Your sleeping bag, good or bad, can make or break your camping trip. After vetting over 100 models, we chose 9 of the best sleeping bags to test at car camping sites across the West. The OutdoorGearLab team logged a lot of nights outside to find the bags most likely to make your next trip a success. We looked for thick and warm fabrics, spacious cuts, thoughtful features and a lot more. In the end, we cited the bags that will give you cozy, restful nights under the stars or inside your tent. However, do know that you won't be able to stuff a lot of them into your backpack.
The Best Sleeping Bags for Camping of 2019
By Jason Wanlass ⋅ Review Editor
Tuesday May 7, 2019
| Awards |  |  | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $108.27 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $179.00 at Amazon | $54.54 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $134.96 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $90 List |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Very warm, well-crafted, tons of features, soft and cozy, adjusts well to different temperature ranges | Massive/luxurious bag, several unique features, hearty zipper, exceptionally warm, removable cotton liner, convenient zip-on tote bag | Roomy, comfortable, soft synthetic lining, small hood for warmth, water resistant | Lighter and more compact than two bags, packs up easily, customizable warmth levels | Lightest bag we tested, compressible, comfortable liner, quality construction, chucked full of features, water resistant, fits in a backpack |
| Cons | Grabby liner, may be confining to larger body types | Expensive, not water-resistant, cream-colored interior prone to stains, very large packed size | Doesn't unzip into a blanket, poor quality construction, hand wash only, machine washing voids warranty | Extra blanket feature may be annoying to some | Relatively small, doesn't stand up to colder weather |
| Bottom Line | This bag is warm, soft, and has lots of features and configuration options. | If you're willing to shell out the bucks, this bag will not disappoint; it's pure luxury - almost like sleeping in your own bed. | The Celsius's massive size, mixed with its red and black colors, make it appealing at first site, but the overall design and quality have room for improvement. | This is a great option for snuggling, and is smaller and weighs less than two bags. | The Siesta 30 is a great all-purpose bag. |
| Rating Categories | Polara 3-in-1 | Country Squire 0 | TETON Sports Celsius XXL 0 | Tru.Comfort 20 Doublewide | REI Siesta 30 |
| Warmth (35%) | |||||
| Comfort (25%) | |||||
| Features (25%) | |||||
| Packed Size (15%) | |||||
| Specs | Polara 3-in-1 | Country Squire 0 | TETON Sports Celsius XXL 0 | Tru.Comfort 20 Doublewide | REI Siesta 30 |
| Temp Rating (F) | 0 degrees | 0 degrees | 0 degrees | 20 degrees | 30 degrees |
| Measured Weight (lbs) | 8.3 lbs | 12.2 lbs | 7.1 lbs | 8.8 lbs | 3.6 lbs |
| Style | Rectangular | Rectangular | Rectangular | 2-person | Rectangular |
Expand to show full ratings & specs | Hide details
Our Favorite Bag
TETON Sports Polara 3-in-1
Very warm
Removable liner
Quality construction
Water resistant
Thick padding
May feel too confining for some users
Polar fleece liner is a little grabby
Difficult to pack into its stuff sack
Being best at nearly everything is hard to achieve, but the Teton Sports Polara 3-in-1 has pulled it off. As a result it is at the top of our list of camping sleeping bags. It's the winner of our Editors' Choice award, a great bag packed with options. On the list of good stuff are loops, snaps, zippers, pockets and drawstrings. Also, a unique layering system provides warmth options for nearly every season or camp setting. A detachable fleece liner means the Teton Sports Polara 3-in-1 is a perfect combination of your favorite couch-potato-movie blanket and a hardcore, cold-weather camping bag. It is rugged and mean but also soft and very cozy.
If you tend to twist and turn a lot when you sleep, this bag could seem a bit confining in certain situations. It's one of the larger bags we tested, but with its very toasty polar fleece liner attached, some campers may feel constrained by the grabby nature of the lining material. But overall, it's a toasty bag with lots of layering options.
Read review: Teton Sports Polara 3-in-1
A Great Value
Kelty Callisto 30
Full synthetic construction
Lightweight and easy to tow
Thick pillowy insulation
Water resistant
Narrow
Small zipper baffle
Thin shell material prone to snags
The Kelty Callisto 30 is not the least expensive bag on our list, but the combination of comfort and warmth in a reasonably compact design make earn it our Best Buy award. The silky interior of the Callisto makes it easy to move around in. The overall construction and size provide tremendous value. It's one of our favorite general-purpose bags.
