Nothing is better when camping than to end the day safe in the knowledge that you will have the most comfortable relaxing sleep in a warm and cosy sleeping bag. To ensure that you acheive this consider the following points when choosing a sleeping bag...

• Insulation - The Basics
• Shapes and Features
  • The Hood
  • 2 Layer Offset
• Temperature Ratings
  • Rating Knowledge
  • Questions to ask yourself
• Insulation Fillings
  • Synthetic Insulation
  • Down Insulation

See our huge range of sleeping bags:  Caravan, Synthetic and Down Bags.

 

Sleeping bags work by trapping air within the bag itself.  Think of it as a hat for the rest of your body!

Your body is the heat generator for this insulation system and is able to create extra heat for warming up the environment around you.

There are many technical bags with features that aim to help retain this extra heat and therefore reduce the work for your body. 

Shape of the Bag

The shape of the bag is important for minimising the air movement around your body while it is inside the sleeping bag. The smaller the volume of air the less work your body has to do.

The easiest way for manufacturers to reduce this space is to taper the bag, known as mummy shape.

The Hood

FACT: About 30% of your body heat is lost through your head.

The hood is to stop the warm air being lost off your head and to keep the circulation of warm air going around inside the sleeping bag. In cold or winter environments this is an essential feature.

Sleeping bags that don't have this feature are designed for warmer temperatures, usually indoors, in your caravan or for summer climates.

Baffles that tighten above the shoulders also stop heat from escaping and cold from entering just like a hood.

2 Layer Offset

Caravanning and cheaper camping bags often grab a load of insulation, stuff it between 2 layers of fabric and just sew. This is called stitch through construction.  This however means that there will be cold spots L (Image: bottom left). 

2 layer offset bags minimise cold spots by having the seams in the middle with insulation above and below them. They position the filling in 2 layers as shown (Image: bottom right).

 

Sleeping bags usually come with a user-friendly temperature rating on them, however for the inexperienced they can be confusing and raise more questions than they answer.  Here's a simple guide to these hieroglyphics, seasons and all the other jargon you may find. 

Rating knowledge

Manufacturers test the bags using high-tech sensors to determine how cold the bags can...

• a) be comfortable in,
• b) allow you to survive in

The latter of these is the extreme rating, but unless you are into 'mountain use' the comfort is the key concern.

The following graph shows the average night temperatures for the UK across the months, this will help determine how cold you can go in the bag of your choice:

When buying a sleeping bag the most important factor is the Lower Comfort Temperature.  This is because you can always remove clothes, or sleep with your sleeping bag open if you are too warm, but you don't always have access to more clothes or a warmer sleeping bag if you are to cold!

Questions to ask yourself:

What is the coldest temperate I will be exposing myself to?

The graph above shows the average British summer and winter temperatures, if you are intending on going abroad you may need to check the average temperatures that correlate with the seasons of that country. Also consider the activities you are intending to do while using your sleeping bag, if you are up a mountain then things will be colder than the average temperatures shown here.

Do you feel cold?

Some people feel the cold more than others, if this applies to you then remove about 5°C from the lower comfort temperature. For example a bag with a comfort rating of 0°C might be better, if you are susceptible to the cold, than a bag that has a comfort rating of 5°C.

This could be due to many different factors: 

• Older people tend to feel the cold more than youngsters
• Females have a different sense of the cold to males
• Infrequent campers may be more susceptible to the cold compared to hardened mountaineers
• Poor nourishment via food or hydration can lead to poor homeostasis management (ie the ability of your body to react to enviromental changes and keep you at a healthy temperature).
• Larger built people will feel the cold less than those with a slender build

Where will I be sleeping, what environment will I be in?

If the bag is being used in different physical environments then the temperature will deviate from the average or temperate norm. 

• At higher altitudes air temperatures are cooler (-1°C for every 150m gain approx.) for UK mountains remove about 5°C from the Lower comfort temperature.
• If you are sleeping in a tent, chalet, hut or out in the open air, wind chills and other factors can affect the temperatures. 

 

 

Insulation Fillings

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Everything’s better with a filling in, but there are pro’s and con’s to the types of fillings.

The filling in a sleeping bag is the insulation, the stuff that stops warm air escaping, thus keeping you toasty in your bag.

Synthetic

 

Pro’s	Cons
Performs well when wet Good value for money Less care required in cleaning and storage	Poor weight to warmth ratio (compared to Down)  Bulky Narrower comfort range

 

 

Down

 

Pro’s	Cons
Extremely warm for its weight Extremely compressible Greater comfort range	Performs badly when damp/wet More expensive than Synthetic Care required when cleaning and storing

 

See our huge range of sleeping bags:  Caravan, Synthetic and Down Bags.

For any more information about the sleeping bags we stock please contact our Web Team on 08450 020 888 or contact your local GO Outdoors store.