The easiest way to ruin a backpacking trip is to bring听the wrong sleeping bag. There鈥檚 nothing worse than ending up cold, or fighting a stuck zipper, or waking up in the rain and realizing your down insulation is soaked. For this review, I recruited a team of ten people to research and test the best sleeping bags on the market. Our favorite bag for three-season use, in temperatures from 50 degrees to well below freezing, was the REI Co-Op Magma 10 (or for women). I鈥檝e also recommended听bags for people on a budget and听folks who need bags that are ultralight or extra comfortable, but for most backpackers, the Magma wins in performance and price. Stuffed with top-of-the-line goose down and made with other quality materials, the Magma packs small and weighs less than two pounds听but costs the same as more middle-of-the-road bags.
Our Favorite Backpacking Sleeping Bag
REI Co-Op Magma 10听($350)
REI gave the Magma 10听high-quality, hydrophobic, 850-fill goose-down insulation听and wrapped it in a super-light, 15-denier ripstop nylon Pertex Quantum outer shell. The Magma packs down to the size of a small watermelon听and weighs just shy of two pounds, stats that would be good for a 20-degree bag听but are remarkable for one as warm as the Magma. And while it鈥檚 possible to find lightweight warm bags, they听usually cost around听$500, like the 19-degree version of Patagonia鈥檚 850 Down Sleeping Bag. The Magma is warmer and sells for $350.
The Magma鈥檚 warmth-to-weight ratio is partly the result of its bio-mapped insulation design. REI stuffed down into narrow听baffles around the chest, into wider ones on the lower bag, and into separate pockets at the shoulders. The idea is to concentrate warmth where it鈥檚 needed most听and, coupled with a narrow fit (the fit here is REI鈥檚 trimmest), shave a few ounces off the bag鈥檚 weight. In my testing, it worked: I still had room to shift from side to side, and the footbox was contoured enough to be comfortable and snug enough to be warm. On a near-freezing night during a backpacking trip in Bryce Canyon National Park, the Magma heated up fast, and ten hours after climbing in I was still cozy and comfortable. Another member of my test team took the Magma out in temps approaching its lower limit and also stayed warm; he said the double adjustment points on the hood helped eke out a little more warmth when pulled snug.
Our test team also loved the Magma鈥檚 liner. 鈥淚t was soft and breathable, not slick and sticky like a lot of them,鈥 one wrote. Ditto for its zipper, which runs smoothly听and doesn鈥檛 snag, thanks to a triangular听zipper head and an anti-snag strip of fabric running its length. The downside to all that warmth is that in warmer weather, I sweated, breathable liner notwithstanding. On nights above 45 degrees, this bag was too much.
But that鈥檚 a mild complaint. The Magma is lightweight, highly packable, and comfortable. It would be my choice for three-season backpacking in the mountains (four-season in decent conditions), long expeditions, and, with its water-resistant down, even multi-night canoe trips.
Best Synthetic Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Marmot Ultra Elite 30听($189)
If I didn鈥檛 know differently, I would have guessed was a down-stuffed bag. It packed small and weighed about the same (1.8 pounds) as down bags in the 30-degree neighborhood. Uncaged in a tent, it ballooned into an impressive pile of warmth. All of which is to say, this is a warm and light bag, and impressively so given its insulation material.
About that insulation: the Ultra Elite is stuffed with a blend of three synthetic fibers that the company calls ElixR. One fiber is meant to optimize thermal efficiency, another loft, and the third durability. The different fibers are听layered in multiple thin strips, then laid shingle-style near the chest of the bag to optimize loft听and in a sheet on the bottom to reduce seams.
