10 Finest Winter Sleeping Luggage of 2022-2023

An important attributes of a sleeping bag for winter tenting and backpacking are heat insulation, compressibility, low weight, and ample inside area to retailer gear and water so it doesn’t freeze in a single day. Price can also be an element, though an excellent winter sleeping bag will final fifteen years or extra if maintained and saved correctly. For winter backpacking and different cell pursuits similar to backcountry snowboarding and ski mountaineering, we advocate you get a down-insulated winter sleeping bag as a result of it packs up a lot smaller and is far lighter weight.

We expect the perfect bang in your buck is a 0-degree sleeping bag since you’ll be able to enhance its heat with a low-cost sleeping bag liner just like the Sea-to-Summit Reactor if you want to sleep in colder temperatures than that. However a -20 or -40 bag can also be an excellent wager in the event you’re a chilly sleeper or decided to sleep in additional excessive circumstances.

Listed below are our prime 10 beneficial down-filled winter sleeping baggage for cold-weather backpacking. For extra info and reply to frequent questions, see our analysis standards and shopping for recommendation under.

1. Marmot Lithium Sleeping Bag

2. The North Face Inferno 0 Sleeping Bag

3. NEMO Sonic 0 Down Sleeping Bag

4. Therm-a-Relaxation Parsec 0 Sleeping Bag

5. Western Mountaineering Kodiak 0 Down Sleeping Bag

6. Feathered Mates Snowbunting EX 0 Sleeping Bag

7. Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 Down Sleeping Bag

8. Therm-a-Relaxation Polar Ranger -20

9. Western Mountaineering Puma MF -25

10. Feather Mates Snow Goose EX -40

Winter Sleeping Bag FAQs

Mummy Sleeping Bag or Quilt?

A mummy sleeping bag is hotter and extra comfy than an ultralight down quilt beneath 20 levels Fahrenheit. Whereas quilts are in style for heat climate use, mummy baggage are far much less drafty when the mercury drops under 20 levels. In addition they present a heat in a single day area the place you’ll be able to preserve water, filters, and footwear in a single day to stop them from freezing. That is more durable to do with an ultralight quilt, which is often shorter and sized slender to avoid wasting weight. Sleeping in temperatures under freezing undoubtedly modifications your conduct and requires a special skillset and equipment checklist than common three-season tenting or backpacking in hotter climate.

Down vs. Artificial Insulation

Down insulation is extra compressible and hotter by weight than artificial insulation. How a lot hotter? The very best artificial insulation is barely equal to 600 fill energy down. What about moisture accumulation contained in the bag? When you’re simply going out for one evening or just a few nights in zero-degree climate, it’s unlikely that you just’ll perspire sufficient to considerably cut back the insulation worth of a down bag. It’s a really completely different story in the event you’re on an expedition the place you’re sleeping out in -40 diploma climate each evening for weeks on finish. Even then, most mountaineering guides and explorers nonetheless go for down-filled sleeping baggage over artificial ones as a result of they’re hotter, pack up a lot smaller, and are a lot lighter weight to hold. You too can dry out a sleeping bag throughout a visit within the solar to rid of it any further moisture. Folks do it on a regular basis.

Waterproof Down vs Non-Waterproof Down

There’s no such factor as waterproof down. Whereas so-called down waterproofing remedies enable all the way down to dry sooner if it will get damp from perspiration, most premium sleeping bag makers received’t use it as a result of it reduces the perceived insulation worth of 800, 850, 900, advert 950 fill energy goose down.

Temperature Ranking

What’s the greatest sleeping bag temperature ranking to get for winter backpacking? Whereas there are sure to be regional variations, a zero-degree sleeping bag is often an excellent baseline temperature to intention for as a result of you’ll be able to simply make it hotter by 20 levels by sporting insulated garments or through the use of a sleeping bag liner, which might prevent a piece of cash. A zero-degree bag can be utilized in hotter temps as much as about 20-30 levels by cracking open the zipper or loosening up the hood and venting it in the event you’re too heat. The burden and packability of a zero-degree sleeping bag can also be fairly cheap in comparison with a  minus 20-degree bag or minus 40-degree bag and often doesn’t require the acquisition of a bigger backpack to hold.

