Sleeping bags are our indispensable items in camping trips we take. To ensure a warm night in winter camping or in any other seasons of the year that might cause to have cold sleeping experience, we prefer to use them to avoid getting hypothermia or frostbite. While polyester walls of tents cannot push the wind back to where it comes from, they are highly recommended. But, do you exactly know how to choose a decent sleeping bag?
Firstly, you should know that sleeping bags are made of either down or synthetic filling material. Down sleeping bags filled with feathers from ducks or geese, synthetic sleeping bags filled with poly-fibers. And, each has their own pros and cons:
Down sleeping bag
- Pros : Lightweight, comfortable, easy to compress, has long-life and perfect insulation.
- Cons : Hard to clean, bad performance when wet and very very expensive compared to synthetic ones.
Down sleeping bags are split into three fill ratings. 550-600, 700 and 800+. The higher fill rating, the higher insulation and, of course, money it costs.
Synthetic sleeping bag
- Pros : Hypoallergenic, no special instructions to clean and logical price.
- Cons : Bulky, heavy, hard to compress, short life and less heat retention than down sleeping bags.
Types to choose a decent sleeping bags
Secondly, you must decide what kind of sleeping bag you want to use. There are two main types of sleeping bags. Mummy and rectangular. Others are just derivatives of those two types.
Mummy
Covering body like being mummified, it is the most popular type especially for the adventures you might expect to confront extreme weather temperatures. Mummy type has a snug fit around the feet and a hood pulled tightly in order to get the best heat preservation. However, that cocoon feature can limit your movements while sleeping.
Rectangular
Mostly preferred in warmer conditions, rectangular sleeping bags is another type offering more inner space for feet and upper body. Thus, more comfort than the mummy. If we don’t consider that more width causes additional weight and take into account that the sleeping bags don’t produce heat. They just keep the temperature of your body stable, creating a boundary between the body and the environment trapping air inside. So, more space actually means more trapped air to be warmed by your body. In winter, is it good to have a rectangular sleeping bag then?
Semi-rectangular
Rectangular ones don’t have hoods and straps to cinch. Yet, semi-rectangular ones have. They are like combination of rectangular and mummy type sleeping bags. Spacious and covering. No creeping cold through the collar.
Double-wide
For couples, families and close friends who can take advantage of each other’s warmth. In fact, generally, other types can be mated together to make a double-wide sleeping bag. As long as they have opposite zipper locations though.
Criteria
You decided which one would be yours? Wait a little more. There is also one last important criterion a sleeping bag must meet. ISO 23537-1:2016 and EN 13537 Standards. They are both a three-part temperature rating system indicating up to what temperature your product could provide safe usage.
- Comfort : The lower limit of comfort range you don’t feel chill and sleep well. Set for women and men who have low blood counts.
- Lower limit : Transition range. People who could endure cold compared to the ones who couldn’t are likely to sleep within this range, without shivering.
- Extreme limit : It is the survival temperature. You don’t get a cold-related disease, but you cannot shut your eyes either. It shouldn’t be forgotten that there is a risk of health damage by cold, too.
Now, you are finally about to choose a decent sleeping bag for the season in which you want to go camping. Just to be sure its comfort and lower limit rating should be lower than the coldest temperature you expect to encounter during the adventure of yours. As a cool one last advice, we have picked, for you, top 3 best sleeping bags on Amazon.
1 The North Face Green Kazoo 0F / -18C
2 Marmot Trestles 15 15F / -10C
3 Naturehike Ultralight Goose Down 32F / 0C
