Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

 

On  all but the hottest of nights, a warm and cozy sleeping bag makes a real difference at the end of a long, hard day on the trail. However, finding the right bag can be as challenging as finding your way along a poorly blazed trail.

 

For starters, a bag’s rating, such as 30F/-1C, is a general guide to comfort. It is not a guarantee of snuggly warmth down to the listed temperatures. It’s almost always best to go with a bag rated for just a bit lower temperatures than you expect.

 

Wet weather – you are camping, after all – will feel colder than the actual temperature. And, insulation that wicks up the moisture will produce a bag interior feeling colder still. Synthetic insulation dries much faster than down and retains more of its insulating factor when wet, but down usually performs better dry.

 

Higher altitudes will mean genuinely colder temperatures.

 

Mummy bags, which their tapered designs, hold in and magnify your body warmth, but also can feel overly confining. Rectangular bags are roomier, but generally don’t retain the heat as well. A morphed bag blending the two designs can offer all those features, but usually not as fully as either single-type bag.

 

<font face="Times New Roman">Bags with insulated, attached hoods retain warmth better, because about half of your body’s heat escapes through your head.</font>

 

A bag cut for a woman – narrow at the shoulders, roomier across the chest and wider at the hips – will be warmer when used by a woman.

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• bags
• warmth