cold more easily.

This bag’s nearly 12 ounces of PFC-free, 800-fill down creates four inches of loft, complemented by a warm, adjustable hood that closes snugly around your head and face, plus a draft collar and zipper tube and the thermal efficiency of a mummy design. Therm-a-Rest says the water-resistant Nikwax Hydrophobic Down absorbs 90 percent less water and dries three times faster than untreated, standard down feathers.

In practice, that translates to the Parsec delivering the good warmth-to-weight ratio of high-quality down while also not losing loft (read: warmth) if exposed to moisture on, say, a rainy, multi-day trip with constantly damp air (even inside a tent).

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The bag’s zoned insulation places more down on top than the bottom—not necessarily desirable for side sleepers, but I’m one and my back never felt cold.

The 100 percent recycled, 20-denier shell and lining offer a bit more durability than the 10- and 15-denier fabric used in many ultralight bags at only a slight weight penalty. The shell has a DWR (durable, water-repellent treatment). The two-way, anti-snag zipper, backed by thick fabric strips on both sides, never gets stuck.

At just over one-and-a-half pounds, it weighs less than many similarly rated competitors—and yet it provides a comfortably roomy sleeping experience with dimensions of 62 inches at the shoulders, 57 inches at the waist, and 46 inches at the feet plus a length of 80 inches (in the regular). I never felt constrained shifting around inside this bag.

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The sizing is unisex: Therm-a-Rest no longer makes bags in men’s and women’s models. My take on that is that sleeping bags aren’t boots or packs—gender simply doesn’t matter that much when it comes to a sleeping bag. My wife gets cold very easily and she has virtually always slept in a men’s bag over the 30 years we’ve backpacked together (because I regularly have new bags to test). Her comfort in a bag has less to do with its contours than how warm it is—period.  

Like all Therm-a-Rest sleeping bags, the Parsec comes with a compression stuff sack and easily packs inside it, squishing down to just slightly larger than a bread loaf at 6×8.5 inches.

For colder temps or cold sleepers, there’s also the warmer Parsec 20 ($450, 1 lb. 12 oz., regular) and Parsec 0 ($530, 2 lbs. 6 oz., regular).

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Want an even lighter three-season bag? See my reviews of the Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 32F, Sierra Designs Cloud 35, and Feathered Friends men’s Hummingbird UL 30 and women’s Egret UL 30.

See all reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my picks for “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

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Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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On the second night of a four-day, roughly 50-mile backpacking trip in Yosemite in the last week of September, when nights dipped into the 40s Fahrenheit, I laid my bag and pad out under the stars, without a tent, in one of the neatest spots I’ve ever slept outside: on a dry granite slab between two braids of a creek, lulled by a tiny cascade just a few steps from my head. And all night, a strong, cool wind blew down that creek valley, prompting me to zip deeply inside the Bishop Pass 30F/-1C. Despite that wind chill, I stayed warm and slept like a baby.

Besides that Yosemite trip, I also slept in it this bag on a calm night outside under the stars in early June in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, with temps in the 40s.

A mummy bag packed with 12 ounces of RDS-certified, flourine-free, 650-fill down, the Bishop Pass sports a confidence-inspiring four inches of loft: It’s warm enough for typical overnight temps of summer in most mid-latitude mountain ranges or spring and fall in the Southwest canyon country except for people who tend to get cold more easily.

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Draft tubes around the face opening and along the zipper’s full length help trap heat, making the bag more efficient. The two-way zipper allows venting the bag from the top and bottom and is backed by strips of heavy-duty fabric that’s impossible to snag in the zipper.

The men’s regular bag measures a roomy 62 inches at the shoulders, 53 inches at the hips, and 86 inches long; although Hardwear doesn’t provide a circumference measure for the foot box, I found it has a comfortable amount of space, not feeling cramped on my lower legs. Similarly, the adjustable hood closes neatly around the face and head.

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The 10-denier shell helps minimize the bag’s weight but that’s as lig ht as bag shells get—15- or 20-denier fabric is more common—and it has a DWR to repel moisture. Exercising reasonable care not to catch it on any sharp points—like sticks or rock edges if sleeping under the stars—will prevent accidental tears. It also has convenient details like a zipper pull that glows and an internal stash pocket.

No, the Bishop Pass does not match the high warmth-to-weight ratio of bags with a higher-quality down (800-fill and higher). But at under two pounds, with a stuffed size of 7×13.5 inches/18x34cm/7.8 liters (regular, which fits people up to six feet tall), it’s still reasonably lightweight and packable for backpacking.

Plus, while bags with higher-quality, 800- to 900+-fill down offer more warmth and packability for their weight, they also often cost upwards of twice as much or more than bags in the Bishop Pass series (when comparing models at the same temp rating).

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For colder temps or cold sleepers, there’s also the Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 15F ($305, 2 lbs. 8 oz. regular) and Bishop Pass 0F ($355, 3 lbs. 7 oz. regular), both in men’s and women’s models, and Gore-Tex shell versions of the 15F ($385, 2 lbs. 10 oz. regular) and 0F bags ($470, 3 lbs. 9 oz. regular).

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a men’s or a women’s Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 30F at backcountry.com, or other versions of the men’s and women’s Bishop Pass bags at backcountry.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my picks for “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of gear reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Click here now to plan your next great backpacking adventure using my expert e-guides.

The forecast made me sit up and wonder: Will my bag be warm enough? For the three nights in late December that I planned to spend in a tent in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, lows would drop into the teens and single digits Fahrenheit—slipping below the “comfort” rating and approaching the “limit” rating of my Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0. And this on my maiden voyage with the bag; I had not used it yet. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about with this extraordinarily warm and packable, ultralight winter sleeping bag.

I found the Phantom 0 impressively warm even on a night that plunged to 3° F—10 degrees below its EN comfort rating of 13F/-11C and near its 0F/-18C limit rating. And yet, I slumbered comfortably wearing only midweight top and bottom layers and warm socks, adding a wool hat only during the night. I have long observed, as a warm sleeper rather than a cold sleeper, that only the highest-quality down bags will keep me warm down to their temp rating. (I didn’t have nights in this bag anywhere near the Phantom 0’s bone marrow-thickening extreme rating of -38F/-39C.)

One defining metric tells much of the Phantom 0’s story: A bountiful 30 ounces of 850-fill-power goose down constitutes three-fourths of the bag’s total weight. Stuffed fat with nearly the highest-quality down on the market (there are a few bag models with down rated at 900-fill) explains this bag’s two major advantages: a sky-high warmth-to-weight ratio and excellent packability.(The down quality also partly explains the price.) Even after being compressed for hours, this fat bag lofts up quickly.

Not only does the Phantom 0 have a greater fill weight and lower total weight than many bags in this temperature-rating category, but at about 2.5 pounds, it weighs no more than many 600-fill down bags that carry an EN limit rating of 20F. Plus, it packs down to 8.25 ins./21cm x 16.5 ins./42cm. Sold with a compression stuff sack included (3.5 oz.), the Phantom 0 compresses as compactly as some 20-degree down and synthetic bags. It bears noting the obvious point that I’m drawing comparisons between the Phantom 0 and bags that are in an entirely different class for warmth.

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As anyone who has carried a heavy and bulky bag (something I have done) knows from experience, weight and bulk are a big deal when you’re talking about a winter bag. Any attempt at keeping a multi-day pack manageably lightweight in winter goes out the window if your bag’s weight soars toward four pounds and, when stuffed, it occupies a disproportionate share of your pack’s volume.

Other features making this a very warm bag include a fat draft collar and face gasket and a draft tube inside the zipper to efficiently trap heat; a mummy cut for efficiency trapping heat; and a four-chamber hood, which keeps the insulation from migrating, creating cold spots. I found the hood adjusts easily to form a close fit around my face and can be closed up to a small breathing hole on really cold nights.

Apropos for a winter bag, this mummy has good space inside for fitting extra clothing at your feet (to boost insulation around the part of your body that can get cold quickly), with an 86-inch length—but just as important, respectable space around your torso, with a relatively roomy 58 inches of girth at the shoulders and 52 inches at the hips (all measurements for the size regular bag). I stuffed a very warm down jacket, unzipped and open, inside the bag with me and never felt too cramped—but that comfort may vary between individuals (I’m 5’8’’, 155 pounds, with a 38-inch chest and 30-inch waist).

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The contoured footbox also has space to pack some extra layers around feet—and allows your feet to assume a natural position when sleeping. The two-way zipper enables ventilating from either end—although I’ll never have to ventilate my feet in winter, I suppose some people might—and its zipper pull glows in the dark.

The DWR-treated, 10-denier nylon Ghost ripstop shell fabric contributes to making the bag more compressible but is at the lighter end of bag fabrics, so take care not to let it contact any sharp objects. The lining is made with recycled, 20-denier nylon taffeta.

Other Phantom versions include the highly water-resistant Phantom 0 Gore-Tex Windstopper shell ($760, 3 lbs. 7 oz., regular), the Phantom 15 ($520, 2 lbs., regular), and the Phantom 30 ($510, 1 lb. 5 oz., regular).

A tip: Get the Gore-Tex shell only if you plan to sleep without a shelter and may get snowed on. A Windstopper shell will keep much of that external moisture out of the bag’s insulation; but if you’re in a tent, most of the moisture penetrating the insulation is likely to come from your body, and you’re better off with the standard ripstop shell, which will allow that body moisture to exit the bag more quickly than Windstopper.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase the Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 at backcountry.com, or other versions of the Phantom at backcountry.com or rei.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of gear reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Click here now to plan your next great backpacking adventure using my expert e-guides.

Let’s face it: Sleeping in a lightweight or ultralight mummy bag isn’t so deliciously comfy that you’d do it on your bed at home—we generally reserve that elusive pleasure for the more obvious rewards of backpacking through wilderness. But the space and features of Nemo’s Riff, available in models rated to 30 and 15 degrees, just might brighten your opinion of the comfort of bags designed for the backcountry.

I slept in the men’s Riff 30 (inside a tent) for two rainy, raw, and windy August nights around 40° F backpacking in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, staying perfectly warm without ever having to completely mummy myself inside the bag; and in the same temps for four nights backpacking through Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness in September and on two cold, very windy nights in a tent in June in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

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The Riff’s unique, spoon-shaped cut translates to thermal and weight efficiency while creating extra space at the elbows and knees—particularly nice for side sleepers (like me). The girth in the men’s regular length measures a generous 62 inches at the shoulders, tapers to 54 inches at the hips, and expands to 59 inches at the feet, creating a comfortably roomy sleeping environment compared to other ultralight bags. The women’s regular also sports spacious dimensions of 60, 53, and 57 inches at the shoulders, hips, and feet.

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Besides its spacious fit, the Riff sports other features designed to enhance comfort, beginning with the brand’s signature Thermo Gills, parallel zippers over your torso that open to uninsulated fabric, allow venting without letting cold air inside. The insulated Blanket Fold flap at the chin provides extra cover when you open the top of the bag and a fat piece of extra insulation when you zip it up tight, augmenting the full-length draft tube inside the zipper. An integrated pillow pocket can be stuffed with clothing or a Nemo Fillo pillow.

