This is a brief, but concise buyers guide about ultralight backpacking sleeping bags.  There is a lot of great information here, from a minimalist backpacking perspective.  I think he gives a lot of weight to using down, in regard to the “synthetics vs down” debate.  You simply cannot beat a down bag for packability and longevity.  I have an old canvas army sleeping bag that I still use for extreme conditions, and I have been using it for over 30 years!

I made a recent purchase of a Big Agnes Lost Ranger down bag, it has a quite a few nice features.  Besides being extremely lightweight, it has a sleeve in the back for my thermarest pad. This helps keep a person on the pad all night, especially if flat ground is hard to find.  The lost ranger also has a larger footprint than most mummy bags, which allows you to move around a little more.  You can get it with both a right or left zipper, and the bag is rated for 15 degrees, which is not overkill in the summer, but will work for most high country fall elk hunts.

I hope the video can help you if you decide to purchase an ultralight bag in the near future.

Filed under: Hiking and Backpacking

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