Introduction
There are many kinds of them. Did you know how to choose the best sleeping bags for you? In order to get the best sleeping bags for you, you need to know something about them first.
A sleeping bag is a warmly lined bag for sleeping, especially outdoors. The most important feature of the sleeping bag is the temperature rate. It should enable you to enjoy a comfortable sleep without excessive sweat or feeling cold. There are outdoor and indoor sleeping bags. The indoor sleeping bag can be made with common materials, and they are usually for children at home. What we focus on here are outdoor sleeping bags, because they serve the purpose of camping outdoors. The main types of the outdoor sleeping bags are synthetic and down. They have different features and characters. The following are the details of them:
Fill, inner and outer materials
There are down and synthetic fiber fill in the sleeping bags. We call the sleeping bags with down fill down sleeping bags, and those with synthetic fiber fill synthetic sleeping bags. Down sleeping bags have duck down and goose down. Goose down has better expansion than the duck down. The fill power of them is difference. The fill power of goose down is greater than that of the duck down. Generally speaking, if the weight of the down is the same, the greater the fill power is, the warmer the sleeping bags are. The highest fill power of goose down is between 700 and 800, which is much better than that of duck down.
There are a variety of synthetic fill with different qualities. The fill densities vary, too: some are 260g per cubic meter, and some are 320g per cubic meter. Contrast to down fill, the synthetic fiber stuffing has lower degree of warmth. However, they are light in weight, and they are cheaper than the down fill. Also, they have water repellent properties, and the synthetic sleeping bags dry faster than the sleeping bags with down fill do. Usually, down sleeping bags can be used more than 10 years, while synthetic sleeping bags have a life span of three to four years.
The commonly used inner and outer materials are polyester or nylon, which have great strength and they are not easily torn. This feature of them makes the sleeping bags suitable for outdoor use. Between the materials of polyester and nylon, nylon is a better choice. So, it is wise of you to choose the nylon sleeping bags. What's more, the design of the sleeping bags is important, too. You can choose what you like. There are mummy sleeping bags, rectangular sleeping bags, envelop sleeping bags, and so on. According to the usage of the sleeping bags, there are kids' sleeping bags, indoor or outdoor sleeping bags, two-person sleeping bags, etc.
How to choose
Now, since you know something about some of the features of the sleeping bags, you may want to choose one by yourself right away, but wait, for there are some questions for you to answer:
- Do you like down or synthetic sleeping bags?
- Where and under which kind of weather condition will you use it?
- Which brand do you like?
- How much money will you spend?
- Which type do you like?
After you get the answers to the questions here, you are ready to choose one by yourself. For the first question, as we have talked above, the down sleeping bags are generally warmer than the synthetic ones. However, synthetic sleeping bags are lighter, and easy to wash. Just think about it, and choose what you like.
For the second question, you need to know under which kind of weather condition you often use your sleeping bag. You must let your sleeping bag meet the weather conditions that you would encounter. There are sleeping bags from moderate temperatures to cold temperatures. The temperature ratings of the sleeping bags are very important, because it determines which kind of sleeping bag is the one you want to get. Usually, there are upper limit, comfort rating, lower limit, extreme rating, altogether four bag ratings. They are used in warm weather (efficient for temperatures down to around +32F/+0C), comfortable seasons (efficient for temperatures down to around +15F/-9C), cold weather (efficient for temperatures down to around -5F/-21C), and extreme cold weather (efficient for temperatures colder than -5F/-21C) respectively. I am sure you know which one is right for you after you know the temperature rating of the sleeping bags.
For the third question, I will introduce some to you: Eureka, Black Pine Sports, Grizzly, etc. Just find some good-famed ones in your local area. Personally, I think quality is more important. So, try to judge the quality with what you have known.
The fourth question is to help you to have an idea about your budget. Since the prices vary a lot, you can just choose the ones within in your budget range. You need to try figure out your budget is. It is up to you. One thing to remind you is that you have to take other aspects into consideration.
For the fifth question, you just choose the style you like. There are rectangular sleeping bags, mummy sleeping bags, sleeping bags for kids, and so on. If you want to sleep together in the sleeping bag with another person, there are two-person sleeping bags. Just choose the one that can meet your needs.
There are other things that you need to check before buying one. You should check the zippers of the sleeping bag, to see if they are wind-proof zippers. Wind-proof zippers can prevent the cold air penetrating from into the bag. This is important for you to keep warm in the sleeping bag at night. Also, there are some accessories of the sleeping bags, too. Among them, the package bag is a very useful accessory, which can make it an easy job for you to carry your sleeping bag. Make sure the package bag is strong enough for you to carry your sleeping bag.
Taking all of the mentioned above into consideration, I am sure that you can get one suitable sleeping bag for you to enjoy your camping!