Weighing just a tick over two pounds (men’s regular) and stuffed with 10 ounces of PFC-free, RDS-certified, 800-fill down, the Riff has very good warmth for its weight and a packed size of 11.5×7.5 inches in its stuff sack, comparable to other 800-fill bags. The bag’s hydrophobic down also repels moisture, meaning it still traps heat efficiently when wet—the traditional weakness of standard down—and dries faster. The adjustable hood closes comfortably around my head, boosting warmth on colder nights.

The 40-denier nylon ripstop shell fabric throughout the bag adds a little weight but significantly more durability than the 15- or 20-denier fabric used in many backpacking bags, and the footbox has a DWR (durable, water-repellent treatment) to prevent condensation on the tent wall from dampening that end of the bag. The beefy no. 5 YKK zipper moves smoothly and won’t stick or fail as easily as lighter zippers. The left zipper in men’s bags and right zipper in women’s bags allow zipping two bags together.

The Nemo Riff 15 ($400, 2 lbs. 6 oz. regular), in men’s and women’s models, provides added warmth for shoulder seasons or people who tend to sleep cold.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a men’s or women’s Nemo Riff 30 or Riff 15 at moosejaw.com or backcountry.com, a men’s Nemo Riff 30 or Riff 15 at nemoequipment.com, or a women’s Nemo Riff 30 or Riff 15 at nemoequipment.com.

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See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

And don’t miss my picks for “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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For some backpackers, taking a quilt instead of a sleeping bag for multiple nights in the backcountry may seem risky—what if it’s not warm enough? In reality, many backpackers who switch from a bag to a quilt for its lower weight find it not only adequately warm but more comfortable than traditional mummy bags—and rarely switch back. Sleeping in the 35-degree Sierra Designs Nitro Quilt on several nights from Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, Hells Canyon, and City of Rocks to the Cascades showed me that it has the warmth and low weight and bulk of the best quilts and some features that set it apart.

The Nitro Quilt comes in both 35-degree and 20-degree versions, and both pack plenty of warmth for summer in many mountain ranges or spring and fall temperatures in the desert Southwest destinations like the Grand Canyon and the parks of southern Utah. Stuffed with 10.2 ounces of 800-fill, water-resistant DriDown feathers, the 35-degree quilt has an EN limit rating of 27° F and a comfort rating of 37° F. The 20-degree Nitro Quilt has 14.8 ounces of 800-fill, water-resistant DriDown and an EN limit rating of 21° F and a comfort rating of 32° F.

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While I didn’t experience any nights that challenged those ratings, I suspect they are pretty realistic: As someone who doesn’t get cold very easily, I believe the 35-degree quilt would keep me warm enough (wearing one set of base layers) down to the low 40s; and true to the meaning of the limit rating, I’d survive under the quilt if the temp plunged into the 20s.

I slept very comfortably under the 35-degree quilt on several nights with lows around or above 50° F on backpacking trips in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains and Hells Canyon; camping in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve with nights around 50; on a six-day rafting and kayaking trip through Desolation and Gray canyons in southern Utah, with lows in the 50s and 60s; camping in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, and on a mild night in a campground on the outskirts of Mount Rainier National Park prior to a five-day backpacking trip on the Wonderland Trail.

Not once did I feel like the quilt’s comfort range was challenged. In fact, although I took a 30-degree mummy bag on the Wonderland, expecting cooler overnight temps than we experienced, the quilt would have been more than warm enough for the coolest nights on that trip, which hovered in the upper 40s Fahrenheit.

At a few ounces under (for the 35-degree Nitro Quilt) or a few ounces over 1.5 pounds (for the 20-degree), the quilt boasts a high warmth-to-weight ratio. The stuff sack for both Nitro quilts measures 13×7 inches, but both can be squished down smaller in a compression sack—the 35-degree to about the size of a football. In fact, there simply are not many lighter and more packable sleeping systems for the backcountry.

To compare it with some better sleeping bags, the Feathered Friends men’s Hummingbird UL 30-degree bag (the women’s model is the Egret UL 30) weighs just an ounce more than the Nitro Quilt 35 and is unquestionably warmer, but is also, of course, more bulky, and costs $180 more. The Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 32, four ounces lighter and a bit warmer, costs $110 more.

Don’t discount the value of the comfort of using a quilt—it’s more akin to sleeping in your bed, with the ability to pull it over you or shuck it partly off as needed, and to sleep in any position. Truth is, many of us use a sleeping bag unzipped, draped over us like a quilt or blanket on mild nights in the backcountry, when it’s too warm to crawl fully inside the bag.

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When wrapping the quilt around yourself, the V-shaped, oversized design has a circumference of 56 inches at both the shoulders and hips, which feels as roomy as sleeping under a blanket instead of inside a mummy bag. Sticking your hands into the insulated hand pockets lets you wrap the quilt around you for sleeping on your side or stomach. Its enclosed foot box with a spacious 40-inch circumference keeps feet from slipping out, and an integrated hideaway hood effectively functions like a hat if the temperatures drop low enough to need it. The 75-inch length fits people up to six feet three inches.

With a shell and lining both constructed of 15-denier nylon ripstop, as with a lot of ultralight gear, the Nitro Quilt will endure normal use, but avoid exposing it to sharp edges.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase the 35-degree or 20-degree Sierra Designs Nitro Quilt at sierradesigns.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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Sleeping bags often look very much alike—until you spend a night inside one and carry it in a backpack. That’s when the differences emerge, and besides price, those differences generally fall somewhere along a continuum where a bag’s warmth and comfort go up or down in proportion to its weight and packed size—and balancing those competing metrics gets tricky. But for many backpackers seeking the most warmth and comfort with the least weight and bulk, the Feathered Friends men’s Hummingbird UL and women’s Egret UL, both available in 30- and 20-degree versions, strike a near perfect balance for three-season adventures.

I slept in the men’s Hummingbird UL 30 on a six-day backpacking trip in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness and a four-day hike on Nevada’s Ruby Crest Trail, both in July; on a seven-day, 96-mile hike of Wyoming’s Wind River High Route, where I stayed warm zipped up inside the bag on two nights near freezing—testing the bag’s rating—with the hood up and wearing just underwear and a long-sleeve top; and one early-summer night at 8,200 feet under the stars in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest, with the low temperatures around 40° F on several nights.

I also used it on a five-day backpacking trip in the first week of March in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, where we had a few nights in the mid-20s Fahrenheit—and while some people would get cold pushing a bag below its temp rating limit, the fact that I remained comfortable in the Hummingbird UL 30 while wearing two warm top layers and long underwear is a testament to this bag’s beaucoup insulation and adequate warmth right down to its temp rating for many people.

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Weighing in under 1.5 pounds, the Hummingbird UL 30’s very high warmth-to-weight ratio is attributable to it being generously stuffed with 11.5 ounces of 950+-fill down (in the regular, 12 ounces in the long)—the highest-quality down available. Those very light feathers mean the bag lofts up fat when laid out—fatter than some bags rated for even colder temps—and packs down to a relatively small eight liters in its stuff sack and could probably get even tighter in a compression sack.

While the Hummingbird and Egret do not use water-resistant down, as is found in some high-end bags today, consider this: Water-resistant down increases the cost of any bag, and unless you’re taking extended trips in chronically wet environments—or you worry that somehow your tent may fail, or you’re not sleeping in a tent—you probably don’t need it. (My high overall score for the Hummingbird and Egret, below, is made lower by the fact that the bag will not keep you warm if it gets very wet—the typical performance of standard down. If that doesn’t matter to you, your evaluation of the bag’s overall performance will likely be higher.)

The warmth is bolstered by a fully and easily adjustable hood that closed comfortably around my head on colder nights, plus draft tubes at the zipper and collar. A full-length, two-way zipper with locking sliders on the Hummingbird (and Egret UL) not only permits controlled ventilation of the bag, it allowed me to open it up completely and use it like a quilt, with my feet tucked warmly into the foot box and the bag lying open atop me. The zipper doesn’t move quite as smoothly as some lighter zippers, but that’s a reasonable tradeoff for better durability and the locking mechanism.

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Some ultralight bags shave grams through trimming the bag’s dimensions, making it feel like being shrink-wrapped. Not so with the Hummingbird: Its dimensions of 58 inches at the shoulders, 52 inches at the hips, and a more snug 38 inches at the feet let me move around, partly extend my arms when sleeping on my side, and bring my knees up to my chest (useful for dressing inside a bag on a cold morning and just a very visual measure of a bag’s spaciousness). Similarly, the women’s Egret UL measures 54 inches at the shoulders, 56 inches at the hips, and 38 inches at the feet.

The 15-denier Pertex Endurance shell fabric on the Hummingbird and Egret sheds light moisture—such as condensation dripping inside a tent, or a short period of light rain if you’re sleeping outside—and has enough durability for normal use, but be careful not to catch this lightweight fabric on sharp edges.

The Hummingbird UL 20 is negligibly heavier and bulkier ($569, 1 lb. 8 oz. for the regular; $589, 1 lb. 9 oz. for the long). The same goes for the women’s Egret UL 20 ($549, 1 lb. 10 oz. for the small; $569, 1 lb. 11 oz. for the medium) compared to the Egret UL 30 ($489, 1 lb. 8 oz. for the small; $509, 1 lb. 9 oz. for the medium).

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Wondering whether to get the 30-degree or 20-degree bag? These bags have enough down to match their temp ratings, but if you usually sleep relatively warm (as I do), I think you’ll find the UL 30 bags adequately warm for three-season trips where the low temps don’t drop below freezing. If you tend to get cold easily, get a 20-degree bag. See more tips on that in my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Would you prefer an extra-roomy, high-end down bag? The men’s Feathered Friends Swallow UL 30 ($479, 1 lb. 9 oz., regular) has dimensions of 60-56-38 inches and is otherwise identical to the Hummingbird UL, with 950+-fill down and a 15-denier Pertex Endurance ripstop nylon shell, and there’s also a Feathered Friends Swallow UL 20 ($559, 1 lb. 11 oz., regular).

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase a Feathered Friends Hummingbird UL 30 or 20 at featheredfriends.com, a women’s Egret UL 30 or 20 at featheredfriends.com, or a men’s Swallow UL 30 or 20 at featheredfriends.com.

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See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” “10 Tricks for Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” the 10 tricks for making hiking and backpacking easier, and the lightweight backpacking guide without having a paid membership.

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NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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On chilly nights of camping, nothing’s more popular than a fat sleeping bag. When sleeping outside in winter—or wintry temperatures—the Snowbunting EX 0 has become my bag of choice. Most recently, I slumbered peacefully and quite comfortably through three December nights without a tent outside a backcountry yurt in Idaho’s Boise Mountains—one of those nights dropping into the single digits Fahrenheit, and another featuring several hours of snow falling intermittently directly onto my bag, inside which I remained quite warm and dry. Super warm and well built, at a moderate weight, this bag functions well, depending on the user, for trips in temps from around its 0-degree rating to around freezing.

When my 15-year-old son and I took turns testing out this bag and another winter bag for three nights on a climb of the Mountaineers Route on California’s 14,505-foot Mount Whitney in mid-April, and for three nights in February sleeping under the stars in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, he was always eager to relieve me of the Snowbunting EX 0. Little wonder, given how warm it is. Another tester also found it warm enough for single-digit temperatures on December nights in Idaho’s Boulder Mountains.

