10 Best Backpacking Sleeping Bags of 2023

The REI Magma 15 and Magma 30 (women’s Magma 15 and 30) sleeping bags offer a combination of warmth, weight, and cost that few other backpacking sleeping bags can match. The Magma gets it right where it matters the most – quality materials, a solid warmth-to-weight ratio, and a well-shaped footbox and hood.

Part of what makes the Magma bags so light is their trimmed-down design. The true mummy shape is highly heat-efficient because it eliminates dead space your body would have to warm up before the bag can do its job. But the Magma bags are still plenty roomy for side sleepers and hikers who shift around often at night.

Both models regularly find their way into our backpacks depending on the season, but which Magma should you choose? If you’re looking for one sleeping bag that can do it all at a very fair price, the Magma 15 is an excellent choice. If most of your backpacking trips are during summer months or you’re a warm sleeper, the Magma 30 is perfect for keeping pack weight to an absolute minimum.

Check out our full review of the Magma sleeping bags here.

Feathered Friends makes some of the absolute highest quality down sleeping bags on the market, and the Swallow YF 20 and women’s Egret YF 20 are no exception.

The Swallow and Egret are very light, feel soft against the skin, and are filled with responsibly-sourced 900+ fill-power goose down – which is about as high-quality as down comes. Feathered Friends doesn’t list EN temperature ratings, but we’ve found their ratings to be more conservative than most of the competition. In other words, this is one of the few instances where we would actually trust a 20-degree bag to around 20 degrees.

Certainly the high price is one of the first things you’ll notice about the Swallow and Egret, but we can assure you that they’re worth every penny if you’ll use them often.

Western Mountaineering makes some of the highest quality, lightest, and warmest backpacking sleeping bags we’ve ever tested. And the Alpinlite is the star of their lineup in our opinion. Every detail on this bag is dialed in – no-snag zipper, draft collar, well-shaped footbox and hood, full-length draft tube – it all comes together to give this bag one of the best warmth-to-weight ratios available.

The Alpinlite comes with a sizable price tag, but it will last for decades if treated well. We’ve trusted ours to keep us warm on tons of trips into the backcountry, and it’s still going strong. The backpacking community agrees – the Alpinlite is consistently named as a favorite among thru-hikers who need solid gear that can be put through the wringer.

While the Alpinlite is our favorite Western Mountaineering sleeping bag in terms of warmth-to-weight and comfort, we think several other bags from their ExtremeLite series are worth a look. If you don’t mind a more narrow fit in favor of saving weight, you’ll probably love the UltraLite. For cold sleepers who need some extra insulation, the Versalite 10 is an excellent choice.

The flexible design of the Enlightened Equipment Revelation quilt has been a game changer for our backcountry trips, and we love it’s warmth-to-weight ratio. We tend to prefer quilts over sleeping bags for most of our trips where we don’t expect temps to dip below freezing.

This quilt can be left open like a blanket on warm nights or cinched up tight when the temperature drops. You can choose to custom order your Revelation to your desired color, size, and warmth, so we bumped up a size in length and width for full coverage on chilly nights. We’ve found that the 20°F model keeps us warm to right around freezing or just a little below.

Quality like this will usually set you back a pretty penny, but the Revelation comes in at an amazing price when compared to similar quilts. We’ve been using ours for years, and it’s still one of the best investments we’ve made in our backpacking setup.

For more info, check out our full review of the Revelation here.

The Kelty Cosmic 20 (men’s) (women’s) is hands down the best option for those looking to save as much money as possible without sacrificing warmth. This budget-buy is also perfect for beginners who want to test the waters before spending a fortune on a lighter and more compact backpacking setup.

While the Cosmic is among the heaviest and bulkiest sleeping bags on our list, you won’t find a better down sleeping bag anywhere near this price. And – as is often the case with heavier gear – the Cosmic is more durable than many other sleeping bags we’ve tested thanks to its much higher denier outer shell fabric.

Keep in mind that you get what you pay for, so don’t expect the same quality out of the Cosmic as the other bags on this list. That said, this sleeping bag is functional and comfortable enough to get the job done well. When cost and functionality are the most important considerations, the Kelty Cosmic is tough to beat.

Looking for a full-featured sleeping bag, but dreaming about the tiny packed size and weight of a quilt? Look no further than Sea to Summit’s Spark 18 and Flame 15 sleeping bags. Full-length zippers with draft tubes, a down collar on the hood and neck, and box baffles eliminate cold spots to make the Flame and Spark exceptionally warm for the weight.

