POSTED BY

Lisa Katayama

AT 12:23 PM
Tuesday June 23, 2009

Sports and Survival • Theme Post

Big Agnes • camping • Sierra Designs • sleeping bags • The North Face • themes

Review: Three sleeping bags for cold-ish nights

sleeping bags.jpg

Big Agnes Peggy SL

The lightest and best-looking of the three, this women-specific bag with 800 goose down kept me toasty all night, and collar seals kept wind from seeping in through the neck. Instead of more puff, which is useless when you're sleeping on it, Big Agnes sleeping bags have thin sleeves that you can slip a sleeping pad into to save weight and not roll of of it. The one thing I had trouble with was the zipper, which tended to snag when on the fabric when I wasn't lying perfectly straight. Cost: $300.

North Face Re Meow

A great pick for uber-earth-conscious campers, the Re Meow is a hodge podge of recycled materials, from fabrics to yarn waste to water bottles. It's a three-season 20-degree mummy with thoughtful little features like a pocket for watches and cell phones and a glow-in-the-dark zipper pull, and straps on the bag cover to hold or strap onto a pack. Cost: $200.

Sierra Designs Cochise 15

The cheapest of the bunch, the Cochise 15 is a 15-degree mummy sack . It's pretty basic, but has some solid basic comfort features like a snag-free zipper, a pillow pocket, and a full-length draft tube to keep cold air from seeping in through the cracks. Like the Re Meow, it has a chest pocket for keys and stuff. Cost: $160.

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9 Comments

Anonymous Anonymous

#1 – 1:09 PM June 23, 2009

I can't sleep in a mummy bag any more... too confining. Rectangles only, for me, which makes it really hard to find a nice hiking bag for seriously cold weather.

Clif Marsiglio

#2 – 1:32 PM June 23, 2009

Worst part of mummys is that is impossible to get more than one person into...

BJN

#3 – 1:44 PM June 23, 2009

I'd only go with a mummy bag for backpacking to save weight. For the reviewer's car camping excursion, a nice, inexpensive oversize rectangular bag would be so much comfier to sleep in. And not a bag with a slippery synthetic liner, either.

Chest pocket? You're kidding, right?

celia

#4 – 2:14 PM June 23, 2009

What makes it a women-specific sleeping bag? Other than being pink, I mean.

brendan Hendrick

#5 – 3:43 PM June 23, 2009

Check out the BIg Agnes website for more details but, concerning the problem of "impossible to get more than one person into," I believe Big Agnes will make bags that have the zipper in an opposite orientation so you and your sweetie can zip them together into a bigger, snuggle friendly Big Agnes bag.

Ernunnos

#6 – 5:19 PM June 23, 2009

Wiggy's. They make 'em wide, long, mummy, square, and in left/right pairs that zip together. As a bonus, the insulation they use breathes better than a lot of stuff, and stands up to repeated washings. I have a couple of his bags, a few poncho liners, and a comforter on my bed.

Anonymous Anonymous

#7 – 11:22 PM June 23, 2009

wiggy's the bomb - they use them in survival gear for pilots. we use them here in Alaska. you can be soaking wet and wake up dry and hot. If you're cold he will send you a warmer one for the same cost. the best.

mwilliamrice

#8 – 6:17 AM June 24, 2009

...and now I am going to watch Tremors!

John DiCuollo

#9 – 9:58 AM June 26, 2009

John here from Big Agnes, just wanted to weigh in on a few comments from above...hope I can shed some light. Big Agnes' women's bags include an extra 2" girth in hip area, as well as extra insulation in foot and core areas. They also have a petite offering in terms of bag sizing, which fits up to 5'8". Regular up to 5'10".

In addition to BA bags being able to be zipped together, they also offer "doublewide" bags for couples. Check out www.bigagnes.com for more.

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