Finest Kind of Insulation

When you plan to do any winter backpacking, you’re going to need a down-insulated sleeping bag as a result of it’s the warmest insulation obtainable by weight. It compresses very properly, making it very packable. Purpose for down fill powers of 800, 850, or 900: the upper the higher. Larger fill energy down traps extra heat by weight than decrease fill energy down. Folks typically ponder whether goose down is healthier than duck down. All down is graded the identical manner, in a species-independent method. In different phrases 800 fill energy goose down is pretty much as good as 800 fill energy duck down, solely dearer as a result of there’s a smaller provide.

Sleeping Bag Dimensions

It’s common to sleep with boot liners or boots, water bottles, and different gadgets, like water filters, that ought to not freeze in a single day. This implies you’ll need some further area in a cold-weather sleeping bag to retailer the gear whereas nonetheless sustaining your private consolation. Along with added shoulder, hip, and foot width, some individuals get an extended sleeping bag to allow them to retailer gear under their ft. Winter nights are lengthy and it pays to be comfy, particularly if you need to sleep with chilly, damp boots and water bottles.

Gender

Most zero-degree winter sleeping baggage are unisex. The one exception to that is Featured Mates which makes seven girls’s particular sleeping baggage by our final depend together with 0, -10, and -25 diploma winter sleeping baggage.

Should-have Options

Winter sleeping baggage ought to have a draft collar, zipper draft tubes, and snag-free zippers at a minimal. Partial size zippers, steady baffles, vents, and even water resistant down are all nice-to-haves, however you may get by with out them to avoid wasting on value or as a result of they’re not strictly mandatory.

Draft Collar

Most winter sleeping baggage have draft collars and I think about it a cold-weather important. A draft collar is a tube of insulation that drapes over your chest and neck and seals within the bag’s heat. With out it, the nice and cozy air contained in the bag will rush out round your neck while you transfer round inside. The best draft collar is a down tube that covers the entrance of your chest. Larger-end baggage add a second draft collar across the again of your shoulders and neck and supply extra controls, so you’ll be able to tighten or loosen it.

Zipper Draft Tubes

Draft tubes are down-filled tubes of cloth that cowl up the aspect zipper so your legs don’t are available contact with it (as a result of it’s chilly). In addition they stop chilly air from leaking into the bag by way of the needle holes which might be created when stitching the zipper to the bag. Most winter baggage have at the very least one zipper draft tube, though some have two, each prime and backside, that fall into place while you zip up your bag.

Snag Free Zipper

Snag-free zippers stop the aspect zipper’s tooth from tearing the shell cloth of your bag and spilling its insulation. The zipper is often bordered by stiff cloth tape, to maintain it away from the down baffles and stop it from getting snagged on the bag’s outer shell.

Good-to-have options

Water-Resistant Down

Waterproof down is a pleasant to have, not a must have in a winter sleeping bag. The reality is most individuals can preserve their sleeping baggage dry. When you discover moisture on the skin of your sleeping bag within the morning, it doesn’t imply that the down inside is moist. Merely drape it over your tent within the solar whilst you eat breakfast and it’ll dry very quickly.

Steady baffles

Steady baffles often run horizontally throughout a bag. They let you shake the down within the baffles and transfer it to a special location. For instance, in the event you’re too heat, you would shake the down so it fell down the perimeters of the bag, somewhat than preserve it in your chest. Whereas steady baffles allow you to customise the distribution of down for various wants, many individuals desire baffles that preserve the down in a single place reliably and completely. It’s one much less factor to fret about.

Partial size zippers

Partial size zippers are sometimes used as a weight-saving characteristic, nevertheless, they’ll cut back use throughout a wider temperature vary by limiting your venting choices.

Vents

Vents like NEMO’s Thermogills can enhance the temperature vary of a sleeping bag, however they’re only one manner of carrying out this objective.

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

Mummy baggage are typically lighter weight as a result of they’re form-fitting, making them higher for winter backpacking while you need a light-weight, compressible sleeping bag. Rectangular sleeping baggage will be simply as heat, however they’re extra applicable for winter tenting, not backpacking, as a result of they’re not as form-fitting, they’re heavier, and have much less environment friendly hoods to maintain your head heat.

Can you employ a quilt as an alternative of a sleeping bag in winter?

It actually is determined by how chilly you need to go. Most individuals change from quilts to mummy sleeping baggage at about 20 levels Fahrenheit as a result of sleeping baggage are significantly better at blocking chilly drafts than quilt-pad attachment straps. A quilt can actually work all the way down to 0 levels in the event you increase it with a down hood (successfully replicating a mummy bag hood and draft collar) to maintain your head, neck, and higher chest heat. Under zero, you’ll be able to attempt stacking quilts however I extremely advocate testing out this technique at house earlier than making an attempt it someplace the place it counts.