The strategy seems to work. I stayed warm in the Ultra Elite 30 on a trip to Vancouver Island when temperatures dropped to the low thirties. The anatomical footbox was roomy, the full-length zipper ran smoothly, and the hood was snug and warm. The Ultra Elite 30 isn鈥檛 as warm as the Magma 10 (above), but if you don鈥檛 plan to camp in very cold temperatures, and if you want light and packable but don鈥檛 have the budget to buy feathers, there鈥檚 a lot to like with this bag. In fact, there鈥檚 very little reason to miss听down at all.听
Best Lightweight Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Mountain Hardwear听Ghost Whisperer 40听($400)
My sleeping bag is usually the bulkiest thing in my pack, but 听weighs just over a pound and crushes down to the size of a grapefruit, about the same size and weight as a down jacket. The Ghost Whisperer is stuffed with 900-fill down, the lightest, warmest, and most packable down in Mountain Hardwear鈥檚 line. The company also used a fluorocarbon-free hydrophobic treatment and says the down is responsibly sourced. The Ghost Whisperer is wrapped in light ripstop nylon听and stitched with a baffle听pattern reminiscent of a down puffy. It鈥檚 not cheap at $400, but I think it鈥檚 reasonably priced given its听high-end materials. (If price is a bigger concern than portability, Therm-a-Rest鈥檚 45-degree-rated Space Cowboy, below, is almost as light as the Ghost Whisperer and significantly less expensive at about $150. But it isn鈥檛 as packable.)
To be clear, this is a pretty specialized sleeping bag. The mummy dimensions are听on the narrow side, the translucent outer shell demands care, and I had to snuggle in deep to stay warm when the mercury dropped below 50. But if you鈥檙e willing to sacrifice some money and a little comfort to go fast and light, you can鈥檛 do much better. The Ghost Whisperer helped me crush a quick time on a fast-and-light backpacking trip on Vancouver Island, and I鈥檇 recommend it to anyone planning similar missions, including bikepackers. In moderate climates, this is the go-to bag when weight and packability are paramount.
Best Backpacking Quilt
Sierra Designs Backcountry Quilt 700/20听($250)
The Backcountry Quilt is a blanket, except it鈥檚 a blanket made with hydrophobic, PFC-free 700-fill down and featuring a couple extra sleeping-bag-like details. On warm summer nights, quilt-style sleeping blankets like the Backcountry Quilt make camping feel like sleeping at home: you can sprawl, stretch, and toss unconstrained, and they鈥檙e usually lighter than actual sleeping bags. With a sheet to cover my sleeping pad on summer nights, I was Goldilocks-comfortable slumbering under the Backcountry Quilt.
But most quilts stop making sense when it gets cold, and chilly temps are where the Backcountry Quilt separates itself from blankets like the , which lacks a hood and zipper and doesn鈥檛 play nice in cooler weather. The Backcountry Quilt has arm sleeves that let you wrap yourself up Slanket style, a mummy听footbox for tucking your feet, and even a sneaky and well-designed hood. Plus, it weighs only 850 grams.
Those features make the Backcountry Quilt the first legitimate three-season quilt-style sleeping bag I鈥檝e tried. It wouldn鈥檛 be my first choice for high alpine trips, where cold nights are expected, but I tested the Backcountry Quilt below freezing and stayed warm. For paddlers and fair-weather backpackers who probably won鈥檛 need a warm bag听but might, it provides a tough-to-beat mix of versatility, low weight, and insurance against an unexpected drop in temps.
Best Value Down听Sleeping Bag
Kelty Cosmic 20听($160)
The 听is a no-frills mummy, and at $150 for a 20-degree-rated down bag听it鈥檚 a great deal. Yes, it鈥檚 stuffed with heavier 600-fill duck down听and wrapped with a burly 50-denier ripstop polyester shell, meaning it only compresses to about 11 liters. And it鈥檚 heavy at three pounds. But our testers said it was soft and a pleasure to use, and a hydrophobic down sleeping bag for less than $200 is rare. One rated to 20 degrees is rarer still.
Plus, Kelty really nailed the details: the hood-adjustment pulls are different widths for easy fiddling in the dark; the footbox is roomy and ergonomic; and a draft collar lines the full-length zip, along with an anti-snag strip that was (mostly) functional. For budget-conscious backpackers, there aren鈥檛 any sleeping-bag deals better than this one.听
听
Best Value Synthetic Sleeping Bag听
Therm-a-Rest Space Cowboy听($150)
The 听is an ultralight 45-degree summer bag that has become my go-to for tropical traveling, summer nights under the stars, and hut trips. It weighs one pound three ounces and packs to the size of a cantaloupe. That鈥檚 slightly bulkier and two ounces heavier than Mountain Hardwear鈥檚 $400 Ghost Whisperer, but it鈥檚 far smaller than The North Face Lynx, a competing听summer bag that weighs almost two pounds and doesn鈥檛 pack down as tightly.