However, it's on the narrow side. It also has a thin zipper baffle that doesn't retain heat well. Therefore, it is best as a warm weather bag, not as good when temps are near freezing. But the bag's combination of price tag, quality, and general-purpose design cause it to outweigh the negatives.
Read review: Kelty Callisto 30
A Snuggler's Paradise
Kelty Tru.Comfort 20 Doublewide
Large hood keeps pillows in place
Layering system customizes warmth
Lightweight for its size
Comfortable and warm
U-shaped zipper keeps bag intact
Easy to pack up
Lightweight fabric prone to snags
Expensive
Blankets prone to slip off shoulders
The Kelty Tru.Comfort Doublewide has the features, size, weight, and warmth to cause you to reconsider zipping two bags together the old-fashioned way. This bag offers a revolutionary zipper system, built-in blankets, and an ample hood design to hold pillows in place. For a dedicated cuddler, this bag is the bomb.
Do know, however, that this bag may be little pricey. You can purchase two of our Editors' Choice bags for the same price, having two bags for the price of one. That makes it difficult to quantify the Tru.Comfort's true value. But it's still a cool bag with really warm features and packs up smaller than would two Polara 3-in-1s.
Read review: Kelty Tru.Comfort 20 Doublewide
The Lap of Luxury
Slumberjack Country Squire 0
Massive, luxurious bag
Hearty zipper
Very warm
Removable cotton liner
Convenient zip-on duffel bag
Expensive
Not water resistant
Cream-colored interior shows dirt
If you are ready to spare no expense, the Slumberjack Country Squire is one of the most luxurious camping bags you can find. It's massive, warm, comfortable and rugged. The zip-out liner makes doing a quick washing simple and offers the sensation of being snuggled up at home in your bed sheets. The bag's unique features include a zip-off storage bag that can be used to carry tons of camp items back and forth to the car.
It's no surprise that all the luxury makes this the most massive single bag we tested. If you're tight on car or closet space, this is not the smart choice. Once you get it into the trunk of a small car, there's not much room left for anything else. The Slumberjack's quality and construction, including the 12oz Cotton Duck rugged exterior, makes for a bag that could last a lifetime, but also one with a significant price tag.
Read review: Slumberjack Country Squire 0
A Wallet Friendly Favorite
Coleman Brazos
Warmest bag for the price
Interior pocket
Patented zipper system reduces snags
Not very roomy
Catchy/scratchy interior lining
With its modest price tag we didn't expect too much from the Coleman Brazos. However, this bag surprised us! It posted better marks than some more pricey bags during two of the most extensive, side-by-side warmth tests we've ever done. The Brazos keeps your piggies (and the rest of you) warm at a quite reasonable price.
However, do consider this: The Brazos is among the smallest bags we tested, so if you're over 6 feet tall and have a larger than average frame, you're likely to be a bit uncomfortable. With that aside, this bag's price tag and warmth rating still make an ideal buy for a large portion of cost-conscious buyers.
Read review: Coleman Brazos
Morning scene testing the Slumberjack Country Squire 0
Why You Should Trust Us
OutdoorGearLab Review Editor Jason Wanlass, a Utah resident, lives in a camping paradise. He avidly gets out into it at every opportunity, whether hiking, backpacking, or taking road trips. The testing ground for this review was typical of Jason's outside life. These bags took a giant road trip through Utah's five national parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands. At the end of the road there was solid data.
We decided on four essential performance areas rated on relative importance. The most important were warmth and comfort. While comfort is naturally subjective, we added some rigor with tests such as the one during which we deliberately rolled around on a sandstone slab with each bag to get a true sense of relative padding abilities. With warmth we were able to test even more scientifically with an ice-block test, and side-by-side timed tests on the same chilly night. In both tests, we utilized a laser thermometer. Features and packed size were the final performance areas of interest, and we broke features down into a list and rated each one. While a small packed size is nice, we ascribed the least importance to this metric relative to final scores.
Related: How We Tested Camping Sleeping Bags
Analysis and Test Results
Of the four metrics we tested, we care about two of them the most. When the sun goes down, and the cool mountain air begins to settle, the all we want to know is, will it keep me warm and is it comfortable? A bag can have a zillion bells and whistles, but if it doesn't keep you toasty or swallow you up like your favorite down comforter, what's the point of forking over your hard-earned cash to buy it?
Related: Buying Advice for Camping Sleeping Bags
How did each bag stack up against each other? We committed hours and hours testing each bag to find out.