With a low in the single digits—just barely above the Snowbunting’s rating—and no tent under a clear, starry sky, I was toasty cocooned inside this bag, wearing just one base layer top and bottoms. On nights with temps as low as the teens on Mount Whitney, this bag was more than warm enough for me; I left the hood mostly open and sometimes opened the top of the zipper a bit. I sleep warm, so it was too warm for me in temps around freezing. But my wife, who gets cold very easily, found this bag’s warmth just right on a backpacking and car camping trip in March in southeastern Utah, with lows from the 40s to below freezing.

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The Snowbunting EX 0 is stuffed generously with 25 ounces of 900-fill down (in the regular), the highest quality of down produced, which explains the bag’s high warmth-to-weight ratio. Continuous horizontal baffles enwrapping the bag allow you to shift down to where you need it (although I don’t because I roll side to side, with the bag, during the night), while preventing down from migrating vertically (lengthwise) in the bag and potentially creating cold spots.

The well-insulated hood is plush and adjusts from wide open to blowhole-tight, while a fat collar and draft tube along the beefy zipper shut out drafts. (I’ve read other reviews that criticized the hood as a bit shallow, but I found it deep and spacious enough, even to wear a warm hat comfortably—as long as I wasn’t positioned too high in the bag.) The snap at the top of the zipper is more secure and possibly more durable than a hook-and-loop strip, and a second snap conveniently joins the collar draft tube ends at the top of the zipper.

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This is a true mummy bag, with a trim fit: The circumference is 60 inches at the shoulders, 56 inches at the waist, and 38 inches at the feet. That makes it more thermally efficient—it’s so warm in part because there’s less space to heat up than in a roomier bag. Still, at five feet, eight inches, and 160 pounds, I found the regular actually not as confining as some ultralight bags I’ve used: I sleep on my side and could extend my arms almost completely. I wore one base layer top and bottoms, but also experimented and found I could wear a midsize puffy jacket inside the bag without it feeling cramped.

The waterproof-breathable Pertex Shield EX laminate shell fabric with a DWR (durable, water-repellent treatment) kept me dry inside through hours of intermittently falling snow that accumulated atop the bag while I slept. The shell shakes off dripping condensation inside a tent while also breathing well enough that the bag never got clammy on “milder” nights around freezing. That breathability is especially important for preventing moisture from your body building up inside a bag on longer, sub-freezing trips, which would slowly make the bag heavier and compromise the down’s warmth. The 15-denier shell fabric is common in lightweight bags, but be careful to avoid sharp edges or points.

Does the environment matter to you? Read the sustainability story behind the down used by Feathered Friends at featheredfriends.com/down-tracker.

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See all of my reviews of winter sleeping bags and all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like, and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, plus my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my “12 Pro Tips For Staying Warm Outdoors in Winter.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures. Join now to read ALL stories and get a free e-guide!

Why spend more money on a sleeping bag? Logical question, of course. But for any backpacker eager to shave a pound or more and significant gear volume from his or her backpack, an ultralight down bag offers one of the best ways of realizing that objective—as well as delivering maximum warmth per ounce. And one of the lightest and most compact bags in this category, Therm-a-Rest’s Hyperion 32F/0C, measured up in every way on a six-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in May; a six-day float trip down Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River in July; a three-day hike on the Teton Crest Trail and a four-day trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, both in August; a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range; trekking hut-to-hut on New Zealand’s Routeburn and Milford tracks in late spring; and on chilly, rainy spring nights that pushed the bag’s limits camping in May in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

The Hyperion’s EN comfort rating of 41° F/5° C and limit rating of 32° F/0° C fell right in line with my experience: Sleeping in a tent at the City of Rocks on a night that dipped into the high 30s, I was warm enough in underwear, socks, and a warm, long-sleeve top, but felt like the bag was at its comfort limit for me. On the Teton Crest Trail, I also had a night in the high 30s where I needed a top and bottom layer to stay warm. In the Grand Canyon in early May and on the Middle Fork in July, nights only dropped to around 50° F, a temperature for which the bag was comfortable unzipped—although I slept out under the stars most nights on the Middle Fork, and on breezy nights by the water, the air cooled enough for me to zip the bag up and feel perfectly comfortable.

I don’t get cold very easily, so someone who does might not want to push this bag’s—or any bag’s—comfort limit. But given the Hyperion’s extraordinarily low weight, it makes sense and reduces your pack weight even if you need to wear a layer of clothing that you’re carrying, anyway.

But with just a half-length zipper (for weight savings), you can’t truly open it up and use it as a blanket on very mild nights. Still, I found it quite functional on mild nights unzipping it as far as it opens, tucking my feet and lower legs (which generally do not overheat) inside the bag’s bottom half, and opening the upper bag to use as a blanket over part of my torso.

The bag’s design places 70 percent of the insulation on the top and sides and 30 percent on the bottom/back side—ideal for back sleepers, a bit less so for side sleepers (like me), although my back did not feel noticeably colder. The draft collar and comfortably close-fitting, adjustable hood gave me a nice, snug seal on those chilly nights at the City of Rocks, while the lightweight zipper moves as smoothly as any I’ve seen on a sleeping bag, and doesn’t snag.

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The Hyperion is stuffed with nine ounces (in the regular) of 900-fill down—nearly the highest-rated down you can find—which translates to more warmth and packability than most bags of the same weight (and effectively, since few bags are this light, it’s as warm as bags several ounces to a pound or more heavier). According to Therm-a-Rest, the water-resistant Nikwax Hydrophobic Down used in this bag retains its loft up to 60 times longer, absorbs 90 percent less water, and dries three times faster than standard down. Box-baffled construction uses mesh walls to maximize loft and minimize cold spots, and the ThermaCapture lining features a reflective coating that increases the bag’s thermal efficiency without adding weight or bulk.

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The fit is generous at the hood, shoulders (57-inch girth), and through the hips (49.5-inch girth) for a person of average build, though a little snug in the legs (43-inch girth at the footbox).

The 10-denier ripstop nylon shell fabric, treated with a DWR (durable, water-resistant coating) to repel moisture, is as light as bag shells get—handle it with care to avoid tears—but my bag has seen no damage and shouldn’t with sensible use. Two removable straps on the bag’s bottom side allow integrating it with an air mattress (also most useful for back sleepers).

It comes with a compression stuff sack and packs down to roughly twice the size of a liter bottle—much smaller than most similarly rated bags.

There’s also a Hyperion 20F/-6C version ($550, 1 lb. 6 oz.).

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 32F/0C sleeping bag at cascadedesigns.com or backcountry.com, or a Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 20F/-6C at cascadedesigns.com or backcountry.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Want to make your pack lighter and all of your backpacking trips more enjoyable? See my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” If you don’t have a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read part of that story for free, or click here to download that full story without having a paid membership.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures.
Join now for full access to ALL stories and get a free e-book!

From sleeping under the stars in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains in August to a six-day backpacking trip on the Continental Divide Trail in Glacier National Park in September, I slept like a baby in Nemo’s Kyan 20. But even more impressive about the men’s Kyan and women’s Azura are the qualities that ensure you won’t lie awake at night questioning your decision to buy this bag: warmth when damp, respectable packability, and a price that seals the deal.

Nemo’s Feathercore construction uses a continuous sheet of Primaloft Silver synthetic insulation—which, like other synthetic insulation, traps heat even when wet—to minimize air flow and heat loss, while maximizing compressibility; the insulation also contains 70 percent post-consumer recycled material. Nemo claims the construction method reduces the bag’s packed volume by 40 percent, making it comparable in packability to affordable down (think: 650-fill power down). Compressing to roughly the size of a soccer ball, it doesn’t have the packability of 800- or 900-fill power down, but it’s also priced like a much more affordable down bag.

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The bag’s warmth is good, but not exceptional. While I found the Kyan 20 plenty warm enough for nights slipping down into the 30s Fahrenheit in Glacier in September, I need warm base layers top and bottom for temps in the 20s in this bag (and I sleep fairly warm): It’s not quite as warm as the most thermally efficient down bags with a comparable temp rating—but nor is it nearly as expensive as those bags. It was more than warm enough for a night camping under the stars in the Sawtooths in late August with an overnight low in the 40s.

Nemo’s unique Thermo Gills—a pair of long zippers on the top that, when opened, create insulation-free vents (with nylon fabric, not openings into the bag) that release heat for milder nights that aren’t quite warm enough to open up the bag. That’s a smart innovation that Nemo introduced several years ago and has stuck with.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Please follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

Zipping the Kyan up completely, I found plenty of shoulder and torso room to lie on my side and extend my arms almost fully, while the mid-section and foot box are adequately spacious if not as capacious as the roomiest bags I’ve reviewed—without much contorting, I could bring a knee up to my chest. The generous hood wraps comfortably around my head and has a close fit even without tightening the drawcord, and closes down snugly around my face when I do tighten it.

The full-length, two-way, burly YKK zipper runs silky smooth and never snagged, thanks to a stiffer fabric backing it on the draft tube (which also seals out drafts). The shell is made of 20-denier nylon ripstop with a DWR (durable, water-repellant coating), as found in many lightweight bags; and similarly, the 30-denier nylon taffeta lining is common and comfortable enough against skin.

Bonus: The Kyan and Azura come with a compression stuff sack. The summer versions are the Kyan 35 and women’s Azura 35, both $200 ($220 long), 1 lb. 12 oz. (regular).

The Verdict

A synthetic bag is a smart choice if you routinely sleep in wet climes—and a bag’s insulation doesn’t have to get rained on to get damp, moisture can enter the insulation from your body or humid air inside a tent on a trip with sustained rainy weather. And the Nemo men’s Kyan and women’s Azura offer the warm-when-wet benefit of synthetic insulation with the packability of affordable, mid-quality down—at a super value.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links to purchase a Nemo Kyan 20 sleeping bag at moosejaw.com or campsaver.com, a Nemo Azura 20 at moosejaw.com, outdoorplay.com, or rei.com, a Nemo Kyan 35 at backcountry.com, moosejaw.com or rei.com, or a Nemo Azura 35 moosejaw.com or rei.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Want to make your pack lighter and all of your backpacking trips more enjoyable? See my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” If you don’t have a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read part of that story for free, or click here to download that full story without having a paid membership.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures. Join now to read ALL stories and get a free e-guide!

I know I’m not the easiest person to share a tent with: I flop from side to side during the night. A side sleeper, I curl up with knees bent and extend my arms almost fully. I’ve always preferred mummy-style sleeping bags for their efficiency at trapping heat—but some feel a bit too much like a coffin. On numerous nights of backpacking and camping from the Grand Canyon’s Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop in May to Idaho’s City of Rocks in June and Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows area in July, I found that the stretch panels of the Big Agnes Picket SL 30 gave me an experience closer to sleeping in my bed at home.

The key feature is the stretch side panels filled with PrimaLoft Gold Active insulation, allowing much more mobility than a traditional mummy bag. The stretch insulation moves with the fabric, so you don’t open up gaps in the insulation that would let cold air inside. The panels stretch enough for me to easily bring my knees to my chest, extend my arms nearly completely while lying on one side and keep them inside the bag, even get dressed inside without it becoming a rigorous core workout.

