The Best Sleeping Bags for Every Adventure

Many people who say they don't like camping are most put off by the idea of sleeping away from their beds. I get it. Being swathed in a nylon bag cannot compete with the luxurious coziness of cotton or linen sheets. But there are sleeping bags that make camping a whole lot nicer, and toastier, and after years of testing we've found the best of the best.

Whether you’re backpacking, planning the perfect family camping trip, or trekking the Camino de Santiago, there's a sleeping bag for that. No matter how you travel, where you're headed, or how much comfort you seek, these are the best sleeping bags for every kind of camper.

Updated June 2026: We've removed backpacking quilts from this list and added them to their own guide, added the zipperless Marmot Wraptor and an Alpha Direct liner to this list, removed some older models, and updated links and prices throughout.

Be sure to read through our other outdoor guides, including the Best Backpacking Quilts, Best Sleeping Pads, Best Tents, Best Backpacking Stoves, and the rest of WIRED's outdoor coverage.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

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Mountain Hardwear

Bishop Pass 15

$335

REI

$335

Backcountry

Mountain Hardware's Bishop Pass 15 offers the best warmth-to-weight ratio while also managing to pack down small and not be too expensive. It isn't perfect, but it strikes the best compromise for most backpackers, being warm enough for the shoulder seasons and light enough (2 pounds and 5.4 ounces) that you won't mind it even when you barely need it in the summer. I have slept in this bag for more than a month on the trail at this point, with nighttime temps ranging from 20 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and, yes, it was too much in the heat as a sleeping bag. But on those warmer nights, I unzipped it and used it like a warm blanket, and slept very well. It's a versatile bag.

The Bishop Pass 15 uses 650-fill-power down wrapped in a 20-denier water-resistant ripstop nylon shell. (Note: You'll often see 20-denier written as 20D; see below for more on what those terms mean.) One of the great things about this bag is the draft collar and face gasket feature, which do a great job of keeping your head warm. With the drawcord cinched down, you can conserve even more body heat. This is one of the few bags I've tested where I didn't feel the need for a hat. The insulation does a good job of staying where it should; I didn't find any bad cold spots in this bag.

My only gripe about this bag is that it's tight—there's not much room for anything but me. That makes it efficient and keeps you warmer, but this is not a good option if you're looking for something roomy (see the REI Magma below, which has all kinds of size options). I also don't love the zipper. The pull glows in the dark, which is great, and the zipper doesn't snag much, but in my experience, it also doesn't pull as easily as others. Still, those are minor gripes about a bag that gets the rest right.

• Temp rating: 15°F / -9°C
• Comfort rating: 26°F / -3°C
• Fill: 650 fill-power down

Courtesy of REI

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REI Co-op

Siesta Hooded 20

$149

REI

Car-camping sleeping bags aren’t a place to spend lots of money. Should your best efforts to cocoon warmth around you fail, there is, after all, a car to retreat to. That's why we love the REI Siesta Hooded 20—it's plenty warm and affordable. It's also not a mummy bag, because you're not climbing Denali; why cramp yourself if you don't have to? The Siesta's rectangular cut makes for a much roomier, more comfortable bag. The Siesta is made of recycled polyester throughout, with a polyester filling. Despite that, the lining on this bag is noticeably softer than many others in this guide.

The Siesta's 20-degree rating makes it enough for three-season trips, and unlike most rectangular bags, the Siesta has a hood, which helps on those cold nights. What makes this such a versatile bag, though, is the double zipper system. There's a full-length zipper, which means you can turn it into a quilt on warmer nights, and there's also a second partial-length zipper on the other side so you can have more airflow when you want it. (You can also now zip two Siestas together, which wasn't possible with earlier versions.)

