Everyone hates being cold however, finding a warm sleeping bag at a affordable price might be more complicated than being chilly throughout the night. The term “high-end affordability” has been overused. This is no longer the case with these sleeping bags that allow you to sleep comfortably under the stars without blowing your bank account.
Our top five budget sleeping bags are ideal for vehicle camping or backpacking. They boast various temperature ratings, degrees of packability, and weights. However, they all share one thing: they’re priced at about 200 or so. This is just one step away from your next — or first camping adventure.
Do you want to develop an automated sleeping system? Check out our Top Sleeping Pads for Budget to find the right pad for your pad. The REI Co-op Editors Choice Award winner ranks high on the list as the only bag in the budget category in this list that incorporates down insulation. This gives it the highest ratio of warmth to weight when tested. It can also be packed down in the same size as the size of a basketball, so you can carry it in your backpack in case you want to.
The latest version of Kelty‘s three-season king uses 550-fill, untreated duck down instead of the previously used chemically treated DriDown(tm). With 20-denier nylon taffeta cloth — this Cosmic 20 fairs OK amid severe conditions. One user said that his sleeping bag shook off the moisture of Virginia’s Tuscarora Trail and dried quickly after it was packed wet in the morning. “It was always fluffy and ready for bedtime,” the tester says. It is important to note that the Cosmic 20 is entirely 550-fill-power down, with a tiny amount of polyester in the foot box. This will help the bag resist long-term compression.
Other features that our testers adored? The most notable was the space to our feet. Kelty added trapezoidal foot boxes in the latest issue of Cosmic 20, so our feet can naturally fall towards the sides and not feel tight or squeezed. The clever new baffling design also improves the down loft on top of the foot box. Warm feet feel happy feet. Another option is comfort. The liner is made of 50-denier polyester taffeta that feels like silk bedsheets when placed next to the skin. Although the 62-inch shoulder size is standard in this type of bag, the 58-inch hip circumference is more extensive than most mother bags. Additionally, there’s an external storage compartment on your right shoulder. Buy here.
Editor’s note: Men’s Cosmic 20 version Cosmic 20 costs less than women’s. Women’s versions use more down insulation for an upper-temperature rating. If you can handle the more astonishing temperature ratings of the males, then you should consider this sleeping bag, whatever your gender. Please find out more about gendered sleep bags in our buying Advice section.
Note: An older version of the Cosmic 20 is pictured above.
Bottom Line: Top-quality down insulation and an affordable cost ensure that this Kelty Cosmic 20 is a solid option for car campers and novice backpackers.
Test Results You can feel confident to relax in this bag. The bag isn’t a zipper, but Eco Trail Synthetic 20 is built almost entirely from recycled materials. It starts with the 50-denier polyester outer shell and concludes with 100% recycled insulation. After that, The North Face completes the eco-friendly bag by bowing it: This bag has been coated with a water repellent, free from chemical defluorination (or PFCs) commonly found in older finishes.
However, Mother Nature’s gain is not your loss. Eco Trail Synthetic 20 is still warm. With an estimated temperature of 18degF, It will keep you warm even in mild, three-season weather. “I slept without any shivers in mid-30 temps,” said a co-op member who tried the bag out on an excursion in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The tester also notes that the bag did not effectively cut wind chill; put on a layer in cold evenings.
The best test story: “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may be famous for the herds of caribou, but what’s really impressive are the mosquitoes,” our tester states. “I have literally had to drink them all around Atigun Pass and could easily kill 20 in one go. I began to consider the sleeping bags as the only protected spot in the bug-free area of the tent I was sleeping in.”
Testing Results The most popular type of BOGO is purchasing a sleeping bag and getting an additional one for free. This Extra MegaSleep 25/40 comes with one side designed to approximately 25degF and the other with a temperature of around 40degF, which means you can alter the warmth of your bed by choosing the side on top. “It sounded gimmicky, but I actually loved having options,” said one user who used the MegaSleep 25/40 at the waters of New York’s Lake Ontario. Another tester was impressed by the ease of altering the bag’s temperature in the event of a drop in temperature throughout the evening.
In contrast to other sleeping bags in this list, the MegaSleep 25/40 is an elongated cut with an impressive 363 inches of shoulder length. It’s a bed-like experience. “I could actually fit my sleeping pad inside my bag with all the extra space,” says one user. The comfort factor alone can make the bag bulky for backpacking, but. It folds into the dimensions of an enormous watermelon.