PrimaLoft Silver insulation throughout most of the bag makes it warm enough for me to use on nights in the 30s Fahrenheit (but I don’t get cold very easily; cold sleepers often prefer a bag rated 20 degrees lower than the lowest temps they expect to encounter). In short, the Picket’s 21 ounces of insulation, offset quilted construction, and vaulted foot box deliver warmth that’s about average for bags in this category—neither exceptional nor inferior. Plus the synthetic insulation retains its ability to trap heat even when wet.

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The hood’s shape and draft collar provide an opening that’s fairly close-fitting but not claustrophobic with the zipper up but the hood not tightened at all, negating the need to cinch it tighter except on really chilly nights, while the one-hand hood drawcord operates very easily. The 65-inch zipper moves smoothly and extends nearly the full length of the bag—allowing for venting at the foot end or opening the bag up completely to use like a blanket (with just your feet tucked into the foot box), as I did on warm nights—and an anti-snag draft tube generally prevents fabric getting caught in the zipper and acted as an efficient wall against cold air.

The nylon ripstop shell has a water-repellent finish. The bag stuffs easily into its lightweight sack, measuring 8×17.5 inches (20x45cm) packed, although I could stuff it into a sack a bit more than half that size, rendering it as compact as just about any bag I’ve seen in this temperature rating.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

While down-filled bags still hold a slight edge for packability and usually warmth-per-ounce, the Big Agnes Picket SL 30 offers a very comfortable, synthetic alternative to down at a competitive price. The Big Agnes Bolten SL 20 ($290 to $300) is a 20°F version of the Picket.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links to purchase a Big Agnes Picket SL 30 sleeping bag at moosejaw.com or campsaver.com, or the Big Agnes Bolten SL 20 at moosejaw.com or campsaver.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this review, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures. Subscribe now to read ALL stories and get a free e-guide!

What if every time you laid down money for hiking, backpacking, or other outdoors gear, you always knew exactly what you needed and were invariably satisfied with your purchase for years afterward? What if you knew every time whether it was smarter to spring for the pricier piece of gear or go for the cheaper model? What if you always knew when and where to find the best gear at rock-bottom sale prices?

Read on to learn how you can become that expert gear buyer—just in time for ongoing gear sales at many online retailers.

Like me, you love getting out dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, and/or trail running. We need the right gear and apparel for those activities. That stuff costs money. So we have to make choices over what we need, the best products among myriad models, which of them represent the best value, and ultimately, what we can afford.

More than two decades as a professional gear tester and reviewer have taught me a lot about making informed gear choices and when and where to shop for gear. Here are my tips for becoming a smarter gear consumer who understands how to get the best value for your buck. Please share your thoughts on my tips or your own best tips in the comments section at the bottom of this story.

Top 3 Tips For Buying Gear

For starters, my three top rules about buying outdoor gear would apply to buying almost any consumer product:

1. Do some research to understand what you need and the differences between choices available. (Start with the categorized menus and buying tips at my Gear Reviews page.)

2. Don’t buy at the last minute. Planning ahead usually gives you more choices and opportunities to find discounted prices. (Save money and support my work on this blog by making purchases through these links at moosejaw.com and rei.com, as well as links you find in the many gear reviews at The Big Outside.)

3. Assess price in terms of the gear’s value to you. If you use it infrequently, perhaps less-expensive gear (assuming it’s of adequate quality) will suit your needs just fine. But if you use it a lot and can afford it, high-quality gear pays for itself many times over in the currency of your quality of experience. And that matters.

Buy smartly. Read my “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear” and
“Why and When to Spend More on Hiking and Backpacking Gear.”

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

Use These Expert Gear-Buying Tips

Shop for any gear and you will quickly discover: There are a lot of choices out there. Sometimes it can be difficult or even overwhelming to sort through them all and discern which product is best for your needs—which is critical, because we all have individual needs and purposes for gear.

See my pro tips on finding the right backpack, backcountry tent, shoes or boots, sleeping bag, rain jacket, and sleeping bag in these articles:

5 Tips For Buying the Right Backpack
5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent
How to Choose the Best Ultralight Backpacking Tent for You
Pro Tips For Buying the Right Boots
Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag
5 Pro Tips For Buying the Right Rain Jacket For the Backcountry

Those articles are premium content, which means that reading them requires a full paid subscription to The Big Outside, which costs as little as five bucks for a month, or pennies over four bucks a month for a full year. That’s a great value when you consider how much you will save as a more-informed gear consumer. Read more about subscribing here.

In the left sidebar, you’ll find a tag cloud with links to all reviews in categories like backpacking gear and backpacks.

Want to read any story linked here? Get full access to ALL stories at The Big Outside, plus a FREE e-guide. Subscribe now!

No Time? Cut to the Chase

If you simply want my recommendations on the best gear, you can find a long list of Best in Class reviews at my Gear Reviews page, including the 10 best backpacking packs and down jackets; the best ultralight backpacks; the five best backpacking tents, rain jackets, and headlamps; and the best daypacks for hiking. (All of those articles are free content, and you support my work on this blog anytime you make a purchase through a link to an online retailer in any of my reviews.)

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You’ll also find hundreds of reviews at The Big Outside, ranging from the best new stuff on the market to gear and apparel that’s a year or more old but still of high quality—and may be available now at a price steeply discounted from its original price, simply because it’s no longer new. As I point out in my “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear,” this is stuff that went on sale new at higher prices just months earlier—it’s current technology, not ancient crap.

Looking for great prices soon? Bookmark sites like moosejaw.com, REI Garage, Sierra Trading Post, and theclymb.com, and watch for seasonal sales going on now or coming up soon.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

Choosing between sleeping bags can sometimes feel like getting the names of identical twins right—they look an awful lot alike. With bags, you can compare certain key specs: temperature rating, type and amount of insulation (or fill), total weight, and, of course, the price. Using those metrics, the new Sierra Designs Nitro bags look like a pretty good value, so I slept in the 20-degree Nitro 800 while camping on some cool and windy May nights at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, and on a three-night, 39-mile backpacking trip in Wyoming’s Wind River Range in mid-September, to see if its performance matches its impressive numbers.

While SD calls it a 20-degree bag, its standardized EN ratings of 28° F (-2° C) for comfort and 17° F (-9° C) for limit offer a good sense of what the average person will find it adequately warm for—although people who get cold easily (including many women) may not want to actually test those temp ratings. Not surprisingly, I found it more than warm enough for nights in the low 40s Fahrenheit; I didn’t have to zip it up completely, even in clammy, rainy weather (sleeping inside a tent). The bag is stuffed with 14.7 ounces of PFC-free, water-resistant, 800-fill-power DriDown, insulation that retains its ability to trap heat even when wet, and will dry out faster than bags stuffed with standard down feathers.

The women’s regular bag contains the same amount of down as the men’s regular, even though it’s four inches shorter, giving the women’s bag a higher density of insulation. That makes it warmer. But given how much more easily women get cold than men, on average, that difference in the bags merely helps justify giving them identical temp ratings.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter, or enter your email address in the box in the left sidebar or at the bottom of this story. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

The high-quality down helps explain why the Nitro 800/20 Degree weighs in a few ounces south of two pounds—that’s light for a bag with this temp rating. Many lightweight bags achieve a comparable weight partly by literally cutting corners—reducing the bag’s volume, thus using less materials, which naturally translates to less weight but a claustrophobic fit. I’ve slept in too many that were just too tight for even my average build.

To SD’s credit, that’s not the case with the Nitro. It’s mummy cut is more generous than you’ll find in a lot of bags, with a 62-inch circumference at the shoulders, 56 inches at the hips, and 40 inches at the feet (in the men’s regular). I could spread my knees and feet comfortably apart and, as a side sleeper, extend my arms not quite completely straight, but enough to sleep basically in the position I would in my bed. Unfortunately, taller women are out of luck: The one women’s size bag only fits people up to five feet, eight inches.

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I like how, when the bag is completely zipped up, the roomy, adjustable hood fits fairly snugly around my face before I tighten it at all. That also meant I could keep my head outside the hood without letting any cold draft inside the bag. That’s thanks in part to a five-inch-wide draft collar extending all the way to the shoulders. The five-inch horizontal baffles and side wall baffles prevent down from migrating and causing cold spots.

Personally, I’m not a fan of SD’s zipperless foot vent; a couple of times, I inadvertently poked my feet outside the bag when shifting around. Besides, I know at most two or three people who stick their feet outside of their bag when camping; I’ve probably never done that. Still, this feature will appeal to some people—and it comes without additional zipper weight—and accidental foot exposure to cold air wasn’t a regular occurrence in the Nitro.

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On the other hand, I consider the half-length, 40-inch zipper ideal: minimizing weight by eliminating something I don’t need—that is, the ability to cool my legs when sleeping—while making it long enough to easily get in and out of the bag. However, the downside of a half zipper is that you cannot open the bag up fully to use it like a blanket on exceptionally mild nights—but then, most people don’t buy a 20-degree bag for exceptionally mild nights. I found the zipper not entirely snag-proof, but more importantly, it’s very easy to free it if and when it does snag on the inside fabric. The 15-denier shell and liner fabrics help minimize the total weight, but that’s about as light as bag fabrics get, so be gentle with this sack, especially if sleeping out under the stars.

You won’t find any new or special technology in the Sierra Designs Nitro bags—just a comfortable, high-quality, lightweight sleeping bag with water-resistant down at a competitive price. That’s enough reason to get one. SD also makes the Nitro in a men’s 35-degree version ($300, 1 lb. 6 oz.) and men’s and women’s 0-degree ($380, 2 lbs. 8 oz.) versions.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a men’s or women’s Sierra Designs Nitro 20 sleeping bag, or one of the other versions, at backcountry.com, moosejaw.com, or sierradesigns.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

You live for the outdoors. The Big Outside helps you get out there. Subscribe now and a get free e-guide!

On the last night of a 40-mile May backpacking trip in Utah’s Dark Canyon, a friend and I slept out under the stars and a heavy dew fell during the night. But I didn’t notice it until after waking up, seeing the droplets covering everything around me, and sticking a hand outside to feel my bag’s wet shell. Inside my REI Magma 10—which appeared to lose none of its loft, despite its shell getting soaked—I stayed warm and dry. That was a clincher moment in convincing me of what a super value REI’s men’s and women’s Magma sleeping bags represent in high-quality, water-resistant down bags.

I slept comfortably in this mummy bag for three May nights backpacking Utah’s Dark Canyon, including one night at over 8,500 feet when the low dipped into the 30s Fahrenheit and I left the rainfly off my tent and wore only underwear and a long-sleeve top. (A tent with its rainfly on is usually several degrees warmer than the outside air; but it doesn’t trap heat with the rainfly off.) The bag warmed up within a minute after I crawled inside, and I closed the bag and hood up completely.

I also used it on two nights in the 40s Fahrenheit on a 39-mile, mid-September backpacking trip in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, including a night when the bag’s shell got damp from heavy rain blowing into the tent before I woke up and closed the vestibule door (which I’d left open because it wasn’t raining when I fell asleep). And I pushed the bag’s temp rating on a night at 17° F before starting an early-March backpacking trip in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park: I had to wear a couple of top layers and long underwear and still was only marginally warm enough to sleep well.