• Temp rating: 20°F / -6°C
• Fill: 650 fill-power down

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

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REI Co-op

Magma 15 Sleeping Bag

$399

REI (Medium)

REI's Magma series sleeping bags come in a bewildering array of sizes and shapes—there are nine sizes to choose from, ranging from Short Narrow, which weighs 2 pounds, to Long Wide, which is nearly 3 pounds. No matter what size you are, REI probably has you covered with this one. Whichever you choose (and it might be worth visiting your local REI to see how they fit and which is the best for you), the Magma 15 is plenty warm—I find it quite comfy down to its designated comfort rating of 21 degrees (note that all comfort ratings assume you are wearing a base layer).

The Magma 15 uses a 15-denier nylon ripstop exterior (Bluesign approved), with a non-fluorinated DWR coating to keep moisture at bay. Baffles are variably spaced and not stitched through, which helps the fill stay put and minimizes cold spots. I also really like the hood on this bag, which is warm and stays on your head throughout the night. There's a nice interior stash pocket I use to keep my headlamp handy and the draft collar is very good at keeping out the chill. One of my favorite features of this bag is the anti-snag zipper, which genuinely doesn't snag because there's a woven barrier that keeps the down baffle away from the zipper. The zipper is also full-length, extending from the bottom of the foot box to the collar.

REI also makes a 30-degree version of the Magma that starts at $349. I have not tested it, but if you only plan to go out in the summer months, that would be my suggestion.

• Temp rating: 15°F / -9°C
• Comfort rating: 21°F / -6°C
• Fill: 850 fill-power down

The basic design of the sleeping bag dates from the mid-19th century. The full-length zipper arrives mid 20th century. While materials have changed, the sleeping bag as we know it feels like it's fixed in stone. This year, though, Marmot decided to mix things up with its new Wraptor line, which ditches the zipper in favor of an overlapping design with a series of magnets to hold the bag in place around you. The result is a very comfortable, warm sleeping bag that has one foot in the world of traditional designs but also borrows some ideas from lighter-weight options like the backpacking quilt.

What makes the Wraptor worth considering is not the latching magnets—although those work just fine—but the overlapping top, which is split into layers, allowing for a lot of adjustments based on temperatures and your comfort. Couple that with the ability to kick your feet out and you have a bag that's genuinely comfortable over a much larger temperature range than most in this guide (though it’s worth noting that Sea 2 Summit's Spark Pro line has long had a footbox zipper). While it packs down quite small, at 2 pounds 14 ounces for the regular, this isn't an ultralight bag by any means. I love it for car camping, though, especially in those unpredictable shoulder seasons, which, where I live, can deliver nighttime temps anywhere from the balmy high 50s to chilly 20s. The Wraptor is comfortable across that range.

• Temp rating: 15°F / -9°C
• Comfort rating: 22°F / -5°C
• Fill: 650+ fill-power down (treated)

Courtesy of Zenbivy

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Zenbivy

Core Bed

$329

Zenbivy

The Zenbivy Bed 25 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) provides hands down the most comfortable camp sleeping experience I've ever had. It wouldn't be my top pick for extreme situations, but so long as your expected temperatures fit in Zenbivy's range, it doesn't get more comfortable than this. The Zenbivy isn't just a sleeping bag though. It's a sheet, hood, and quilt-style bag that can be combined in various ways depending on what you want.

The top sheet that covers the sleeping pad is made of 50-denier polyester pongee, which is wonderfully soft and feels like your bed at home. The sheet has the hood portion of the sleeping bag attached to it. Then you lay the top quilt (made of 20D nylon) over that. This is the coolest, loosest way to use the system, perfect for those warm nights. This is how I did most of my testing since I sleep rather warm. Should the temperature drop, you can zip the quilt foot box up into a mummy bag configuration and zip the upper sides to the bottom sheet. I did this on a couple of cooler nights in the Keweenaw Peninsula when it got quite frigid.

If you want something that packs down smaller, and is somewhat more versatile than the REI bag above, the Zenbivy is worth considering; it gave me the best night's sleep I've ever had camping.