The Spark and Flame are on the pricey side due to their premium 850+ fill goose down, but that’s also what makes them so light and packable. You may be wondering what’s up with that “+”. The fill of each Sea to Summit bag is tested individually to ensure quality, so you may be getting a bag with a down loft grade even higher than 850.

We’re usually willing to pay more for top quality, and that’s exactly what you’re getting with the Sea to Summit Spark and Flame.

The REI Magma Quilt 30 is one of our go-to sleep sacks for trips where nighttime temperatures stay in the 40s or above. This pared-down design will keep your summer base weight as low as possible, and it compresses down small to leave room in your pack for other luxuries.

The Magma Trail Quilt has a fully-sewn footbox, which means it can’t open up like the Enlightened Equipment Revelation near the top of this list. This design limits versatility a bit, but it’s lighter, less drafty, and much easier to keep tucked around you to seal in the heat.

To top it all off, the Magma comes at a great price for the quality you get. With all of its advantages, REI Magma Trail Quilt is very tough to beat for hikers who do most of their backpacking in warm summer months.

Check out our full review of the Magma here.

Zpacks tends to be a leader when you’re in the market for the lightest gear possible, and their quilt-hybrid Classic Sleeping Bag is no exception. The Classic provides ultralight warmth using high-quality and responsibly-sourced materials.

The Classic’s ¾ length zipper and fully-sewn footbox slightly limit its versatility, but this quilt style is one of the best for keeping warm when temperatures dip. If you’re new to backpacking quilts, the design of the Classic can also feel like an easier transition than a fully open quilt.

The Classic is a common pick for thru-hikers and ultralight backpackers covering big distances. It’s a bit on the pricey side for a quilt, but if saving weight is one of your top priorities there’s no better choice than the Zpacks Classic Sleeping Bag.

Check out our full review of the Zpacks Classic here.

The Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 20 (view women’s) is our favorite synthetic sleeping bag for hikers on a budget. The Trestles has some surprisingly cool features for how little it costs, like a blanket fold quarter zipper, internal stash pocket, and included compression sack.

Synthetic bags used to be much heavier and bulkier than down bags, but that’s not so much the case anymore. The Trestles packs down decently small and is pretty light despite its recycled synthetic fill. Still, it’s one of the heaviest and bulkiest sleeping bags on our list, so you’ll have to decide if saving weight/bulk or money is more important to you.

One of the biggest reasons to choose a synthetic-fill sleeping bag is that it will keep you warmer than a down bag when wet and it’ll also dry quicker. So for hikers on a budget – and for those who aren’t down with down – the Marmot Trestles is an excellent choice with some great benefits.

The Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 is our go-to sleeping bag for when temperatures dip well below freezing. When looking at other 0° sleeping bags, the Phantom is lighter and priced lower than a lot of the leading competition.

Two important things to look at when deciding if a sleeping bag is going to be as warm as its temperature rating suggests are fill-power and fill weight. The Phantom is stuffed with 30 oz. of 850-fp down. 800-fp and above is generally considered very high-quality down, and 30 oz. of fill weight is higher than many other 0° bags. So the Phantom will provide more warmth than many of the other 0° bags available. It’s important to keep in mind that the Phantom’s comfort rating is 13°F, so most people will only stay comfortable around that temperature. But you could reasonably throw on some extra warm layers to take this bag down to 0° if you needed to, and you’d be okay – albeit a bit chilly.

To be frank, most people don’t need a 0° sleeping bag. But hikers heading into the backcountry in sub-freezing conditions, or those that aren’t staying warm with a higher temperature bag on a decently insulated sleeping pad, should look closely at this exceptional winter sleeping bag.

The NEMO Disco 15 (view women’s) has a unique shape that’s roomier than typical mummy bags, so it’s one of the comfiest options available for side-sleepers. On the flip side, roomy bags like the Disco are less heat efficient because your body has to warm up the extra space. This shouldn’t be a big deal if you’re mostly using the Disco in temperatures that’re above-freezing, but it’s something to consider before purchasing if extra wiggle room isn’t your top priority.

The spoon shape isn’t the only thing that sets the Disco apart. This bag is also packed with unique features, like a pocket to hold your pillow in place and NEMO’s signature “thermo gills” that help vent heat on warm nights.

For hikers wanting the most luxurious sleeping bag to help them get some quality backcountry Z’s, the NEMO Disco is a top contender.