For this very reason, we weighted our warmth scores the most heavily, followed closely by comfort. But we didn't do a few subjective tests. We took each bag and got an idea of how we felt about it, and then compared our opinions to basic science — and we weren't overly nice.
Value
Hover over the blue dots in the value chart to see our award winners. The Teton Sports Polara 3-in-1 is not only the highest scoring bag — its price tag rivals nearly every bag we examined, giving it a higher degree of value. Only one model, the Country Squire, figuratively breaks the bank. The Kelty Tru.Comfort is also pricey, but it is two bags in one. The rest of the bags are closer in cost but excel in many different applications.
Warmth
When it comes to thermal insulation, it doesn't matter whether it's keeping something cool or something hot, it all works the same way — by trapping temperature in dead air space.
Synthetic insulation (shown here) works the same way that down does, it captures warm or cool air and holds it, slowing temperature shifts.
We used this concept to try a little reverse psychology on each bag. We figured if they could keep things (us) warm, then they should be able to keep other things (a large block of ice) cold. If our theory proved correct, the warmest bags should also keep a massive block of ice the coldest. Our hunch was right.
We left the bags outside until the outer temperature of the bags was below freezing. Then, we conducted extensive warming tests.
In short, we conducted several tests to determine each bag's ability to retain temperature. We used laser thermometers to help us determine how each performed. Then we compared these results to what our sleeping tests told us. Our warmth scores accounted for 35 percent of each bag's total rating.
The Teton Sports Polara 3-in-1 handily outperformed the all the rest, followed closely by the Slumberjack Country Squire and the TETON Sports Celsius XXL. If all the elements of the perfect cup of hot chocolate were turned into a sleeping bag, the result would be the Polara 3-in-1. Its overstuffed design proved to be incredibly cozy and warm. In fact, we found it a challenge to want to unzip and get up for the day after sleeping in the toasty Polara all night.
We left a block of ice in each bag for one hour. The Wenzel Grande kept in the chill better than any bag we tested.
The bag that surprised us the most was the Coleman Brazos. Since it's the cheapest bag we looked at, we were prepared to be underwhelmed. However, the Brazos warmth ratings outperformed several other bags with double or triple the price tag. It beat the REI Siesta, Kelty Callisto, and The North Face Dolomite, and nearly tied bags like the TETON Sports Celsius .
Have you ever felt like this after spending a night wrestling in your bag? We tested each bag to find out which allowed for the easiest tossing and turning.
Comfort
Did you ever play with those balsa-wood, rubber band airplanes when you were a kid? Remember winding up the propeller until the rubber band was in knots? Have you ever felt like that rubber band after sleeping in a bag that's the size of a shrunken wool sock? When you're already far from the comforts of home, nothing's worse than being trapped like a buried mummy all night. That's why we tested all of our bags for more than one type of comfort.
Yes, bigger bags like the The North Face Homestead Twin 40 or Slumberjack Country Squire offer more room. A bag can have enough room for two people, but if the interior lining is grabby, tossing and turning during the night may turn into a never-ending wrestling match with a life-size cocoon. For this reason, we decided to squirm back and forth in each bag to find out which one allowed for the easiest tossing and turning.
The Wendel bags fully unzip to create excellent lounging, or stretching, blankets.
The Slumberjack Squire scored the highest. Its bed-sheet-like interior allows for easy movement. Second to the Slumberjack in width, The North Face Homestead Twin 40 also gave us fantastic freedom. Which performed the worst? The Coleman Brazos. Its interior is extremely uncomfortable and grabby. The Teton Sports Polara's fleece lining also tends to latch on to clothing, but not enough to detract from its overall comfort factor.
Letting our feet air out while testing for comfort.
We also tested each bag's overall thickness and loft. To us, puffy, thick bags just felt better on cold nights. They also offer more natural padding. To determine which bags were "full of it," we spent a considerable amount of time inside each bag, lying on hard, flat, surfaces. The Teton Sports Polara 3-in-1 and the Slumberjack Country Squire 0 scored the highest for their overall coziness.
Sleeping bag sleeves, like the one on the NEMO Loft, are clever, but they don't always fit larger pads like the Therm-a-rest Luxury mat.
Features
In all, there were 11 features we explored with each bag. Out of all 11, three are the most practical and important: warranty, water-resistance, and how easy the bag is to clean.