• Temp rating: 25°F / -4°C
• Comfort rating: 35°F / 2°C
• Fill: 700 fill-power hydrophobic down

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

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Sea to Summit

Spark 15

$549

REI (Men's Regular)

$549

REI (Women's Regular)

$549

Sea to Summit (Men's Regular)

$549

Sea to Summit (Women's Regular)

The Sea to Summit Spark 18 is my favorite ultralight sleeping bag. Sure, most ultralight enthusiasts use a quilt, but if you're a fan of sleeping bags, than the Spark is the warmest, lightest bag I've tried. It weighs a mere 1 pound 9.7 ounces and has the smallest pack size of any bag I've tested in this temperature range. With the included compression sack, this thing is truly tiny. It's got most of the benefits of a quilt and none of the negatives (like getting a bit uncomfortable on chilly fall nights), making it a good option for thru-hikers or anyone wanting to save ounces but stick with a traditional sleeping bag design.

The inner liner is a lightweight 10D nylon, while the outer shell is the same with a PFC-free DWR coating. It's thin, and I suggest you baby this one, but we've been testing Spark bags since 2018, when our tester took one to Comic-Con, and haven't had any durability issues in all that time.

The 850+ fill power is hydrophobic down, which combined with the outer DWR coating make overnight condensation a non-issue. The zippers are on the small side, but they slide well and rarely, if ever, snag on the bag. I've slept in this bag down to 20 degrees and found it plenty warm. Like our top pick, the Bishop Pass, this is a tight-fitting bag. It's plenty comfy, but you need to love the mummy shape.

While I have tested the 15-degree and 0-degree models, there is a whole range of Sparks: 45, 30, 15, and 0 degrees. At $549, the Spark 15 is not cheap, but high-end, ultralight gear typically comes with a hefty price tag. If you have extra cash, the Spark Pro line is worth considering as well. I haven't tested it, but the full-length zipper that allows the bag to become more like a quilt is interesting.

• Temp rating: 15°F / -9°C
• Comfort rating: 29°F / -2°C
• Fill: 850 fill-power goose down

Photograph: Nemo Equipment

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Nemo Equipment

Disco 15

$300

REI (Men's)

$300

REI (Women's)

$300

Nemo (Men's)

I'm always on the lookout for the best gear for side sleepers, which, when camping, usually means a quilt. For most of the year, the best side sleeper setup is the thickest self-inflating sleeping pad suitable for the distance you're carrying it (if you're only going to buy one pad, I like the Sea to Summit Comfort Plus) and a quilt of the appropriate weight. But once you get down below freezing, the quilt can be a liability as you can roll over the wrong way and crack open your bubble, losing all your warm air instantly. In those situations, I love Nemo's Disco 15. This down mummy bag was designed with a “spoon shape” for side sleepers and has a little extra room in the elbows and knees so you can roll over onto your side without feeling like you're slipping into a straight jacket.

It's built for temps down to 15 degrees and has zippered gills you can open to prevent overheating in the 40s, though I kept them all closed in the mid-30s and wasn't overly warm. The hood is also a little looser than most mummy bags and comes with a draft collar that you can use to tuck yourself under, but that doesn't seal tight like more traditional mummies. Given the extra roominess and the fact that it's only 650-fill power down, this bag doesn't pack down as small as some 15-degree bags, but if you want higher fill power you'll pay an obscene amount. —Martin Cizmar

There's a reason narrow cut sleeping bags earned the nickname "mummy bags." They're constricting at the best of times, suffocating at the worst. I don't know about you, but for me, there's nothing about a mummy that I want to emulate. This I think is why the quilt caught on with through hikers and those looking to carry less and go farther. Rather than wrapping you up like the dead, a backpacking quilt goes on top of you like the quilt you might use at home. I first tried a quilt about five years ago and have rarely used anything else since in the summer. I love quilts.

The science here is that when you lie down in your traditional sleeping bag, the weight of your body forces most of the down fill off to the sides. The down left under you is so compacted you're not getting any real insulation from it anyway—so why carry that extra nylon and down around? Quilts get rid of the bottom layer of useless nylon and down, which makes them weigh less than sleeping bags and pack down smaller. Win-win.