It was more than warm enough for the temperatures I experienced; most nights, I didn’t even have to zip it up completely or put up the hood. I think the EN (European Norm) comfort rating of 22° F and limit rating 10° F for the men’s Magma 10, and 17° F and 3° F for the women’s Magma 17, are reliable measures for people who don’t get cold too easily; those who do may prefer to use these bags in temps at least 10 to 15 degrees warmer than those ratings.

I stayed dry when the bag got wet thanks to its 17.6 ounces (500 grams) of water-resistant 850-fill goose down feathers (in the men’s regular), and a down-proof Pertex shell that let no feathers leak out and repelled moisture. The shell dried quickly in the morning sunshine, thanks in part to its black color.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Please follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

The bag’s generous dimensions—72 inches long, 60 inches of girth at the shoulders, and 57 inches at the hips (in the men’s regular)—allowed me to easily pull on pants while inside it. The warm, contoured hood’s two drawstrings let me adjust the fit as snugly as I wanted around my face, and it has space for a small, inflatable pillow, while an insulated neck yoke keeps cold air outside.

The horizontal baffles with variable spacing prevent the down from migrating, for thermal efficiency and to help minimize weight. The trapezoidal foot box provides comfortable space and keeps feet warm. The zipper moves smoothly, without snagging, thanks to a zipper cover and an internal anti-snag strip. The stuff sack measures 15×7.5 inches (eight liters), but a compression sack can squeeze this into a slightly smaller package.

REI has built a successful business model based partly on offering quality products at value prices. With the men’s Magma 10 and women’s Magma 17 sleeping bags, it has done that again.

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BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase any of the men’s or women’s REI Magma sleeping bags at rei.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying Sleeping Bags” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons at right, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

You live for the outdoors. The Big Outside helps you get out there. Join now and a get free e-guide!

When is a mummy-style bag too constricting? I’ve used ultralight, three-season bags that felt a little too coffin-like. But in winter—or wintry conditions, such as you encounter when mountaineering in spring and summer—there are more practical reasons to use a bag with extra space, and you get it with the Storm King 0. Beyond its dimensions, the Storm King’s water-resistant down feathers, fairly unique “system” design that requires sliding an air mattress into a sleeve on the bag’s bottom side, and its relatively affordable price for this category of bags merits a close look.

My 15-year-old son and I swapped off using this bag and another 0-degree model for three nights camping on snow in temperatures as low as the teens Fahrenheit on a four-day climb of the Mountaineers Route on California’s 14,505-foot Mount Whitney in mid-April; and for three mid-February nights skiing and snow camping in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, with lows ranging from just below freezing to the mid-30s. While I found it too warm for temps above freezing, my 13-year-old daughter, who gets cold very easily, loved this bag’s warmth on a backpacking and car camping trip in March in southeastern Utah, with lows from the 40s to below freezing.

The semi-rectangular Storm King is noticeably roomier than many backcountry bags: the regular measures 70x65x53 inches. I could easily roll around, get dressed inside the bag (a big plus in sub-freezing temps), and sleep in more natural and comfortable positions—closer to the experience of sleeping in my own bed (except for the snow). I stuffed my pants and base layer top deep into the vaulted foot box (which has more space for feet than most backcountry bags), both to add a little insulation for my tootsies and so my clothes would be warm in the morning. And yet the bag’s space doesn’t compromise warmth by having too much real estate for a small person to heat up: My son and daughter, both slightly more than five feet tall and 100 pounds on these trips, stayed warm on nights well below freezing.

Inside the bag is 24.5 ounces (26.5 ounces in the long bag) of water-repellant, 650-fill Downtek down feathers, which resist absorbing water much better than standard down and dry faster once wet. While the 650-fill quality makes this bag a little bulkier and heavier than bags with higher fill power down, it’s also considerably less expensive—about three-quarters to half the price of many high-quality 0-degree bags—and the regular bag still compresses to a manageable 8×9 inches.

Like many Big Agnes bags, the Storm King lacks insulation on the bottom; it’s all on top, where it’s most functional (rather than getting flattened underneath you), and a mattress slides into a sleeve on the bag’s bottom to insulate you from the snow or frozen ground. As a side sleeper, I haven’t always liked this system because the hood doesn’t tend to turn with your head. But the Storm King’s redesigned hood now moves free of the pad sleeve: While it doesn’t turn a full 90 degrees with my head, it’s an improvement over the previous design, and the bag’s draft collar covers whichever ear is facing up. Plus, there’s an even stronger argument for this system—integrating the pad with the bag—in winter, when your bag sliding off your pad will make you cold fast and could wake you repeatedly.

The fat hood, collar, and draft tube along the non-snagging zipper keep warm air in and cold air out. The shell fabric isn’t waterproof, but is treated to repel moisture, which protects against moderate condensation inside a tent. Stretch fabric on the sides of the pad sleeve accommodates air mats in a range of thicknesses. Lastly, I like the stretch-fabric pillow pocket beneath the hood.

Whether you’re camping in winter conditions, just prefer a more spacious bag, or like the Big Agnes system of incorporating the air mattress into the bag, the Storm King 0 sleeping bag offers several reasons to recommend it.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase a Big Agnes Storm King 0 sleeping bag at moosejaw.com.

See all of my reviews of winter sleeping bags and all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like, and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, plus my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my stories:

“12 Pro Tips For Staying Warm Outdoors in Winter”
“Review: Gear For Climbing Mount Whitney”
“Ask Me: How Can You Tell How Warm a Down Jacket Is?”
“The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Sleeping Bag
Marmot Ion 20
$419, 1 lb. 13 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular and long ($439)
moosejaw.com

Heading into Washington’s North Cascades National Park for an 80-mile backpacking trip in the last week of September, I didn’t want to take a chance on gear and clothing that might not stand up to cold, wet weather, maybe even sub-freezing nights and snow in that notoriously soggy mountain range. The hybrid-insulation Ion 20 fit the specs for that mission, thanks to its blend of high-quality down feathers and synthetic insulation and super warmth for such a lightweight bag.

I slept in it for four nights in the North Cascades, in mostly dry weather with lows that actually didn’t drop below around 40° F, and for one mid-October night in the 40s in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, when I slept outside, under the stars, without concern about dew settling on the bag. It was more than warm enough for those temps for someone who, like me, sleeps warm. I left it partly open every night, discovering the utility of Marmot’s nine-inch-long, “fold-down” second zipper, which lets you open both sides of the bag at your chest and shoulders for added ventilation, but also makes it easier to sit in the bag in a tent or in camp and keep both arms outside to use your hands for tasks. I think the Ion 20 is true to its EN comfort temp rating of 28° F (the EN lower limit rating is 17° F and the extreme rating is -15° F), but also that people who sleep cold would find its warmth perfect for three-season camping.

Marmot’s Composite Construction achieves the benefits of down (high warmth-to-weight ratio) and synthetic insulation (retains warmth when wet) by combining 850+-fill goose down around the body, head, and feet, with synthetic Thermal R Micro insulation on the bottom of the bag. Sporting nearly five inches of loft, the Ion 20 looks warm. The hood’s intricate, multi-baffle design delivers a close and comfortable fit when sealed up tight, while the wrap-around construction at the feet increases warmth at the typically coldest end of a bag. The curved-baffle construction minimizes unwanted migration of down feathers.

With a 60-inch circumference at the shoulders, 58 inches at the hips, and 41 inches at the feet (in the regular bag), I’d rank the roominess of the Ion in the middle of the pack of mummy bags: There’s enough space to not feel confining, and I could get dressed and undressed inside it; but sleeping on my side, I had to fold my arms up pretty close to my torso. The nearly full-length main zipper’s slider never snagged. The Pertex Quantum shell fabric is strong for its low weight, allowing maximum insulation loft while not leaking feathers or being susceptible to zipper snags. The combination of 12-denier and 15-denier nylon mini ripstop fabrics in the shell and lining also helps prevent zipper snags, but demands a little caution in handling the bag outside to avoid tears. The Ion 20 stuff sack measures 16×7 inches, but I packed the bag into a slightly smaller, roll-top stuff sack, so it didn’t fill the bottom of a 55-liter backpack.

The Marmot Ion 20 delivers equally high value and performance: You won’t find many bags with this temperature rating that are under two pounds, or with this level of quality of materials and construction at this price. It’s a good choice for anyone who routinely heads out in cold, wet mountains, or someone who wants extra warmth in a three-season bag without extra weight or bulk.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase a Marmot Ion 20 at moosejaw.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my stories:
“The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun”
“Buying Gear? Read This First”
“Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”
“10 Tricks For Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier”
“My Top 10 Favorite Backpacking Trips”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside is proud to partner with these sponsors. Please help support my blog by liking and following my sponsors on Facebook and other social media and telling them you appreciate their support for The Big Outside.

Do you like The Big Outside? I’m Michael Lanza, the creator of The Big Outside, recognized as a top outdoors blog by a USA Today Readers Choice poll and others. Subscribe for updates about new stories and free gear giveaways by entering your email address in the box at the bottom of this story, at the top of the left sidebar, or on my About page, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

Three-Season Sleeping Bag
Big Agnes Boot Jack 25
$190, 2 lbs. 6 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular and long ($200)
moosejaw.com

Backpackers and campers shopping for a sleeping bag often focus on just a few specs: temperature rating, length, insulation type, and of course, price. They might not give consideration to construction, design, or how the bag fits—as in how much space you have to move around. They might not even bother to crawl inside to try it on. Sleeping in the Boot Jack 25 from Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains and City of Rocks National Reserve to the Panamint Range of Death Valley National Park, I found it nearly true to its 25-degree temp rating, very competitively priced for its quality—and, just as importantly, it has fairly spacious dimensions, so I slept like a baby.

A traditional mummy bag—with insulation on all sides and lacking the pad sleeve on the bottom that’s common in many Big Agnes bags—the Boot Jack 25 is stuffed with 18 ounces (in the regular length) of 600-fill, water-resistant DownTek feathers, which are better able to trap heat when wet and dry out faster than standard down feathers. The nylon ripstop shell fabric also has the level of water repellency seen in many bags—basically meaning that small amounts of moisture, as you’d get from a bit of dripping condensation in a tent, will bead up and slide off the fabric, but sustained exposure to moisture will soak through the shell into the insulation.

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Zip it up tight and snug the hood and you’ll notice a different space aesthetic than found in lightweight or ultralight bags. With a girth of 60 inches at the shoulders, 54 inches at the hips, and 36 inches at the feet (all for the regular bag), the Boot Jack allowed me to lie on my side and partly extend my arms, get dressed and undressed inside the bag, and spread my feet apart somewhat—a freedom of movement you don’t find in all mummy bags.

