Camping Sleeping Bag Shopping Tips
The sleeping bags of years ago were nothing more than just a blanket made of wool and cotton that were folded over and fitted in with a zipper. The camping sleeping bags of today are made of more advanced materials and are ergonomically designed. The modern sleeping bags have been field tested for thousands of hours.
While most sleeping bags today have a nylon shell, they still aren’t all the same in terms of quality. Nylon can be thin or thick, fragile or sturdy, heat conductive or not. Nylon can also be waterproof or just offer a momentary delay in getting wet. When shopping for a tent, look for one with tight seams.
In terms of their interior, sleeping bags have improved. The sleeping bags today now have better superior insulating materials. Some sleeping bags can be as light as one ounce per square yard. Synthetics like Dupont Thermolite and Primaloft have made it possible to create lightweight sleeping bags that can keep the cold out and at the same time have a “breathable” interior.
Most sleeping bags today are cleverly designed too. There are sleeping bags that come with layered synthetic insulation with either natural or synthetic down, providing great comfort and excellent temperature control. Sleeping bags are also measured in terms of fill. Fill refers to the volume that one cubic ounce of material occupies. You can use the fill to do comparisons of sleeping bags. A good sleeping bag will have a fill of 750. You will want to go with a sleeping bag that has a fill of at least 900.
What the sleeping bag is made of is just one of several factors you need to consider when shopping for a sleeping bag. Geometry, or the shape, of the sleeping bag is an important consideration. A sleeping bag wit ha full-length zipper is good to have when you’re camping on warm nights as this kind of sleeping bag will allow you to let a little air in the bag. On cold nights, however, you’ll want a sleeping bag that comes with a mummy hood and draft collar.
What’s a mummy hood? It helps warm your arms if you tend to sleep by putting your arms under or above your head. You can also stuff in some clothes and towels under the liner of the mummy hood so you can have some sort of a pillow. And if you sleep on your back, there are sleeping bags that allow you to keep your toes pointed upwards in a comfy position.
Essentially, a good sleeping bag keeps you from feeling the cold ground while giving you enough space to freely move inside. In the past, this kind of sleeping bag would have been impossible to find, but modern designers of sleeping bags have found a way for campers to get the best of both worlds.
The bottom layer of your sleeping bag needs to have sufficient padding even without an air mattress or cot. There are some sleeping bag models that come with a slid-in rollable pad; other sleeping bags have built-in padding. Go for the sleeping bag that will give you adequate comfort but without being too heavy and bulky for you to carry.
Among the large piece of camping gear you will have to take with you, the sleeping bag is perhaps the most important. If you’re camping in an RV or plan to sleep in a motel, you don’t have to really worry about sleeping bags. While a tent is an essential camping gear, there are times when you won’t really need (nor want) to bring a tent with you. A sleeping bag, however, is something you will always need to have with you when you go camping. If you want to experience a good night’s sleep in out in the great outdoors, you’ll need to have the best sleeping bag with you.