Warranty — The Kelty, North Face, TETON, Mountain Hardware and Slumberjack bags all boast warranties that last the reasonable lifetime of the product, while Coleman options have a 5-year limited warranty. REI has a famously generous return policy, and you can return products with manufacturer defect at any time. REI's standard return policy is one year, to our knowledge.
Water Resistance - Nothing is worse than a wet sleeping bag. Outside water sources like a downpour can make for a miserable night. A leaky roof or trickling groundwater can lead to being cold and wet.
We doused each bag with 16 ounces of water and let it sit for 5 minutes to see which bag had the best water resistance.
We found the synthetic bags, like the TETON Polara, Kelty Callisto, North Face Dolomite, REI Siesta, and Teton Sports Celsius XXL performed brilliantly in our water tests. Behind in the pack were the Slumberjack Country Squire and the Coleman Brazos, with the Slumberjack showing virtually no resistance to water (at least in the tests we did).
Most synthetic bags really hold their own when it comes to repelling water. The REI Siesta 30, seen here, didn't let a drop penetrate after a full five minutes.
Ease of Cleaning - We won't sugar coat it for you. We were disappointed pretty much across the board. The instructions on most of the bags we tested preferred a commercial front-loading washer. This means you're headed to the laundromat every time you want to clean your bag. We figured that since this was the standard for most, that it wasn't that big of a drawback. Just a little time-consuming.
We were the most disappointed with washing instructions for the Teton Sports Celsius XXL.
The bags that scored the lowest were the TETON Sports Polara 3-in-1 and the Teton Sports Celsius XXL. Their instructions specifically detail washing the bag by hand and laying it flat to dry. Its guidelines also state that machine-washing the bag voids its warranty.
The thinner gray fleece bag on top is the removable liner of the Polara 3-in-1. Like the Slumberjack's liner, it can be removed from the bag entirely and washed separately.
One washing feature that impressed us is the increasing popularity of removable bag liners. Both the TETON Sports Polara 3-in-1 and the Slumberjack Country Squire 0 have liners that can be removed from the bag for a quicker option for washing and freshening up a bag. Note, you will still need to wash the Polara's shell by hand.
Simply ranking each bag according to its packed size wasn't enough for us. We also took the time to see how easy the fit into their stuff sacks, and whether they could fit into a backpack.
Packed Size
Traditional sleeping bags are known to be a little big-boned, so packed size was not a complete deal-breaker for us. However, whether you're backpacking in the Tetons or Car camping through Yellowstone, space still comes at a premium, so we rated each bag according to its stowed size.
We asked: Does the bag fit in its designed storage bag? We also questioned: "Does it fit easily into its storage bag? Shoving your bag into its stuff sack should not involve more action than an MMA fight. Most of the bags fit effortlessly into their storage bag, and surprisingly, the biggest bag, the Slumberjack Country Squire, was one of the easiest to stow. Testing determined that the Teton Sports Celsius was the most difficult to store, but with a little elbow grease, we were able to get them back into their storage devices.
Additionally, we determined whether each bag could legitimately fit on or in a backpack and whether its weight was acceptable to carry. In a pinch, could one double as a backcountry bag on a multiple-day backpacking trip? We found a few that could fit the bill.
The top scorer was the REI Siesta. Weighing 3 lbs 9 oz., the Siesta is not the lightest bag, but it would do the job in a pinch or for a beginner who doesn't want to invest a lot of money on new gear. The runner-ups were The North Face Dolomite, the Kelty Callisto, and The North Face Homestead Twin. All of these bags should only be used for warmer weather backpacking.
We felt that packed sized was important, but we also took it a step further and found out which bags actually fit into their stuff sacks with ease. The REI Siesta 30, pictured here, almost fell into its sack! The Northface Dolomite 20 and the Slumberjack Country Squire 0 were also very easy to stow.
Conclusion
Throughout our review, we didn't give these bags any leeway. Regardless of price or prestige, we held all to high standards, and we were not afraid to score them according to their performance. We researched everything we would want to know if we were buying these bags for ourselves. In the end, we hope our efforts will benefit you in your decision making.
The Grande (on the ground) is perfect for just about anything. We used it as a ground cloth as much as we used it as a sleeping bag. The Kelty Callisto 20 (around the shoulders) came in second for having that nice, puffy, overstuffed feel.
There's a lot to consider when buying a traditional sleeping bag. Hopefully, you've gained insight into the most important features of any conventional sleeping bag. When the rubber hits the road, the two most important considerations are warmth and comfort. The bags we liked the most were the ones that swallowed us up and kept us toasty all night.
— Jason Wanlass