What’s the perfect insulation, down or artificial?

When you’re desirous about winter backpacking, your greatest wager is to get a down sleeping bag with the best down fill energy (see under) you’ll be able to afford as a result of it’s ounce-for-ounce lighter weight and extra compressible than a winter sleeping bag stuffed with artificial insulation. Winter backpacking gear could be very heavy while you add up the burden of insulated boots, a high-capacity backpack, a four-season tent, winter sleeping pad(s), a liquid gasoline range, gasoline, snowshoes, crampons, and so on. so it actually does pay to avoid wasting as a lot weight and pack area as you’ll be able to through the use of the lightest and smallest winter sleeping bag that may preserve you heat.

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

So-called waterproof down isn’t really waterproof, however water resistant. When you dunk it in water, it can fail to insulate, though it can dry sooner than untreated down. Due to this fact, in the event you plan on sleeping in snow caves or out within the open in a bivy sack, waterproof down might be a greater choice because the down will dry sooner if the material shell of your bag will get moist. When you’re sleeping in a comfortable tent with a water-proof flooring, it most likely doesn’t matter that a lot, besides in the event you’re on a multi-day journey the place the buildup of perspiration passing by way of your insulation and out the breathable shell of your sleeping bag can accumulate within the down, degrading its loft and skill to retain heat. Waterproof down could be higher in these circumstances.

What’s down fill-power?

Down consists of fluffy filaments which might be rather a lot like human hair. A single ounce of common high quality down comprises about 2 million of those filaments which interlock to maintain heat air in and chilly air out. This layer could be very springy so you’ll be able to scrunch it up by compressing it, however it can spring again into form virtually instantly. Fill energy measures the lofting energy of goose down which is its potential to entice air. To measure fill energy, one ounce of down is compressed in a small glass cylinder. When the burden is eliminated, the down’s potential to spring again will be measured. Down with the next fill energy ranking is extra resilient to compression, lofts higher, and might entice extra air. In addition to being hotter, this additionally implies that sleeping baggage or parkas with increased fill scores require much less insulation by weight to supply the identical stage of heat than an merchandise made with decrease high quality down.

Is there a heat distinction between goose down and duck down?

No. Fill energy is measured the identical manner throughout completely different animals and species. In different phrases 750 fill energy goose down supplies the identical stage of insulation as 750 fill energy duck down.

Is there a price distinction between completely different down fill-powers?

Sure. The upper the fill energy, the dearer will probably be. Costs have dropped in recent times nevertheless since there’s a worldwide surplus of down, the upper fill powers stay the costliest.

What’s the perfect down fill-power for a winter sleeping bag?

The lightest weight, most compressible winter sleeping baggage are insulated with 800, 850, 900, or 950 fill energy down. A 950 fill-power down bag is prime of the road.

How reliable are winter sleeping bag temperature scores?

Whereas heat climate sleeping bag scores have turn into far more goal in recent times with the adoption of worldwide temperature ranking requirements and third-party testing, the identical can’t be mentioned about winter sleeping bag temperature scores. Whereas the EN and ISO temperature scores printed for heat climate sleeping baggage rated to 10 levels and better have confirmed to be dependable, research have proven that it isn’t a statistically dependable technique to price the temperature ranking of sleeping baggage rated under 10 levels, together with all winter sleeping baggage.

As a substitute, sleeping producers price their very own sleeping baggage by having individuals sleep in chilly rooms, mainly walk-in freezers, to see in the event that they keep heat at completely different temperature settings. This will generate very subjective outcomes relying on who does the testing, whether or not they’re male or feminine, what their physique weight is, how properly a sleeping bag suits them, the heat of the lengthy underwear they’re sporting, whether or not they’re sporting a hat or not, what sleeping pad they’re utilizing, after they final ate, and so forth.

So who are you able to belief? Your greatest wager is to purchase a winter sleeping bag mannequin that’s been in the marketplace for some time and has a loyal following of people that will attest to the accuracy of its temperature ranking.

Feathered Mates and Western Mountaineering have constructed their enterprise round word-of-mouth testimonials, which is why individuals desire their winter sleeping baggage over all others. Nobody else supplies the vary of choice or technical options offered by these two producers.