I tested the Space Cowboy on a trip in the Guatemalan highlands, and it was just right for breezy nights. When the wind picked up, I could tuck into its generous hood and zip it snug. Conversely, on a 70-degree summer campout, it was easy to open and use more like a blanket. Some of its versatility, I think, comes partly from the reflective liner at the top of the bag听that helps trap escaping heat听and partly from the purposely uneven distribution of its synthetic insulation. That insulation is concentrated near the torso, where it does the most good. That means the Space Cowboy punches above its weight when snugged tight听but can feel cool when opened up.
One final feature I appreciated: the Space Cowboy has straps that hug a sleeping pad, which kept me centered on my pad no matter how much I rolled around during the night. Like the Ghost Whisperer, it鈥檚 a dedicated summer bag, but at $150 it鈥檚 much more accessible.
A Comfortable, Albeit Heavy, Backpacking Sleeping Bag
NEMO Jazz听($230)
听is a unique beast. It听mixes high-performance materials in a design focused on bedlike comfort. This is the sleeping bag I brought for my 69-year-old mother when we spent seven days on British Columbia鈥檚 Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit, and she loved it.
Rated to 20 Fahrenheit and stuffed with 700-fill water-resistant down, the $230 Jazz has a rectangular shape, a soft-sheet interior, zips down each side, and a sleeve on the bottom that can hold听a plush, four-inch-thick sleeping pad. That adds up to a lot of comfort and a lot of weight. The Jazz weighs five pounds and fills the bottom of a pack, and it鈥檚 more than I鈥檇 want to take on an extended backpacking trip. But I didn鈥檛 notice it on portages, or on leisurely hiking trips with my daughter. Plus, my mom鈥檚 already asking where we鈥檙e going next summer, and for that, I thank the Jazz.
How We Tested Sleeping Bags
For this test, I recruited ten people to help review bags. The group included sea-kayak guides, dirtbag climbers, ski bums, weekend warriors, families, and even a band of . I aimed to get as many people as possible using the sleeping bags in as many situations as possible. That鈥檚 the best way to learn a bag鈥檚 strengths and weaknesses, and to learn what kinds of campers will like it. And, for this test, I slept in every sleeping bag I鈥檝e reviewed here.
I鈥檝e been camping for 25 years, including five years as an outdoor guide and ten years as a journalist and gear reviewer. Most years, I spend between four and five weeks sleeping outdoors, and I try to sample bags from all of the major manufacturers.
Bags that caught my interest went听out to my test team, who helped select a group of bags that I singled out for further testing. Which, in this case, meant听more sleeping.
How to Choose a Backpacking Sleeping Bag
Sleeping bags come in a huge range of styles, weights, and warmths. For this review, I focused on sleeping bags that are light and portable enough to carry into the backcountry听and warm enough for sleeping outside on an average summer night. Three pounds and a rating of 45 degrees seemed like appropriate thresholds.
Insulation
It used to be that down and synthetic were the two main insulation types. Down was warmer and more packable for its weight, while synthetic was less expensive, more durable, more insulating听when wet, and hypoallergenic. It鈥檚 not so simple anymore.
Hydrophobic treatments now make down more water-resistant, and newer synthetic insulations mimic down in weight and compressibility. And there are creative combinations of both. The upshot is that the insulation landscape has become much more nuanced听and the differences much less pronounced.
Synthetic
I recommend fully synthetic insulation in several situations: if price is a primary concern; if you鈥檙e allergic to down; if most of your camping happens in wet environments; and if you鈥檙e really hard on your sleeping bags, because synthetic insulation is more durable. The newest synthetic materials, which use clusters of fibers that mimic down, are highly packable and very light, and they almost erase the advantages of feathers. For many recreational users, it鈥檚 getting harder to justify paying more for down.
Down
Still, down remains the better choice when weight and packability are most important. But not all down is equal. Fill power, which ranges from a low of around 600 to a high of 900, has an enormous effect听on a bag鈥檚 weight and packability.
