Sleeping Bags 101: A Beginner’s Guide
Like tents, backpacks and jackets, sleeping bag is an outdoor gear that each camper should not miss on their checklist. If this is your first time to buy one, here are some basic information that you need to know.
The primary purpose of a sleeping bag is to keep you warm and comfortable when you sleep in the campsite. There are three basic factors that will affect warmth and thus affects the sleeping bag’s performance. The insulation prevents the air from moving around at the same time preventing the body heat to escape from the bag. The construction of the sleeping bag greatly affects its insulating ability. Poorly designed sleeping bags are either sewn or stitched while efficient ones are usually quilted like Marmot Atom Sleeping Bag. The type of environment, like if it is wet, warm or windy, in the campsite is another valuable factor that affects the performance of the sleeping bag.
Critical to sleeping bags are the materials used and its construction. These will define the bag’s weight and insulating power. Because each camper has special needs and preferences, sleeping bags are designed either as mummy or rectangular shaped, for men, women and children.
Sleeping bags are also rated according to the number of seasons they can withstand thus they are rated as one-season, two-season, three-season or four-season bags. Relative to this, down fill bags the ones used for extreme weather camping due the material’s insulating ability. Synthetic fill is a cheaper, lighter alternative but does not provide maximum comfort during extreme weather conditions.
One of the defining factors of the sleeping bag’s quality is the material used to construct them. Breathable, cheaper materials for sleeping bags are nylon, taffeta and polyester but they do not last long compared to the synthetic alternative. Extreme weather sleeping bags are made from Microfiber, Gore-Tex and DryLoft known because of its ultra light feature.
Other sleeping bag features include zippers, hoods, collars, pillow pockets and sleeping pad connections. These are miscellaneous parts of a sleeping bag but are still important to maximize the insulating ability of your bag for your sleeping comfort. Sleeping bag compartments called baffles that keep the bag filling from moving. Lastly, the stitching your bag is also critical to insulating performance as the bag may get cold spots along the stitch lines so quilted sleeping bag are preferred.
