We don’t suggest the Brazos for really cold weather; however, for normal late spring, summer, and early fall camping, this bag will work overtime to keep you warm — as long as you can fit in it. During our controlled warmth tests, coleman sleeping bag we used a laser thermometer to measure this bag’s ability to retain heat. You don’t need to wash your sleeping bag after every camping trip, but you should clean it once or twice a year, depending on how much you use it.
You can’t get much more budget than the Coleman Brazos, but it’s also not a do-it-all kind of sleeping bag. It’s more built for a night of car camping or even a kid’s sleepover party. Still, it’s capable of handling three seasons, and Coleman even managed to throw in a couple of party pieces.
Looking for the perfect sleeping bag for your next backpacking or camping trip? Look through mummy sleeping bags, semi-rectangular sleeping bags and rectangle sleeping bags. Browse through lightweight sleeping bags that are designed with a warm outer shell and a soft inner liner for comfort. The superior box stitching keeps the insulation from shifting to help eliminate cold spots.
Colorado-based Kelty has been in the camping business for a long time, and we like what they’ve come up with in the Galactic 30. What makes this bag unique is its combination of quality 550-fill-power down with a rectangular shape. Most traditional camping bags stick to synthetic fill for cost savings, but lofty down clusters offer a premium feel and warmth that polyester just can’t match. And as we’ve come to expect from Kelty, the Galactic is solidly coleman canopy built and priced pretty affordably at $170, which is around $30 less than REI’s similarly intentioned Hunkerdown above. The Big Bay is also available in a Big and Tall Contour version for $130, which is a few inches taller and broader in the shoulders, hips and feet, so it’s not quite a mummy bag and not quite a rectangle. I didn’t test the big and tall version, but the hood design, insulation, draft tube, neck collar and zipper are all the same.
Based on our most recent testing, it appears the latest version of the Brazos is significantly more watertight. We poured a cup of water directly onto our bag’s shell, and it stayed pooled on top without permeating the interior during the entire 5-minute test. If this bag were ice cream, it would be a single scoop of vanilla, topped solely with a respectable dusting of sprinkles.
In the end, the Brazos scored the lowest for comfort out of all the bags we tested, mostly due to its smaller size and fabrics. That being said, we feel this is still a great choice for young kids (who sleep through most anything) or teens (who don’t sleep and will most likely be around the campfire all night). At $76.00, this sleeping bag is costly to many, but it’s clear what you are paying for. We would have expected that an everyman sleeping bag like the Brazos to fit, well, every man, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Dimensions for this bag are 75”x33”, but the Coleman website states it will only accommodate campers up to 5’11” in height. The 66” girth throughout the bag could have also benefited from a bit of expansion.
However, fitting it into its stuff sack is a different story — think round hole, square peg. We found it easier to just keep the bag unrolled and randomly shove it into other places in our camp kit. Bursting at the seams, this bag’s packed size when we did commit to the bag is 16.5 x 10 inches. Coletherm insulation is Coleman’s patented insulation technology, designed to seal warmth inside the sleeping bag. It’s a hollow polyester insulation that promotes maximum heat retention without adding weight to the Coleman sleeping bag.
Anytime a company adds features or upgraded components to a sleeping bag, it adds to the cost. When you’re new to camping, the goal is to find a sleeping bag that has the features you need and none of the ones you don’t, which is what the Big Bay offers. The hood is the nicest add-on because it helps retain heat and adds comfort. It’s cinchable, with a simple nylon cord and plastic toggle that aren’t that fancy but get the job done. The nicest comfort touch is the added fleece in the footbox; it adds a touch of coziness to an already plush and comfortable bag. That said, we still recommend checking the weight and stuffed size that will be listed in the product specifications to get an idea of just how large and heavy the bags are.