We do have pricier choices (the Montbell Down Hugger 650 #1 and the Marmot Ladies’s Teton) that will be good crossover baggage for anybody planning on doing some backpacking in addition to cool-weather automotive tenting, in addition to a suggestion for backpackers preferring to sleep on their sides.
As well as, now we have comfy down baggage (the Feathered Buddies Swallow YF 30 Sleeping Bag and the Feathered Buddies Egret YF 20 Ladies’s Sleeping Bag) for multiday backpacking journeys, and a bag for {couples} who’d wish to sleep collectively.
Our choose
The REI Co-op Siesta Hooded 20 is as a lot sleeping bag as anybody may need for primary automotive tenting, and it prices nearly a 3rd the worth of extra specialised backpacking choices. It’s mild, comfy, and adjustable, and is available in two sizes: common and lengthy, in addition to a single model and a double model. The Siesta 20, which has artificial insulation, is lots heat for three-season tenting (it’s rated to twenty °F—that’s, beneath freezing) however nonetheless packs right into a cylindrical stuff sack, about 13 inches by 11 inches, that received’t take up a lot room within the trunk of your automotive—a pertinent element for giant households. Although the bag is hooded, it’s extra akin to bunching a pillow round your head reasonably than a conventional mummy bag hood. Moreover, the polyester exterior is waterproof, and REI’s return coverage is beneficiant. In 2023, REI up to date the Siesta to incorporate 98% recycled insulation fill.
Improve choose
Should you already know you need to work lots of backpacking into your tenting habits, you’ll want a lighter, extra stuffable bag than the REI Co-op Siesta 20, and we predict the unisex Montbell Down Hugger is the only option for individuals with broad shoulders and narrower hips who are likely to get sizzling at evening, in addition to for individuals who transfer so much of their sleep. It’s uncommon to discover a comfy down bag that prices lower than $400, but the Down Hugger was softer and had extra loft than some baggage that price $100 extra. The bag’s form and diagonal baffles made it really feel far roomier and extra accommodating than many of the conventional mummy baggage we examined. We didn’t discover any fraying throughout our testing interval, both—however do you have to expertise any manufacturing defect, the bag is backed by Montbell’s lifetime guarantee. (The guarantee doesn’t cowl regular put on and tear; Montbell does provide repairs for which the corporate will cost “an affordable fee.”)
Though it’s billed as a girls’s bag, the Marmot Ladies’s Teton is an efficient match for any narrow-bodied one that will get chilly at evening. It’s hotter and slimmer than the Montbell Down Hugger, however it’s additionally among the many softest, warmest baggage we examined: The fluffy insulation feels plush and nearly overstuffed; it swaddles you when you sleep. The Teton additionally has considerate options, like a pocket throughout the bag to retailer electronics, and (new within the 2022 redesign) a compression zipper within the footbox that you could unzip to create extra room. It’s EN rated to fifteen °F—and after many chilly nights of sleeping beneath the celebrities, our testers discovered that quantity to be correct. It’s value noting, nevertheless, that it is a a lot hotter bag than lots of the others we examined; at instances it was too heat. A lifetime guarantee covers producer’s defects however not regular put on and tear.
Additionally nice
Let’s face it, most individuals toss and switch after they’re sleeping exterior. We predict the Large Agnes Sidewinder SL 20° is a superb bag for backpackers who transfer round whereas they’re sleeping in a tent, together with side-sleepers. The form of the shell is one issue: It’s minimize extra extensively within the center than your common mummy bag. We have been in a position to transfer between each doable place you would possibly need to lie in with this bag—on our facet, abdomen, again, and even within the fetal place. Whereas we have been transferring round inside, the bag by no means felt constrictive. And along with the bag’s “primary” down insulation, the hip areas have an extra layer of artificial fill, which compresses lower than down does. Anybody who strikes of their sleep has most likely woken up tangled of their mummy bag, unable to search out the facet zipper. Properly, regardless of how a lot we moved round, we may all the time discover the zipper that runs down the entrance and heart of this bag. Plus, the Sidewinder has a pillow sleeve behind the hood that holds a pillow beneath your head as you discover that comfy place in your sleeping pad. Large Agnes presents a restricted guarantee towards manufacturing or materials defects; it doesn’t cowl put on and tear.
Additionally nice
The light-weight Swallow YF 30 Sleeping Bag is a strong alternative for individuals who deliver a sleeping bag with them typically whereas mountaineering or touring. This bag is straightforward and unadorned but full of top-quality down. It’s rated to 30 °F and presents a looser match for broad our bodies, making it purchase for bigger individuals or individuals who sleep sizzling. It’s not an ultralight bag, however its 900-plus fill-power goose down (extra about fill energy later, however in brief, this implies the bag may be very lofty and subsequently each light-weight and heat) is a uncommon discover for beneath $500 and makes it mild sufficient to hold simply on long-distance journeys. All Feathered Buddies merchandise include a lifetime assure (which doesn’t cowl common put on and tear) and are made with licensed RDS down.
Just like the Swallow, the Feathered Buddies Egret YF 20 is a high-end bag that’s, nonetheless, a uncommon discover for its value. Thoughtfully constructed with the identical 900-plus fill-power down), the Egret is made with top-quality supplies leading to a easy, confirmed design that works in all situations. It’s billed as a girls’s bag, however we predict the bag’s additional insulation (it’s rated to twenty °F) makes it match for anybody who sleeps chilly, so long as they’re not taller than 5-foot-9. (The bag is available in two sizes: small and medium.) As with the Swallow, the Egret is backed by Feathered Buddies’s lifetime guarantee.
Additionally nice
The Large Agnes Dream Island is spacious, heat, and cozy, with a built-in sleeping-pad sleeve that solves an issue it had by no means occurred to us to attempt to clear up: the annoyance of bag and pad getting misaligned in the course of the evening. The pad, which it’s important to purchase individually, replaces the artificial polyester insulation on the underside half of the bag, making the Large Agnes, which is rated to fifteen °F, additional heat relative to its packed dimension. Since there isn’t any insulation on the underside of the Dream Island, it actually must be paired with the sleeping pad to work. The sleeve suits one among Large Agnes’s 50-by-78-inch double air mattresses (such because the Hinman) or two customary 25-by-78-inch pads. Many corporations make car-camping pads with these larger-than-average dimensions, and any of them will match the Dream Island simply tremendous. Large Agnes presents a restricted guarantee towards manufacturing or materials defects; it doesn’t cowl put on and tear.