The Boot Jack 25 also sports design features found in pricier bags. Continuous horizontal baffles encircle the bag, preventing cold spots and keeping feathers from migrating in a vertical direction (between the head and foot ends). The hood is generously insulated and adjusts easily using a single drawcord, and I really like how its cordlock keeps the cord outside the bag, instead of hanging in my face when I’m lying on the opposite side. The fat draft tube inside the full-length, two-way side zipper ensures against contact with a cold zipper, and a wide strip of slightly heavier nylon kept the zipper from ever snagging. Similarly, the shaped draft collar provides substantial coverage to keep warm air in and cold air out, making the bag feel warmer. As a side sleeper, I sometimes left the hood open completely, but let the neck tube sit on one ear.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter, or enter your email address in the box in the left sidebar or at the bottom of this story. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

On a June night in the 30s Fahrenheit at the City of Rocks, I kept perfectly warm even without the hood over my head (but I don’t get cold easily). On nights with lows in the 40s, from May in Death Valley National Park to August in the Sawtooths, I slept with the top of the bag open, even without the rainfly on my tent (a rainfly traps more heat in a tent). My 13-year-old daughter, who gets cold easily, slept in it warmly on nights in the upper 40s on a July rafting and kayaking trip on the Green River through Lodore Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument.

At 8×17.5 inches when stuffed, it’s not as compact as an ultralight bag, but not excessively bulky. Although its roomier dimensions and lower down fill rating make it heavier than the lightest down bags at this temp rating, for under $200, the Boot Jack 25 delivers a good value that should last for years of use.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase a Big Agnes Boot Jack 25 at moosejaw.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews organized by categories at my Gear Reviews page.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures. Subscribe now to read ALL stories and get a free e-guide!

Sleeping Bag
Exped DreamWalker 450
$349, 2 lbs. 1 oz. (medium)
Sizes: medium (fits up to 5 feet, 11 ins.), large (fits up to 6 feet, 5 ins.)
moosejaw.com

On a cool, early morning at Numa Creek camp on the Rockwall Trail in Canada’s Kootenay National Park, I told my wife I was heading for the camp’s cooking area to fire up our stove for breakfast. She responded in her way of letting me know she wasn’t getting up yet: “It’s cold out there.” I said, “That’s why I’m staying in my bag.” And I was: Within seconds, I converted my DreamWalker 450 bag into a long down parka and proceeded to wear it walking and sitting around in camp.

With a full-length, two-way, center zipper, zippered armholes, and a foot end that opens and seals with a drawcord, the DreamWalker morphs from bag to long down parka or blanket. To wear it as a parka, you fold the foot end up and snug the drawcord around your like a belt. It lacks sleeves, so I needed a long-sleeve base layer and often a shell jacket underneath it to keep my arms warm. Still, the DreamWalker allows you to leave a down jacket at home on many three-season trips, or bring a lighter puffy jacket than you would otherwise on colder outings—removing significant weight and bulk from your backpack. For side sleepers like me, the center zipper offers the added benefit of no zipper pull hanging in your face. The design is so simple and efficient it’s a wonder more manufacturers aren’t copying it (or more consumers aren’t demanding it).

The bag’s EN ratings of 46° F for comfort, 37° F limit, and 12° F extreme seem conservative. Stuffed with 11.6 oz. (330g) of 750-fill goose down, it proved warm enough for me (I’m a warm sleeper) wearing only a long-sleeve top or T-shirt, underwear, and socks, and for my skinny 15-year-old son on nights in the 30s and 40s Fahrenheit in Kootenay in August, and Idaho’s the City of Rocks National Reserve in June, Sawtooth Mountains in September, and White Cloud Mountains in October. On two mild nights in the 50s, backpacking the 34-mile Royal Arch Loop in the Grand Canyon, I used it opened up like a comforter.

Handwarmer pockets let me warm my fingers while doing camp chores sans gloves on chilly mornings. The armholes are convenient in surprising ways, such as allowing me to zip inside the bag and have my arms outside it to read in the tent. When the armholes, which have draft tubes over them, are closed, and the foot box drawcord is tightened, there’s no loss of warmth from them; it performs like any other bag. The 20-denier nylon shell fabric is what you’ll find on many lightweight bags. The DreamWalker 450 packs down to 8.7×9.5 inches (22x24cm), roughly the size of a load of bread, and comes with a roll-top, waterproof compression stuff sack—the rare sleeping bag stuff sack that I use. (I typically use a dry sack like the Sea to Summit eVent Compression Dry Sack; see my review of my favorite backpacking accessories.)

The design’s inherent limitations are that you can’t easily walk any real distance wearing it—as you might wearing a down jacket in deep cold—and I found the 29.5-inch (75cm) shoulder width a little snug. But for many trips, it delivers undeniable efficiency by pulling double duty. There’s also a DreamWalker 650 ($479), rated to 35° F comfort and 26° F limit.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase an Exped DreamWalker 450 at moosejaw.com.

See my review of another convertible bag, the Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 800, all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my stories:
“The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun”
“Buying Gear? Read This First”
“Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews organized by categories at my Gear Reviews page.

—Michael Lanza

Do you like The Big Outside? I’m Michael Lanza, the creator of The Big Outside, recognized as a top outdoors blog by a USA Today Readers Choice poll and others. Subscribe for updates about new stories and free gear giveaways by entering your email address in the box at the bottom of this story, at the top of the left sidebar, or on my About page, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

Ultralight Sleeping Bag
Western Mountaineering Summerlite
$420, 1 lb. 3 oz. (regular)
Sizes: short, regular, and long
backcountry.com

The lightest sleeping bags for summer camping—meaning for temperatures from the 50s Fahrenheit to around freezing—rarely include features like a hood, a draft tube, and a two-way, full-length zipper. The Summerlite has all of those while weighing in at barely north of a pound and remaining true to its 32-degree rating. On a weeklong, late-March trip in southern Utah, I slept in it for nights of car camping and backpacking in the Dirty Devil River canyon, when the low dipped into the high 20s, and found it warm, spacious enough, and supremely packable.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-guides to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.

With 10 ounces of 850-fill down feathers packed inside continuous baffles that encircle the bag, the Summerlite’s four inches of loft looks pretty fat for a summer bag. Continuous baffles are simple fabric tubes enwrapping the bag, within which you can shift down feathers, moving them to the top or bottom side of the bag, depending on how much warmth you need. I did not experience any unwanted migration of feathers—although that’s more common with continuous baffles than other types of baffles (and down can clump and distribute unevenly if you wash a bag with continuous baffles and don’t dry it properly). Unlike with some lightweight bags, the Summerlite has a thick, insulated draft tube inside the zipper to keep out drafts. The full-length zipper let me ventilate on nights in the 40s; you can also open it up enough to use it almost like a quilt, with your feet tucked inside the foot box. The zipper moves smoothly, and when it occasionally snagged briefly, I could easily pull the ulralight fabric out of the zipper.

For a lightweight mummy, it has good space—enough to get dressed inside. I like the 59-inch shoulder girth, which is thermally efficient, as a mummy bag should be: It warmed up in seconds as soon as I slipped inside. But I could also partly extend my arms while sleeping on my side, so that when I did seal the bag up tight on colder nights, I didn’t feel shrink-wrapped. But I’m of average build; broader people might find the bag snug. I could close the adjustable hood up snugly, leave it wide open, or micro-adjust the face opening within a wide range.

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The bag packs into a one-ounce stuff sack that’s only slightly larger than a bread loaf. Construction is excellent and the bag should last many years. The first quality sleeping bag I ever bought was a Western Mountaineering, and I got a quarter-century of use out of it without the bag losing any loft or anything breaking (and I handed it down to someone who will get more years out of it).

One demerit: The hood adjustment strap hangs in the face of side sleepers. Still, the Summerlite is one of the lightest and most packable summer bags you will find that’s fully featured and built to last, and one of the best choices out there for ounce counters.

BUY IT NOW

You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase a Western Mountaineering Summerlite at backcountry.com.

See all reviews of sleeping bags, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See reviews organized by categories and buying tips at my Gear Reviews page.

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures.
Join now for full access to ALL stories and get a free e-guide and member gear discounts!

—Michael Lanza

Are you in the market for a new pack or boots for hiking or backpacking, or a new tent or sleeping bag? How do you find something that’s just right for you? What should you be looking for? How much should you spend? These are questions I’ve heard from many friends and readers over the years as they’ve waded through the myriad choices that are out there. Here are my five top tips for buying gear that’s right for you, gleaned from lessons I’ve learned from two decades of testing and reviewing gear and helping people find gear they love.

No matter what you’re shopping for—boots, pack, tent, bag, other gear or some major piece of apparel like a jacket—consumers grapple with largely the same, general questions that I wrote above. They’re trying to narrow the daunting array of choices out there, but they’re not quite sure how to do that.

I’ve listed below five steps to follow in the decision-making process for buying gear. At the bottom, I’ve provided links to my stories offering specific tips on buying a new pack, boots, tent, and bag.

No. 1 Decide What It’s For

A friend asked me once to recommend boots he could buy for backpacking that would also work well for climbing glaciated peaks (in the Pacific Northwest); I told him that was a little like shopping for a dump truck that would also give him good mileage as a commuting vehicle. If you set out in search of a pack or boots for every dayhike or backpacking trip you ever take, then you may wind up with just that—which may serve your needs in a general way, but not be quite right for anything. Focus on how you intend to use that item most of the time, and buy something that’s good for that purpose.

No. 2 Decide What You Need

Do you need solid ankle support, or do you prefer really lightweight, nimble footwear? Are you a big guy who needs a roomy tent, or a parent backpacking with a young child with a top priority of minimizing gear weight? Do you want the lightest bag you can afford, or do you get cold easily and need a bag that’s a little fatter and warmer than the average person uses?

The reason for the almost infinite number of choices in gear is the infinite variability in the wants and needs of consumers. That can seem confusing but it’s ultimately good for you. Your first step in the buying may simply be writing down your customized answers to numbers one and two in this list of tips and using that as a guide as you begin winnowing your short list.

No. 3 Get the Fit Right

Especially with footwear, packs, and performance apparel, fit and personal satisfaction go together like chips and salsa. You can be happy with boots or a pack that are not quite what you wanted, but are what you could afford; but you’ll never be happy with the top-of-the-line, expensive boots or pack that don’t fit you well. A poorly fitting pack can make you miserable, while poorly fitting boots can end a trip. With those gear items for which fit becomes critical, boots and packs, narrow your list to at least three options, and perhaps up to six or seven, based on steps one and two (above). Then go try them on and you will find the model you like.

No. 4 Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

The best way to spend more than you want or need to spend, and be forced to settle for something that’s not quite what you wanted, is to wait until the last day or two before a trip and rush out to buy something.

You wouldn’t buy a car or a house that way, because you want to take the time to find something that feels just right for you. Treat buying boots, a pack, tent, bag, or other major gear or outdoor-apparel item the same way—those aren’t like batteries or stove fuel that you dash out to pick up at the last minute. Plus, shopping around weeks or even months in advance gives you time to wait for sale prices.

Do you like The Big Outside? I’m Michael Lanza, the creator of The Big Outside, recognized as a top outdoors blog by a USA Today Readers Choice poll and others. Subscribe for updates about new stories and free gear giveaways by entering your email address in the box at the bottom of this story, at the top of the left sidebar, or on my About page, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

No. 5 Spend What You Can Afford

This last nugget of advice goes both ways: If you can only afford an entry-level pack or other piece of gear, look for the best-quality item that’s within your budget and get it. (Tip: Pick a brand name known for high quality, because they will usually bring the same dedication to quality to their affordable gear as they do to their pricier gear.) Maybe it won’t be as comfortable or last as long as the high-end gear you coveted, but it will enable you to get out there and have fun and may last you until you can afford something better. (See my “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear.”)

