The North Face Aleutian 55/13 Sleeping Bag

MUMMY BAG

Summer, winter, or all year round, the temperature rating on your sleeping bag is incredibly important. If a bag is rated for 30° that means that the average person will stay comfortable in temperatures as low as 30°. But keep in mind that everyone is a little bit different, so if you run hot or cold you might want to look at a lower or higher temperature bag that fits your specific needs. For example, if you run cold you might want a winter bag all year round. Summer bags are usually rated at 32° F or higher, 3-Season bags are 10° - 32° F and winter bags are 10° or lower. When picking out your sleeping bag be sure to go with one that’s rated for temperatures around 10° or 15° degrees cooler than you’re expecting. There’s nothing worse than being cold all night and it’s incredibly easy to just unzip your sleeping bag for extra ventilation if the weather ends up being hotter than expected.

EN TEMPERATURE RATING

The USA doesn’t have a standardized temperature rating system, this means that a 30° rated bag from one company might not be as warm as a 30° rated bag from a different company. This is where Europe’s EN Temperature Rating System (or the EN 13537) makes things way easier. The EN Temperature Rating is used by a lot of outdoor companies and bases its temperature ratings on standardized tests. If you have two sleeping bags that have both been rated at 30° by the EN Temperature Rating System, you’ll know that both bags will end up functioning the same in 30°conditions.

SYNTHETIC INSULATION

Synthetic insulation doesn’t compress down as easily as down, they aren’t as warm, and they usually weigh more than the average down sleeping bag, but they work much better in wet conditions. Usually made out of a polyester fabric that’s designed to feel like down, synthetic insulation dries quicker, and holds warmth better when it gets wet than their down filled brothers. These sleeping bags might not be as warm, or as easy to compress as the down version, but they do offer better versatility and tend to be a little bit less expensive than down.