Can you employ a 0-degree winter sleeping bag as an alternative of a -20 diploma winter sleeping bag?

There are every kind of tips to increase the vary of a 0-degree sleeping bag for colder climate, particularly if gear weight or bulk is an enormous concern:

• by sporting insulated clothes inside your sleeping bag as a way to enhance its efficient temperature ranking
• sleeping with scorching water bottles
• sleeping with chemical hand heaters
• utilizing a sleeping bag liner
• stuff all your spare clothes inside so your physique has to warmth much less open area
• eat a heavy dinner with a lot of fats and protein earlier than going to mattress
• and so forth…

It’s best to experiment with these in your yard or inside strolling distance of your automobile earlier than you want to depend on them in a wilderness survival scenario.

In case you are on a significant expedition and your information requires a -20 diploma or -40 diploma bag for sustained frigid climate, you need to seek the advice of with them about utilizing a winter sleeping bag rated for hotter temperatures. Many guides lease cold-weather baggage, which might prevent the expense of shopping for one for one-time use.

Another choice is to cancel journeys the place you recognize the climate might be too chilly in your sleeping bag. As a winter backpacking journey information, my companions and I routinely cancel journeys the place the climate forecast requires -20 nighttime temperatures because it’s actually no enjoyable to sit down exterior and soften consuming water in climate like that. There’s no disgrace in bailing on a visit when it’s too chilly exterior to get pleasure from your self.

Do girls want hotter winter sleeping baggage than males?

Ladies are inclined to sleep colder than males, so it’s beneficial that they get a sleeping bag that’s 10 levels hotter when shopping for a unisex or males’s sleeping bag. For instance, girls can purchase a -10 diploma winter sleeping bag as a way to keep as heat as a person in a 0-degree winter sleeping bag. Nonetheless, that’s not the case, in the event you purchase a winter sleeping bag designed for a lady. A girls’s 0-degree winter sleeping bag ought to preserve you as heat as a males’s 0-degree sleeping bag.

What’s the distinction between males’s and ladies’s sleeping baggage?

Ladies’s sleeping baggage are sometimes shorter in size, narrower within the shoulders, and wider within the hips. They could even have further insulation over the chest, within the hood, and within the footbox, since girls have a more durable time conserving their heads, fingers, and ft heat.

How do you measurement a winter sleeping bag?

Sleeping in a winter sleeping bag is completely different from sleeping in a three-season or summer time sleeping bag as a result of you want to sleep with a few of your gear from freezing in a single day (boots, water bottles, electronics) or as a result of you want to put on extra insulated garments in your sleeping bag like a down parka and down-filled pants.

To measurement up, individuals sometimes get a longer-sized sleeping bag or one which has a wider shoulder girth. Shoulder girth measures the circumference of the sleeping bag at shoulder peak. When becoming a winter sleeping bag, you need to reduce the quantity of additional inside free-space that your physique has to warmth up whereas not compressing the loft of your insulation by getting a bag that’s too tight.

For instance, a 5′ 10″ tall man would possibly decide to get a 6′ 6″ lengthy bag as an alternative of a 6′ lengthy sleeping bag as a way to retailer a few of his gear within the sleeping bag foot field. Alternatively, you’ll be able to decide to get a bag with wider shoulders or chest measurements so you’ll be able to hug your further gear at evening to maintain it heat or tuck it behind your again (in the event you’re a aspect sleeper.) That’s at all times been my desire, as an alternative of getting a longer-length sleeping bag.

How do you identify your wants and preferences? Strive on a lot of sleeping baggage whereas sporting your in a single day gear, even when it means shopping for baggage and returning them to retailers in the event that they don’t match.

What are a very powerful options to search for on winter sleeping baggage?

After match, a very powerful options are having a draft collar, draft tubes, zipper guards, and a well-fitting hood. It’s additionally vital to get a sleeping bag with a breathable exterior shell that may vent perspiration however is water resistant. Sleeping baggage with waterproof/breathable shells are sometimes much less breathable than these with no waterproof/breathable exterior cloth.

What’s a draft collar?

A draft colour is an insulated tube of insulation that covers the highest of your chest and again and seals in all the heat under it in your bag so it might probably’t escape. It prevents what’s known as the “bellows impact”, the place the nice and cozy air round your legs and core is pressured out by way of the highest of your sleeping bag while you transfer round at evening. You possibly can obtain an analogous impact by wrapping a climate or down jacket round your higher chest or neck as properly.