By the same token, I always tell friends or readers seeking advice: If you can afford the best, why settle for something that will be less comfortable, or heavier, or not fit or perform as well as pricier pieces of gear or apparel that are within your budget? Measure the value in terms of your enjoyment and comfort as well as the cost per mile or day of use, because higher-quality gear, while pricier, often proves much more durable than cheaper stuff. It’s money well spent.

See a categorized menu of all of my reviews of hiking gear, backpacking gear, daypacks, backpacks, hiking shoes, backpacking boots, backpacking tents, sleeping bags, and kids’ outdoor gear and these stories at The Big Outside:

“5 Tips For Buying the Right Backpack”

“Pro Tips For Buying the Right Boots”

“5 Tips For How to Buy a Backpacking Tent”

“Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag”

See also my stories “The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun,” “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear,” “Why and When to Spend More on Outdoor Gear” and “Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

I take a bit of a different approach to testing and reviewing outdoor gear at The Big Outside. I don’t try to blanket my readers with reviews of every new piece of gear hitting the market—I can’t do it, but frankly, a lot of it is average and not worth recommending. Instead, I find the best backpacks and daypacks, backcountry tents, shoes and boots, bags, outdoor apparel, and other gear that I actually want to use and would recommend to friends. Then I take it on my backcountry trips and see if it works in real situations. After two decades of testing and reviewing gear, including many years as a field editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine, I think I have a pretty good eye for what outdoor gear and apparel performs well and delivers value and what’s not worth your money.

That’s what you’ll find at my Gear Reviews page—only reviews of products I would recommend to my closest friends.

If you’re looking for gear for hiking, backpacking, climbing, skiing, or another outdoor activity, that page organizes all of my reviews by category, so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for among the hundreds of reviews at The Big Outside.

Besides listing the various categories of outdoor gear and apparel reviews you can find at The Big Outside, such as backpack reviews and backpacking tent reviews, that page has links to several of my most helpful stories about gear, including my expert tips on buying gear, my favorite new gear of the year, and my popular ultralight backpacking tips.

Tell me what you think of that page by commenting in this story or at my About page.

My blog can help you find the right gear for your style of adventure. Good luck and have fun out there.

The Big Outside is proud to partner with these sponsors. Please help support my blog by liking and following my sponsors on Facebook and other social media and telling them you appreciate their support for The Big Outside.

Do you like my blog? I’m Michael Lanza, the creator of The Big Outside, and I appreciate connecting with my readers. I invite you to subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the box at the top of the left sidebar or below, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

Three-Season Sleeping Bag
Marmot Scandium (20° F)
$199, 2 lbs. 14 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular and long ($219)
marmot.com

A backpacking truth: You can say what you want about the details of a bag’s construction, but the real measure of its value comes on nights when you need it to accomplish just one function—keep you warm. Beside Quiet Lake at over 9,200 feet in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains in early October, I awoke to find frost coating much of our gear that we’d left outside the tent; the overnight low had dropped nearly to freezing. And I had not even noticed the cold, snoozing comfortably all night in the Scandium.

When overnight rain blew into our tent through a vestibule door (before I closed it) in the White Clouds, dampening one side of the bag, its warmth wasn’t compromised at all. The explanation: The Scandium is stuffed with a blend of water-resistant, 650-fill down on top and Marmot’s proprietary SpiralFill synthetic insulation on bottom. A combination designed precisely for wet circumstances, it also marries the benefits of down (low weight and bulk) and synthetic insulation (retains warmth when wet), and helps keep the bag’s price well below the sticker on many competitor bags.

A mummy-style bag with a 20° F rating provided by Marmot (and an EN comfort rating of 19° F for men and 30° F for women), it’s plenty warm for most three-season trips, even for the coldest sleepers. My wife gets cold easily, and normally uses a 15° F down bag for summer trips in the mountains, and she found this bag very warm for three nights backpacking the Rockwall Trail in Canada’s Kootenay National Park in August, with lows near 40° F. I also slept in it in October in the City of Rocks, on a calm night with a low in the mid-40s, when the full-length, two-way zipper proved its value, letting me ventilate as much as needed.

Despite the price, it doesn’t skimp on features like a hood that cinches snugly around your head and an adjustable collar around the front of the neck to seal in heat. The girth of 61 ins. at the shoulders, 58 ins. at the hips, and 45 ins. at the feet achieves a balance between thermal efficiency and reasonable space to move around. The draft tube didn’t snag in the zipper, and the nylon ripstop and polyester shell has not leaked any feathers. Bonus value: It comes with a compression stuff sack.

You can pay a lot more for a three-season sleeping bag, mostly to get one that uses only water-resistant down with a higher fill rating, making it lighter and more compact. But for anyone on a budget, the Marmot Scandium delivers high value for your dollar.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to buy this product at backcountry.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear at The Big Outside, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my stories “My 10 Most-Read Gear Reviews,” “Buying Gear? Read This First,” “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear,” “The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun,” and “Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

I invite you to subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the box at the top of the left sidebar or on my About page, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

The Big Outside is proud to partner with Osprey Packs. Please help support my blog by liking and following my sponsors on Facebook and other social media and telling them you appreciate their support for The Big Outside.

Three-Season Sleeping Bag
Kelty Dualist 20
$150, 3 lbs. 1 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular and long ($160)
kelty.com

Outfitting yourself with good-quality backpacking gear when you’re on a budget can be a challenge, especially core gear like your pack, boots, tent, and sleeping bag. That’s why I wanted to test out Kelty’s competitively priced Dualist 20 on a weeklong rafting trip down Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River, where I discovered this dual-insulation bag delivers a lot of value for its bargain-basement price.

With an EN comfort rating of 22° F for men and 33° F for women, the Dualist 20 sports a hybrid construction that combines 550-fill, water-resistant DriDown as an outer layer of insulation (the layer beneath the shell) with ThermaPro synthetic insulation closer to your body. This isn’t a new concept—manufacturers have for years used a combination of down and synthetic insulation in bags to achieve the benefits of both: a good warmth-to-weight ratio from down, and the ability of synthetic insulation to keep you warm even when it’s wet. But you rarely, if ever, see a dual-insulation bag at this price. The Dualist 20 was certainly more than equal to the challenge of keeping me warm on the six nights I slept in it, inside a tent four nights and under the stars on two nights, in the mild temperatures I encountered in July on the Middle Fork of the Salmon (lows in the high 40s Fahrenheit). The box-baffle construction keeps the insulation from migrating, preventing cold spots. I sleep warm and I’d probably be comfortable in this bag on nights down to 25° to 30° F.

I really like its roominess from the shoulders right through to the foot box: I could sleep in any position without the straitjacket feeling I get in some ultralight mummy bags. I could easily get dressed or undressed inside the bag in cold temps; it’s roomy for bigger people. When condensation in my tent dripped onto the bag, the water merely beaded atop the 50-denier polyester taffeta shell, never affecting my warmth (though more water would eventually penetrate that shell). The 60-inch zipper opens from top or bottom, letting you ventilate at your feet and head while keeping your body core warmer. The Dualist has a draft tube along the zipper, a draft collar, and an adjustable hood that closes comfortably around your face.

Sure, there are tradeoffs for such a good price: The Dualist is heavier and bulkier (stuffed size 9×15 inches) than pricier bags with a comparable temperature rating, and lacks the lighter materials and cutting-edge construction employed in high-end bags that often results in them also being warmer. It also does not come with a storage sack (only a stuff sack); you’d want to buy a cotton storage sack or use an old pillow case so as not to crush the insulation by storing it long-term in its stuff sack. But if you’re looking for functional backpacking gear on a budget, the Dualist, consistent with other Kelty products, delivers good performance and value. Kelty also offers the Dualist 30 (EN 34, $110, 2 lbs. 5 oz. for the regular length).

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear at The Big Outside, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my stories “Buying Gear? Read This First,” “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear,” “The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun,” and “Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

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Two-Season Sleeping Bag
Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 800 (30° F)
$330, 1 lbs. 12 oz. (reg); $350 (long)
Sizes: men’s regular and long, women’s regular ($370)
moosejaw.com

It’s a chilly morning in the backcountry and the last thing you want to do is exit your warm sleeping bag to step outside. With the Mobile Mummy 800, you don’t have to—you can wear your sleeping bag outside to fire up breakfast or take care of other business. Although the concept of a wearable sleeping bag that converts to a long down jacket isn’t new, Sierra Designs has achieved a nice kind of perfection with the Mobile Mummy.

I slept—and lived part-time—in this bag for three nights of camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, when the low temperatures ranged from the mid-30s to high 40s Fahrenheit. I slept in a tent but always got up and out of the tent early in the morning, in the coldest hours of the day, when we had a lot of wind. The bag seems true to its EN comfort rating of 39° F and limit rating of 29° F: I sleep fairly warm, but didn’t even have to zip the bag up completely or seal up the hood on a night and early morning in the mid-30s (I wore a wool hat outside).

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The design is so simple it’s a wonder we don’t see more bags that convert to down jackets (and my friends were coveting the Mobile Mummy when I wore it around camp). Zipperless arm holes allow you to stick your arms outside the bag; the holes are large enough for full range of arm motion, and have overlapping fabric to completely seal out the cold when you pull your arms inside. The two-way, full-length center zipper lets you stick your legs out of the bag’s bottom, and toggles secure the bag’s foot end up behind your butt, allowing you to walk around naturally. The result is a hooded down jacket that extends below the butt—very warm, especially with the hood up. It’s missing only sleeves, of course, so I needed a warm base layer on cold mornings. I like center zippers because they’re easier to open and close; and I’m a side sleeper, so a center zipper tab doesn’t dangle in my face like a side zipper.

The bag is stuffed with water-resistant, 800-fill DriDown insulation, which retains its ability to insulate even when wet and dries more quickly than traditional down feathers. I only experienced a brief, light rain shower while wearing the bag on this trip, which had no effect on the bag’s warm or loft. The bag is roomy while still fitting like a jacket when worn as one, with space for wearing warm layers. The hood forms a clean fit around my face when I seal it up, and closes up tightly, more like a sleeping-bag hood than a hood on a down jacket. It comes with a 14×7-inch stuff sack, but can be packed to about the size of a one-liter bottle with a compression stuff sack.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Subscribe now to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Please follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

Besides negating the need to carry a down jacket of comparable warmth—eliminating roughly a pound and some bulk from your backpack—and the convenience of not having to get out of your bag to get up on cold mornings, its long length makes it warmer than a standard-length down jacket. Other than the disadvantage of having a long “jacket” with a bulky back side that occasionally gets in the way—when squatting to relieve yourself, for instance (you have to either carefully hitch it up or just take it off)—there’s hardly a downside to the Mobile Mummy. SD also offers a 15° F version (men’s $380, 2 lbs. 4 oz. regular, $400 long; women’s $420, 2 lbs. 7 oz.).

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to buy a men’s or women’s Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy bag at moosejaw.com.