The other thing to look for is water-resistant down. Most down bags are now stuffed with feathers treated with a hydrophobic coating that resists moisture, which improves performance in wet environments. (DownTek, Allied Down, and Nikwax Hydrophobic Down are some of the brand names to look for.) Some of these treatments are controversial because they contain perfluorocarbons, chemicals that have been linked to cancer and environmental damage. This year, Sierra Designs of its听hydrophobic DriDown treatment to its sleeping-bag line, which includes the Backcountry Quilt听reviewed above. Nikwax鈥檚 Hydrophobic Down is also PFC-free.
A second issue is where the down itself comes from. Down is a byproduct of poultry production, and farm conditions and plucking can be inhumane. The North Face, Allied Down, and others have worked to create ethical down standards and ways of tracking the feathers. Look for the Responsible Down Standard and other certifications when shopping.
Hybrids
These are bags containing a mix of down and synthetic insulation, and they come in two forms. The simplest option places down in one part of the bag and synthetic in another. Usually, this means synthetic insulation on the bottom of the bag, because it tends to insulate better when compressed, and down on top. More recently, companies have played around with mixing down and synthetic fibers throughout the bag. Ideally, hybrids offer the durability of synthetic but the feel and compressibility of down.
Temperature rating
Often, a bag鈥檚 name will reflect its warmth rating: the REI Co-Op Magma 10, for example, can be used in temperatures as low as 10 degrees, according to REI. Picking the right temperature is the most important decision in the sleeping-bag buying process, and the hardest because temperature is so personal.
Many manufacturers use an independent temperature-testing protocol called EN, or European Norm. Theoretically, the process allows for apples-to-apples comparisons regardless of construction and insulation; two 10 degree听EN-rated bags should feel equally warm. It鈥檚 important to note that the EN standard gives two numbers: Lower Limit, which is 10 degrees for the Magma, and Comfort, which is 22 degrees for the Magma. Figuring out how those ratings work for you is really possible only through trial and error. Everything from your sleeping pad to what you ate for dinner, humidity, and wind will all affect how warm you feel. For three-season use and summer in the mountains, I suggest a rating听between 15 and 30 degrees. For summer only, or traveling, bags in the 30-to-45-degree range should work. For shoulder season in the mountains and light winter, 0 to 15 degrees should do the trick. And because women often sleep colder than men, they may want to modify those recommendations by about 10 degrees.
Fit and shape
Sleeping bags come in various shapes: boxy rectangles, tapered mummies, hourglass hybrids, duvet blankets, and a whole spectrum in between. Rectangular bags offer more room for rolling around but tend to be bulkier, heavier, and colder because there鈥檚 more space to heat up. More-fitted sleeping bags, usually called mummy bags, are lighter, pack smaller, and feel warmer, but they offer less wiggle room. Various hybrid styles look to find a middle ground between the two.
Weight and packability
A sleeping bag is听one of the bulkiest and heaviest single items you鈥檒l put in your pack, so weight and packability should be considerations, especially if you plan to carry it far. Insulation will play a significant factor in its weight: high-quality down is a lot lighter than low-quality synthetic fibers. But a bag鈥檚 zippers, pockets, hood, and fabric can all add significant ounces.
Price
Take two sleeping bags with the same temperature rating, and the less expensive one is almost always going to be bigger and bulkier. But both will still keep you warm at night. For my money, $150 to $400 is a sweet spot for three-season sleeping bags. Within that range, you鈥檒l find high-quality bags, and only someone who is really focused on weight and packability will need to spend more鈥攚ith one exception: anyone hoping to sleep outside in winter should expect to pay at least $400.
Features
The most obvious sleeping-bag feature is the side zip. Full-length zippers are the standard, while lightweight bags might go with a half zip or even no zip at all. Deluxe bags might add an extra zip across the footbox, which is nice if you get sweaty feet. Whatever you choose, make sure it鈥檚 easy to get in and out of the bag. Sticky zippers suck.
If there鈥檚 one feature all bags need, it鈥檚 a hood. Even in summer, a hood can save you if temps drop. Other features鈥攄raft collars along zippers and hoods, pillow pockets, glow-in-the-dark zipper pulls, miscellaneous pockets鈥攃an be great, but most add weight. I like sleeves and straps for attaching a sleeping pad, but make sure they play nice with your pad.