We have a whole guide to ultralight quilts, but I've highlighted the top pick here. For summer trips, when I want to go as light as possible, Enlightened Equipment’s 40°F Revelation Quilt is my favorite. It weighs just 19 ounces and has kept me nice and toasty to about 35 degrees, which is plenty for summer trips in most places.

• Temp rating: 40°F / 0°C
• Fill: 850 or 950 fill-power hydrophobic down

Photograph: REI

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REI Co-op

Kindercone

$70

REI

Kids' sleeping bags are cut smaller so your little ones don't have to heat up a huge, adult-size sleeping bag to stay warm. While that's 100 percent true, let's be honest, a lot of the appeal of kid-size sleeping bags is the lower price. The REI Kindercone bag fills both needs, being cut to a smaller size and relatively cheap. I would take the temperature rating with a grain of salt though. There is no comfort rating, but if there were, my guess would be around 35 degrees.

The Kindercone makes a great car camping bag, and you can backpack with it, but it's awkward. I spent four nights in the Pisgauh Wilderness lugging this thing around for my son. It's heavy (3 pounds and 3 ounces) and huge. Our hiking distances weren't that long, so after one day of it hogging half my pack, I took to just carrying the Kindercone in my hand. As I said, it's best for car camping. For backpacking, I'd consider something that compresses a bit smaller, like the REI Co-Op Zephyr 25 ($149).

While the Kindercone is a fine bag, once my kids hit about 4 feet, I put them in adult bags. I did so for two reasons. First, the temperatures we've camped in have mostly been warm enough that staying warm wasn't a concern—summers in the mountains and the Northwoods of Michigan. It's never cold enough that I'm worried about them in a 20-degree adult bag. The second reason is that sleeping bags last a long time and are a significant investment. I wanted something that would last them through their teens, however tall they might be. (Properly cared-for sleeping bags should last decades. I recently retired the North Face Blue Kazoo bag my parents bought me in 1992.) So do you need to buy a kid's bag? For younger kids, I would say yes; for older kids, probably not.

• Temp rating: -25°F / 4°C
• Fill: Polyester fibers

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

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Therm-a-Rest

Questar 20°F Sleeping Bag

$380

REI (Regular)

$380

Amazon (Regular)

Therm-a-Rest's W.A.R.M. fit, which stands for “with additional room for multiple” makes this a very roomy bag for a mummy design. I was able to draw my legs up when side-sleeping and spread out considerably more than with most of the other bags in this guide. If you toss and turn through the nights, and don't want a quilt-style bag, this is a great option.

Photograph: Nemo

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Nemo Equipment

Forte 20

$200

REI (Regular, Men's)

$200

REI (Regular, Women's)

$200

Nemo (Regular, Men's)

$200

Nemo (Regular, Women's)

Nemo's Forte 20 is a 20-degree synthetic-fill sleeping bag. It's best used as a summer bag, possibly a three-season bag, depending on where you live. The outer shell uses a 30-denier recycled polyester ripstop with an inside liner made from 20-denier recycled polyester taffeta. The fill is what Nemo calls Zerofiber insulation, which is made from 100 percent postconsumer recycled content fibers. The Zerofiber packs down remarkably small—this is the most compact synthetic-fill bag I've tested in this temp range—and retains its ability to trap warmth even when wet.

If you're going on a longer hike, say more than a week, and definitely if you're thru-hiking, I recommend bringing a liner. Sleeping bag liners protect the inner nylon of the bag from dirt, skin oils, and general wear and tear. They're much easier to wash, especially if you're hitting laundromats along the trail. The big bummer about liners is that they add weight to your pack, which is why I love this ultralight Alpha Direct fleece liner from Big Agnes. It weighs just 7 ounces and is made of luxuriously soft Alpha Direct micro-fleece. It's lightweight, breathable, and fast drying. It also packs down to a tiny ball (the included stuff sack will get you to about Nalgene bottle size, but if you have a smaller stuff sack, it'll get down to about half that).

