Synthetic sleeping bags, however, do have one performance advantage, a greater ability to insulate when wet. If down feathers get wet, they clump together and lose nearly all of their loft and insulative power. Synthetic fibers, in contrast, do not clump, so they can continue to provide considerable insulation when wet.
Your own preferences and uses may push you towards another rating. Summer campers, however, will probably be happier in a 40° F model. If you find that your sleeping bag doesn’t seem to be living up to its temperature rating, the ozark trail canopy issue is most likely your sleeping pad.
I think the expensive bags are just marketing and overengineering, unless you are going to the arctic. You can buy an expensive bag if you think it will make you more hardcore, but I will gladly tell everyone how hardcore you are if you pay me to do so. Walmart offers FREE 2 Day Shipping on every order of $35 or more. You can also choose Free In-Store Pick Up on thousands of items on Walmart.com. I don’t mind cheap…but I don’t like to purchase a product and then feel like company I just threw money at was trying to hide something from me.
Models that exhibit these characteristics we label as ‘backpacking’ sleeping bags. Just be aware that lighter and more compressible bags and usually more expensive. We believe the astronomical prices of some high-end sleeping bags won’t make sense to the average backpacker. For these folks, we suggest selecting a better value, such as the Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 15. This is our favorite budget bag because it combines 650-fill power down in a simple mummy design that offers a solid balance of performance characteristics.
Our testers believe it truly lived up to its 0° F temperature rating. They were also delighted with the wider dimensions of this bag compared to many other winter bags. Its high-quality 850 fill power goose down was some of the best at maintaining excellent loft despite numerous compression cycles. For the folks seeking the absolute best sleeping bag, we recommend the Western Mountaineering MegaLite. This ultra-premium model utilizes 12 ounces of 850+ fill power down to create a cozy cocoon of outstanding comfort. Our testers appreciated the more generous dimensions of the MegaLite compared to other products at its price point.
The rugged materials make this bag heavy-duty enough to do it all without worries of rips, tears, or snagged zippers. I purchased this sleeping bag for warm weather camping trips at the local lake. For fifteen dollars I wasn’t expecting (or needing) anything that would stand up to freezing weather. Unfortunately the workmanship was more than a little upsetting, even for that price. In this review, we highlight our favorite sleeping bags from a range of sleeping bag categories.