Car-camping bags

Slumberjack Country Squire 20: In our original car-camping bag review, this was one of our also-great picks. It’s been set aside to make room for some recommendations that can get you out of the car and onto the trail, but if you are specifically looking for something to use in a cabin or on a cot, this rugged, heavy, bulky canvas bag is a great choice.

The Wenzel Cardinal Sleeping Bag was our runner-up car-camping pick, but it has been discontinued. We thought that its comfort and price made it a good entry-level bag; anyone could get a decent night’s sleep in it. If you do manage to find one—and it remains less expensive than our top pick—we still think it makes a good purchase.

Redcamp Cotton Flannel Sleeping Bag: Despite this bag’s nice length and similar price, its materials and construction felt cheap in comparison with our top pick.

Kelty Discovery 30: For the price, we preferred the smaller compression and more comfortable design of the REI Siesta 30.

The North Face Dolomite 40/4: The fabric of this comparatively light sleeping bag created a strong static charge that we found distracting while sleeping. If you need to save weight, look at a proper mummy-style backpacking bag.

L.L.Bean Camp Sleeping Bag Cotton-Blend-Lined: This bag typically costs about as much as the REI Siesta 30, but the latter is more comfortable, easier to pack, and better for longer treks than this model.

Cabela's Mountain Trapper 40 °F Sleeping Bag: This bag is similar to the Slumberjack Country Squire 20 in size and price, but we found the Country Squire 20’s inner liner to be a little more comfortable than the flannel of the Mountain Trapper. We also preferred the removable carrying case of the Slumberjack over the wrap-and-strap stowaway system of this model.

Big Agnes Hog Park 20: We were unimpressed by the brushed-cotton liner of this bag, which felt unpleasantly abrasive against our skin.

Backpacking bags

Cotopaxi Sueño: We liked many of the design features of this bag, including the mixed baffle direction and the pillow pocket, and that it opens up completely into a quilt. But we didn’t like the feel of the fabric, and the insulation isn’t lofty (although it’s 800-fill-power down, it feels more like a synthetic bag). Also, the light-blue fabric on the foot box on the bag we tested (it comes in three color combinations) showed dirt.

Big Agnes Hazel 15: The down insulation of this bag felt lumpy, and it didn’t have much bounce back. We also found that the hook attachment system meant to anchor the bag to a sleeping pad was too complicated.

Mobile Mummy 600/15 Degree: This Sierra Designs bag has been discontinued, and we’re sorry to see it go. This bag was great for restless sleepers, as it allows you to stick your arms and legs out of the bag while you’re sleeping. If you can find a Mobile Mummy on clearance and if you toss and turn at night, we still think this would be a great purchase for you.

Big Agnes Spike Lake: This budget down bag felt thin and lumpy.

REI Co-op Women's Joule 21: This bag is aimed toward campers who want a down bag but are concerned about keeping it dry in damp conditions. REI uses a soft nylon on the top of the bag but a tougher, more water-resistant material along the sides and toe box (where a camper is most likely to rub against the condensation on the inside of their tent). While this bag works just fine, unless you’re in particularly wet conditions, we think you can spend a little less and get a bag, such as our top pick, that’s more comfortable and still plenty water resistant.

REI Co-op Men’s Igneo 17: The men’s equivalent of the Joule, this bag also has extra features to protect it from condensation along the side of a tent, but ultimately (unless you camp in particularly damp conditions) you’d be better off saving a little money on our top picks, which are water resistant enough already.

The Sierra Designs unisex Nitro 800/20 and women’s Nitro 800/20 are well-designed bags with two quirks that testers found polarizing. Both bags have half zippers and a foot vent (essentially a hole in the foot box where you can stick out your feet to prevent overheating). We found this combination odd, though, because the bags couldn’t be unzipped all the way—some testers had trouble getting into them.

Big Agnes Skeeter: As with most Big Agnes bags, the stuff sack on this model clips into the sleeping bag, so you can insert your sleeping pad into it, ideally securing bag to pad. While this is a clever idea, we ended up fumbling for a few minutes as we tried to detach the stuff sack while breaking down camp. It felt like there were too many moving parts to deal with.

The Nemo Rave was a “spoon-shaped” women’s bag with vertical baffles and lots of innovative features, some of which didn’t seem to add up. It has two short side vents near the chest area, which expand the width of the bag slightly but don’t open up, but we weren’t convinced they made enough difference to justify the extra labor and cost required to add them. It’s a vertical baffled bag, but the draft tube was too skimpy. The draft collar is wide but felt understuffed, too. Nemo recently updated the bag and renamed it Disco, to match the men’s version; we’ll be taking a look at both soon.

Patagonia 850 Down Sleeping Bag: Although this bag contains traceable down (considered the most ethically sourced in the industry), the insulation was so sparse and had so many dead zones that the bag appeared see-through when we held it up to the light. The zipper on this bag is in the front (instead of the side), which exposes your core to the cold. The vertical baffle construction allowed the insulation to clump high up in the bag, too, creating cold spots.

Double bags

Sierra Designs Frontcountry Bed Duo: We recommend this bag, and in the past when we had a larger guide dedicated to double bags, it was a runner-up pick. It’s an ideal option if you don’t want to get the big sleeping pad that goes along with our top choice, the Dream Island.

The North Face Dolomite Double 20/-7: Simple yet functional, the Dolomite gets glowing reviews from users on the company’s site, REI’s site, and Backcountry. Our main criticism we probably wouldn’t have had if we hadn’t slept in so many competitors: the slipperiness and constant swishing sound of a bag that’s polyester inside and out. Almost all of our testers preferred a more sheetlike lining when presented with the choice. The Dolomite is also noticeably less lofty than the other bags we tested.

Teton Sports’ Mammoth 0 °F: A truly enormous bag. Our testers liked the Mammoth’s supersoft brushed-poly flannel lining and its roomy cut, though the couple who used the bag on a camping trip to Joshua Tree National Park were agitated by the cinch cord, which falls at the neck in a flap of fabric that interrupts the bag’s otherwise smooth lining. One of our testing couples, a 6-foot-6 man and a 5-foot-10 woman, slept in the bag at Wheeler Gorge Campground near Ojai, California, in April and found it plenty big and warm, though they had a hard time keeping it on their side-by-side sleeping pads. After a poor night’s rest they declared the effort required to get the bag back in the way-too-tight sack “absolutely not worth it.”

There’s no doubt: It takes a near-Herculean effort to wrestle this bag back into its carry bag. Enough users have complained about it that the company actually posted a video proving that it can be done. Mission accomplished?