Coleman Kompact 20 Review

If you're looking for fancy or unique features on a sleeping bag, the Coleman Kompact might not be the best option. This bag stays true to Coleman's decades-long success of making simple, well-crafted camping goods. What it may lack in flash, is made up for by functional items like proprietary insulation and a patented, snag-less zipper system. At just 75 inches long, the bag is designed for sleepers 5 feet, 11 inches or shorter. Additionally, we found that its 33-inch width only accommodates sleepers with thinner body frames. All that said, while being on the smaller end, the Kompact is a nice and warm bag.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

The Kompact excelled in our warmth tests, earning it an above-average score. We've tested several Coleman bags through the years, and we've found that most earn higher marks in this metric. This bag is layered with a proprietary Coletherm Max insulation that noticeably kept us warmer when mountain temps dropped.

The Kompact's interior brushed polyester liner is nearly one entire piece (similar to a sleeping bag liner) that sits separately from the insulation and quilted outer shell. This separation allows the liner to hold in heat because it has very little stitching and therefore fewer holes for cold air to sneak through. Although warm, the Kompact lacks a drawstring to cinch the bag around the neck and shoulders. It also has very thin draft tubes, which are designed to keep cold air from creeping through micro holes in the zipper. Those added features would have earned this bag higher warmth scores.

Comfort

The Kompact is stuffed with high-quality insulation and is fairly plush. It offers a soft, brushed polyester liner and shoulder padding that are warm and inviting. However, to truly enjoy the comforts of this bag, you'll need to have a normal to thin body frame and a height of 5 feet, 11 inches or less. Many of our testers found the bag's 33-inch width to be too constrictive. This thinner design, and the grabby nature of the liner material, also prevented comfortable side-to-side movement for larger body types.

Features

Extra features are hard to come by on the Kompact. It's a very basic bag constructed for warmth and durability. That said, the most notable accessory on Kompact is the patented ZipPlow zipper that is designed to help eliminate zipper snags. We've seen this feature on many other Coleman bags we've tested and can confidently say it's very effective. Additionally, this bag comes with a small interior storage pocket and an over-stuffed cuff around the opening of the bag which tucks nicely around the shoulders and neck.

Packed Size

It's name hints toward a condensed packed size, however, we found the Kompact to be anything but compact. That's not to say it's overly large for a camping sleeping bag, but rather, we simply expected it to pack up smaller because it comes with a compression stuff sack.

After several days of packing and unpacking this bag, we found that it rolls up a little too large for its stuff sack, requiring quite a bit of extra pushing and shoving to put this bag in its place.

Additionally, the compression storage bag only comes with two straps. This design is much less effective when compared to standard four-strap compression bags. The result is a not-so-compact packed size that measures at about the same dimensions as most of the other common camping bags we've looked at through the years. Once rolled into place, we found Coleman's Quick Cord tying system to perform adequately, but less effective than we anticipated.

Value

The Coleman Kompact definitely measures up to its warmth rating. Keeping with Coleman tradition, this product has a simple design that is built to last several years. However, when we compare these positives against the bag's maximum height limit of 5 feet, 11 inches, and its narrow 33-inch width, the result is a bag that doesn't accommodate the full population of car-camping enthusiasts. Additionally, the bag is somewhat difficult to stuff into its stuff sack, and once stowed, the compression sack does very little compressing — which is the whole reason for the name, Kompact. In summary, this bag is warm and well-made but when we compare this to its negatives, we feel it's a little overpriced.

Conclusion

The Coleman Kompact 20 is a great choice for smaller-framed adults as well as average-sized teens and children. It's warm, making it an excellent option for higher altitude camping or Spring or Fall camping when temps are lower. We feel it may be a little overpriced for what it delivers, but it's well-made and should last for several camping seasons if used with care. It doesn't live up to its name when it comes to packed size, however, it also won't take up any more space than your average camping bag.