It does add some degree of warmth to your bag as well. Big Agnes says 5 to 10 degrees. In my experience it's more toward the 5-degree end of that range. If it's really warm, though, I could see using just this and skipping the actual sleeping bag. I found this to be quite comfortable once you're in it, though it is a bit like sleeping in an oversized sock—getting in isn't the easiest.

A sleeping bag is typically one of the most expensive pieces of camping gear you'll buy. If none of our picks strike your fancy, here are some general guidelines.

Are you car camping? Thru-hiking the PCT? Headed out overnight in the August heat? Plotting a winter ski traverse of the Karakoram Himalaya? Which sleeping bag is right for you depends on how you're going to use it, especially the temperatures you plan to camp or backpack in, and how you sleep—hot, cold, in between.

Unfortunately, there isn't an ideal sleeping bag that works in all climates. If you encounter a wide range of conditions in your camping, I would consider two bags. Get one nice down bag for colder conditions and a cheaper, lightweight synthetic-fill bag for summer use.

As with most things in the outdoor world, you're going to pay more for lightweight materials, so if you don't need them because, for example, you're just car camping, don't pay extra for an ultralight bag. Maybe don't even pay for a down bag. Synthetic bags are generally the best budget sleeping options for those camping in the heat.

By the same token, if you're primarily a summer hiker, doing the Appalachian Trail in sections, you don't need a 0-degree bag. Identify your use and then look for a sleeping bag that suits you best. Also, take the temperature rating with a grain of salt. Everyone sleeps differently. I almost always sleep warm, which means I don't need a 0-degree bag in anything but the harshest situation. My colleague Adrienne So is roughly the opposite and uses a 0-degree bag in 40-degree weather. Neither one of us is “right,” we've just learned to shop around how we sleep.

There are two types of insulation used in today's sleeping bags, down feathers and synthetic fibers. Down comes primarily from geese and ducks. Synthetics range from nylon to polyester. The insulation works by creating pockets of air, either through the structure of a feather or the structure of a synthetic fiber. These pockets of air then trap your body heat, keeping it close, and you warm. The more loft there is—the more air pockets there are—the warmer you will be and the lower the sleeping bag's temperature rating will be.

In most situations, a down sleeping bag is the superior choice. It's warmer for the weight, packs smaller, and is lighter. Where down fails is when it gets wet. Wet down is generally useless—all those air pockets that trap heat are gone. Synthetics on the other hand retain more warmth when wet. No one wants to sleep in a wet sleeping bag, but if you think that's a possibility, synthetic is the way to go.

In recent years, down has been challenged with what's marketed as hydrophobic or “dry down,” which is treated with water-repellent coatings that cause the feathers to repel water. In our experience testing, these bags do better than regular down when wet, and in many cases, they're as good as synthetics. The trade-off is that when dry, they don't have quite the loft of regular down. If you're worried about water and want to stick with down, hydrophobic down is the best choice.

There is also the ethical question of down. Most down is a byproduct of the food industry. The Responsible Down Standard tries to ensure that down is ethically sourced, but PETA has shown that it's far from perfect. We leave that judgment call to you, but before you rush off to buy a synthetic, remember that it involves plenty of hazardous chemicals and questionable factory working conditions.

After the type of insulation, it's worth considering these factors.

• Temperature rating: Choose a sleeping bag rated a little bit lower than the lowest temperature you expect to encounter. If you're a three-season backpacker in the southern US, the lowest you're likely to hit is around freezing, so I'd suggest a 20-degree bag. If you sleep cold, you might go down more to 10 degrees.
• Fill power: This means how much insulation is in the bag. The higher the fill-power number the warmer the bag will be. See our fill power explainer for more information.
• Weight: If your backpacking weight is important, you want to stay as light as you can while still staying warm. Make sure to compare bags with the same temperature rating and ideally the same fill power—otherwise, you're making an apples-to-oranges comparison.
• Design and features: Remember to consider the extras. Do you want a full-length zipper? Do you want a full hood? Or a way to strap your bag to your pad? How about stash pockets? Sleeping bags can have quite a bit of functionality beyond keeping you toasty.
• Your overall sleep setup: How effective your sleeping bag is, and how warm you stay, also depends on factors like your sleeping pad and which tent you're using. See our Best Sleeping Pads and Best Tents guides for more advice on which suits you best.
• Women’s sleeping bags: Our female testers have generally found very little difference between sleeping bags for men and those for women. Many manufacturers no longer make separate bags for women, but if that's something you want to look into, we suggest Sea to Summit, which makes a range of women's sleeping bags.

