How to Choose Sleeping Bag for Camping Trip?

By Marvin Wingard


The main focus of backpacking is to reduce or minimize the weight. Yet sleeping bags are important part of any traveling or camping trip. A sleeping bag offers comfort which help in getting a better sleep and a good night's sleep is important in any camping trip after a long hard day of hiking and trekking. These bags are typically wider, softer, cushier and less expensive than their backpacking counterparts. Therefore when shopping for one you must consider or look for certain things.

The dead or non circulating air next to the body is trapped and held inside the backpacking sleeping bags 0 degree and this keeps your body warm. The metabolism of the body or the body heat in turn warms this dead air and the bag creates barrier between it and the colder ground or outside air. The less air space there is to heat, the faster you warm up and stay warm. Nevertheless, the camping bags are roomier than backpacking bags with greater comfort, with the tradeoff being less efficient warming of this dead space.

The sleeping bags are rated based on the temperature it's made for. This temperature rating identifies the lowest temperature at which a bag will keep the average sleeper warm. So, in the event you find a bag that's described as a "20 degree bag", it means that it'll offer heat and comfort even when the air temperature drops no lower than twenty F. These ratings assume the sleeper is wearing a layer of long underwear and utilizing a sleeping pad under the bag.

When selecting a sleeping, you should choose a temperature rating which is a bit lower than the temperature you are expecting to encounter. For example, choose a bag with temperature rating of 20 F instead of 35 F, if you are heading for near freezing temperatures. In case the temperature climbs higher than expected, you can always open or create vent in the bag to provide more circulation on warmer nights. You should note that, most camping bags features a temperature rating between +15 F and +50 F.

Similarly metabolism of a person also determines the temperature of the person. The metabolism varies from person to person. In the same way temperature rating of the sleeping bag also varies from one manufacturer to the next. Nevertheless, you should use these ratings as a guide only and not as a guarantee.




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