What’s a draft tube?

A draft tube is an insulated tube of insulation that runs alongside the zipper and prevents chilly air from leaking in your sleeping bag or heat air from leaking out. Some sleeping baggage just like the Western Mountaineering Puma -25 have two interlocking draft tubes, one above and one under the zipper.

What’s a zipper guard?

A zipper guard is a chunk of cloth or stiffened cloth tape that runs alongside a zipper and prevents it from snagging on the within lining of your sleeping bag. It’s an vital characteristic of a sleeping bag because it eliminates snags that may stop you from closing the zipper in frigid climate.

What’s a sleeping bag baffle?

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

What are steady baffles?

Steady baffles are cloth tubes stuffed with down insulation that often run horizontally round a sleeping bag. They allow you to shake the down inside them to maneuver it the place you need it, often to the highest of a sleeping bag, or down the perimeters. Present in high-end quilts and sleeping baggage like these from Feathered Mates or Western Mountaineering, steady baffles are a extremely fascinating characteristic for some individuals that permits you to transfer the insulation to the components of you which might be chilly. For others, it’s a curse, as a result of the down insulation can shift the place you don’t need it to go, creating chilly spots.

What are block baffles?

Blocking baffles, additionally known as aspect block baffles or V-block baffles are utilized in excessive loft, winter expedition sleeping baggage to stop down from shifting from the highest of a sleeping bag to its sides.

What are the professionals and cons of sleeping baggage which have waterproof breathable exterior shells like Gore-tex?

Sadly, they’re principally cons. The concept of protecting a sleeping bag with a water-proof/breathable shell cloth is interesting as a result of it might imply that you just don’t want to hold a bivy sack to sleep in a snow shelter or fear about getting inner condensation on the skin of your sleeping bag while you contact your tent’s partitions at evening. However expertise has proven that protecting the outside of a sleeping bag with a water-proof breathable shell tends to entice extra perspiration contained in the insulation of a sleeping bag than one with a a lot lighter shell cloth.

Opposite to what you’d count on, waterproof/breathable materials are literally far much less breathable than many of the non-waterproof shell materials used on the outside of sleeping baggage in the present day. You will get the identical waterproof profit by spraying a DWR coating on the skin of those lighter-weight, extra breathable materials, which can repel water droplets that fall onto the skin of the bag, inflicting them to bead and roll off, identical to a rain jacket. Most sleeping producers already do that on the manufacturing facility. But when the DWR coating wears off, you’ll be able to apply it at house utilizing Nikwax TX Direct or comparable merchandise.

As well as, most sleeping bag producers don’t tape or seam seal all the seams of their baggage, which is actually required for true waterproofing. Take into consideration all the tiny needle holes within the baffling of a down bag. Taping or seam sealing all of them could be very pricey. In distinction, most bivy baggage made with waterproof/breathable materials have taped seams or will be simply sealed with a seam sealer. You actually can’t do the identical with a sleeping bag.

What’s the greatest exterior cloth for a winter sleeping bag?

You need an exterior shell cloth that’s robust sufficient to be sturdy and has good breathability, with a decent sufficient weave and/or a DWR coating that may make water roll off its floor. Pertex Defend and microfiber calendared nylon are good examples of materials with these properties.

How ought to a winter sleeping bag hood match?

That is an space of non-public desire, however you need a hood that may match round your head with none air gaps that leak heat. It ought to be simple to regulate (many aren’t), transfer with you in the event you roll onto your aspect, and never turn into saturated with water vapor while you exhale at evening by way of your mouth. One of the best ways to find out hood match is to get inside a sleeping bag and take a look at it out. It’s vital to get a hood that you could spend 12 hours or extra in comfortably since winter nights are so lengthy.

How vital is a excessive R-value sleeping pad?

A winter sleeping bag with no excessive R-value sleeping pad is sort of a sheep with out wool. With out one, your physique warmth might be sucked into the chilly floor. We advocate utilizing a sleeping unhealthy with an R-value of 5 or higher. R-values are additive, so you can even use two sleeping pads, one stacked on prime of the opposite to realize the next composite R-value. Many winter backpackers will carry a foam pad, which can be utilized as a seat when cooking or snow melting, along with an inflatable sleeping pad for consolation. When selecting winter pads, we advocate utilizing ones which were rated utilizing the brand new sleeping bag customary, such because the Therm-a-Relaxation XTherm, which has an R-value of 6.9

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