All our testing was done in the field in tents. Collectively, our testers have more than 11 decades of experience in the wilderness. To test these bags, we hiked Alaskan peaks, Texas deserts, Hawaiian beaches, Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, and a range of other locations and conditions across the country. It's a rough life, but someone has to do it. This is not to say it's all fun and games—just ask my kids who've had to lie still many a morning while I zapped around their sleeping bags with an infrared thermometer looking for cold spots.

With a mix of body types and sleeping habits, we've been able to test which bags will keep even the coldest sleepers warm and which won't make those of us who sleep hot wake up sweating. Our picks are based on first-hand experience testing in the field on real trips (alas, we don't get paid to tromp around the wilderness). We take into account the warmth, how packable a bag is, how much it weighs, and how well it stands up to life on the trail or in the trunk.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Probably the most common question about sleeping bags is, “What temperature-rating sleeping bag should I get?” That's a good question, answered above, but it begs another question: What do those temperature ratings mean? There are often two ratings associated with temperature: temperature rating and comfort rating.

Temperature rating is done using standardized tests overseen by the International Standards Organization (ISO), the same group that oversees things like programming languages and electrical standards. If you're in Europe, you might also see EN (European Norm) temp ratings. These are close enough to ISO ratings that you can compare them. ISO temperature ratings are done in a lab using standardized equipment under more or less ideal conditions. They also use base layers on the dummy. In the end, ISO temps are a means of comparison, but they don't mean that you will be warm at whatever temperature rating is given.

Comfort rating is more subjective. This is the temperature at which someone who sleeps cold will still feel comfortable. So if you tend to sleep cold, the comfort rating is the one to pay attention to. Incidentally, this is the rating given to most women's sleeping bags, because according to the industry, the average woman will feel colder than the average man in a bag with the same temp rating.

Beyond knowing what the terms mean, also know this: Ratings are not precise. Our advice for those heading into snowy conditions where warmth is critical is to buy a bag rated 10 to 15 degrees colder than the coldest temps you expect to encounter.

There are more types of nylon out there than anyone can keep track of, which is where the denier rating system comes from. Denier is a measure used in fabrics that is based on the linear density of a fabric. The linear density is calculated by measuring how heavy the material is (in grams) for a length of 9,000 meters. Glad we cleared that up.

Wait, what? 9,000 meters of what now? It turns out there are forms of fabric so thin it helps to have that much material to get a reliable weight out of them. The important takeaway is that denier means fabric weight. The higher the number, the thicker the fabric. Fun word nerd trivia: The word denier comes from the Latin word “Denarius,” which was a Roman coin.

In the case of sleeping bags, denier ratings for the nylon used typically run in the 10D to 40D range, though I have tested a few with single-digit-denier nylon. Also, watch out for all sorts of trademarked names for fabric. These have nothing to do with how thick or durable they are, they're just marketing. In my experience, testing over two dozen sleeping bags, 10D fabric is fine for a sleeping bag so long as you don't abuse it.

We covered what hydrophobic down is above, but there are a couple of other acronyms you'll see thrown around. The main two are DWR and PFC-free. DWR stands for “durable water repellent.” This waterproofness is commonly achieved through the use of a perfluorinated compound, better known to most of us as PFC. PFC-free means the waterproof coating on the down (or sometimes the nylon as well) doesn't contain any PFCs. Alternatives include wax, silicon, and sometimes plant-based sealants. Because waterproofness isn't as critical in sleeping bags (compared to a rain jacket), there's usually no difference between PFC-free sleeping bags and those that aren't. We try to recommend only PFC-free sleeping bags.