Tell me what you think.

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See my review of another convertible bag, the Exped DreamWalker 450, all of my reviews of sleeping bags that I like and all of my reviews of backpacking gear, and my articles “Pro Tips: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips: Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

See also my stories “Buying Gear? Read This First,” “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear,” “The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun,” and “Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

You live for the outdoors. The Big Outside helps you get out there. Subscribe now and a get free e-guide!

Three-Season Sleeping Bag
REI Igneo (19° F)
$329, $339 long, 1 lbs. 15 oz. (reg)
Sizes: regular and long
rei.com

Sleeping bags have seen a lot of impressive advances recently, including water-resistant down feathers. But many of those advances jack up the price of high-end bags, while inexpensive models tend too often to be heavy, bulky, and not as well constructed. The Igneo and women’s Joule ($360 regular, $380 long, 22° F) stake out the middle ground with a good price for this quality and low weight, and offer protection from moisture with a waterproof-breathable coating on the ripstop nylon shell fabric.

I slept numerous nights in the Igneo from Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park in March to Washington’s stormy and chilly Olympic Mountains in September and the inside of Baldy Knoll yurt at 8,800 feet in the Tetons in late winter, and found the bag comfortable and warm enough in temperatures down to around 30° F—the only times I pulled the hood on—and as high as 50° F, when I vented by opening the two-way zipper. My wife, who gets cold very easily, found the bag comfortable during three nights at Idaho’s City of Rocks, when the temps ranged from the 30s to around 50 and 30-40 mph winds rattled the tent. That’s pretty good warmth for a sub-two-pound down bag. The Igneo carries an EN “comfort” rating (the lowest temp at which women are expected to be comfortable in the bag) of 30° F, a “lower limit” rating (considered comfortable for many men) of 19° F, and extreme (survival) rating of -13° F.

The 800-fill down packs plenty of warmth, but also packs into an 8×17-inch stuff sack. The bag sports some high-end details, too, like a generous neck yoke to keep out drafts, a fat, contoured hood that forms a clean closure around your head, a zippered outside pocket for a watch or light, and a thick zipper guard to prevent snagging. I also like a bag that doesn’t feel like a straitjacket in order to shave a few ounces, and the mummy-style Igneo has good moving-around space. All in all, you get a whole lot of value for the money.

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

Sleeping Bag
Big Agnes McAlpin SL (5° F)
$360, $380 long, 2 lbs. 14 oz. (reg)
Sizes: regular and long
bigagnes.com

What should you look for in a winter sleeping bag? I want it to be warm enough, sure, but I also look for several other attributes, like a little extra space, resilience to moisture, and that it’s not too heavy or bulky and doesn’t cost more than my winter tent. Big Agnes has answered my demands with the McAlpin.

Sleeping out under the stars (without a tent) for three straight clear, frosty, mid-January nights in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, I stayed plenty warm enough in temperatures that dropped into the teens. (Sleeping on an insulated air mattress, I wore only base layers and sometimes a hat, and at other times loosened the hood and collar because I was so warm.) I think this bag is true to its 5° F rating (EN lower limit for men), in part thanks to a fat draft tube and collar and baffles that prevent down from shifting. The 700-fill down (28 oz. of it in the regular size, 31 oz. in the long) is of high enough quality to keep the bag a lightweight in this category (under three pounds) and compact (8×17.5 inches in its stuff sack for the regular). The bag has good space (60 inches of shoulder girth, 54 inches in the hips, 36 inches at the feet in the regular, 62, 56, 38 in the long), yet is contoured so that the hood closes tightly around my face.

Winter bags are more susceptible to moisture simply from condensation, and have traditionally combated this through using a water-resistant shell. But the McAlpin employs new, water-resistant DownTek down, which repels moisture and helps the down dry faster once wet. (I’ve also reviewed the Sierra Designs Zissou 15 bag, which uses that company’s proprietary DriDown, a similar product.) While the shell around the hood and chest area of the bag got damp with condensation from my breath every night, there was no effect on the bag’s loft or warmth. By comparison, my son’s traditional down bag was much wetter, compromising its loft (but fortunately he’s young and tough).

The McAlpin also sports a full-length zipper, a taffeta lining and nylon ripstop shell that are breathable and down-resistant, and a water-resistant treatment on the shell fabric, as well as interior fabric loops for a sleeping bag liner. It’s rare to find this much comfort and quality, and such a low weight, at a competitive price.

Big Agnes does not offer a women’s version of the McAlpin, but the company makes women’s bags with DownTek, including the Women’s Lithia Spring SL 15°, $350 (petite) and $380 (regular).

For more reviews of my favorite sleeping bags, type the words “sleeping bags” into the Search box at left. See also my Pro Tips articles “How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu. See more reviews of backpacking gear I like by clicking on the “backpacking gear reviews” tag in the tag cloud in the left sidebar.

—Michael Lanza

Sleeping Bag Liners
Insect Shield Cocoon Safari Bag
$80, 6 oz. (with included stuff sack)
cocoon.at

Sea to Summit Premium Blend Silk+Cotton Liner
$55, 5.5 oz. (regular, with included stuff sack)
moosejaw.com

Sea to Summit Coolmax Adaptor Travel Liner
$53, 10 oz. (mummy style, with included stuff sack)
moosejaw.com

Sleeping bags liners are essential gear for hut trips and a useful supplement to a sleeping bag, increasing a sleeping bag’s temperature rating by several degrees and keeping the inside of your bag cleaner longer—and it’s easier to wash a liner than a bag. I took several bag liners on a weeklong hut trek in Norway’s Jotunheimen National Park using them under thick, wool blankets, and these three emerged as my favorites. Each has strengths that will appeal to different personal preferences.

The silk Insect Shield Cocoon Safari Bag feels soft against the skin in warm or cool temperatures, and is rated to add 9° F (5° C) of warmth to a sleeping bag or blankets. At 85×35 inches (218x90cm), it has plenty roomy even for a big person. I like that only the top half opens up, so your feet don’t slip out of it while sleeping; and it’s easy to find your way back into the liner in the dark, whereas I found some silk liner bags so wispy that it’s hard to find the mouth to crawl back inside without a light on. It has a wide hood that keeps a pillow from sliding off your bunk. The Safari Bag’s Insect Shield treatment is particularly useful when traveling in places where insect-borne diseases are a concern; according to Cocoon, it repels mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, fleas, chiggers, and midges. The Safari Bag packs down to the size of two fists, very compact, though its stuff sack is a tight squeeze when stuffing the liner inside. Silk liners can be hand- or machine-washed and air-dry quickly—a convenience when traveling.

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Just as compact as the Safari Bag when packed, the Sea to Summit Premium Blend Silk+Cotton Liner is a comparably roomy (73×36 inches/185x91cm), hoodless rectangular sack that does not open up. I like this simpler design’s ease of slipping partly inside, depending on how much of my body I wanted to cover up, because my feet and legs are generally colder than my upper body. The cotton-silk blend is also comfortable against skin—though it can get damper than silk on a really hot night—and less expensive than an all-silk liner. It also comes in long rectangular, a large Traveler version with a pillowcase, and mummy-style with a hood.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

The Sea to Summit Coolmax Adaptor Travel Liner feels like cotton and wicks moisture effectively, making it versatile in mild or cooler temperatures. Like the Silk+Cotton Liner, it is a basic sack that you slip into, though tapered toward the feet, and with the addition of a wide flap at the top to spread over a pillow. At 84×36 inches (210x90cm), with stretchy fabric, it may be the best choice for bigger people, but is not oversized for me (five feet, eight inches). The tradeoff: This is the heaviest and bulkiest of the three, at 10 oz. and 3×5 inches in its stuff sack. It is also available with Insect Shield for $63.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links to purchase a Sea to Summit Premium Blend Silk+Cotton Liner at moosejaw.com, or a Sea to Summit Coolmax Adaptor Travel Liner at moosejaw.com.

See all of my reviews of sleeping bags and sleeping pads and air mattresses, and my Pro Tips articles “How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

Sleeping Bag
MontBell UL Super Spiral Down Hugger #3
$339, 1 lb. 7 oz. (regular), $359, 1 lb. 9 oz. (long)
Sizes: regular and long
Montbell.us

We tend to buy a sleeping bag based primarily on temperature rating, price, and weight, ignoring a key characteristic that will affect how well you sleep in it as much as its warmth: comfort. I’ve slept in many bags—especially ultralight models—that are cut so narrowly to shave grams that they felt like a straitjacket. Montbell’s UL Super Spiral Down Hugger #3 provides superior comfort through a simple but unique feature: elasticized baffles that stretch and contract with your movements. The bag effectively acts like a second, much thicker and warmer layer of skin, moving wherever you move without inhibiting you at all.

With 11 ounces of 800-fill power down, the bag carries an EN rating of 40° F for comfort, 30° F for men’s comfort, and 3° F for extreme (read: survival). I tend to sleep warm and found the bag warm enough for nights around freezing. Only on my coldest night in it did I have to pull on more than a base layer top, socks, and underwear: inside a yurt in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains in early April, when we let the woodstove fire die out overnight and woke up to an inside temp of 18° F. At Idaho’s City of Rocks, I did not close the bag up entirely on nights in the 40s, though I pulled the hood over my head on nights in the low 40s in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness—but still only wore a T-shirt and underwear. Yet the bag was not uncomfortably warm on nights that did not drop below 50° F in Idaho’s Smoky Mountains. More than its warmth and low weight and bulk, though, this may be the most comfortable bag you’ll ever saw wood inside. Looking for a less-expensive alternative? Go for the Super Spiral Down Hugger #3 ($249, 1 lb. 15 oz. for a regular), which uses 650-fill down instead of 800-fill.

For more reviews of my favorite sleeping bags, type the words “sleeping bags” into the Search box at left. See also my Pro Tips articles “How to Choose a Sleeping Bag” and “Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu. See more reviews of backpacking gear I like by clicking on the “backpacking gear reviews” tag in the tag cloud in the left sidebar.

—Michael Lanza

Sleeping Bag
Marmot Plasma 30
$419, 1 lb. 6 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular (6’), long (6’6”)
marmot.com

I don’t have room in my life for a heavy, bulky sleeping bag. If I’m backpacking with my young kids, carrying most of our food and gear, or loaded down for a multi-day climbing trip, I need to cut ounces everywhere possible. If I’m backpacking without my family, I want to go as light as possible. The newest bag to raise the superlight bar—or lower it, if you will—is the Plasma 30. I used it recently for five nights on the Ptarmigan Traverse in Washington’s North Cascades, and earlier this summer camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks and rafting Oregon’s Grand Ronde River. It had warmth to spare on nights in the upper 30s; I’d trust it down to its rating, no problem.

The secrets are a baffle design that keep insulation from shifting; a very lightweight but tough and water-resistant Pertex shell, which breathes well to dry the bag quickly when it gets damp; and 900-fill goose down, the airiest feathers you can get. The result is a bag that’s trimly cut but adequately roomy, has a conservative temperature rating, and packs nearly as small as a loaf of bread. The nicely contoured hood, ample draft tube, and a collar with snaps to help trap heat inside are great details. The warmer Plasma 15 is $469 and 1 lb. 12 oz.

—Michael Lanza