It’s a little slippery on the inside, which makes getting in and out easy, but the outside isn’t slick, so it doesn’t slide around on a cot, sleeping pad or air mattress. The Big Bay also has a cinchable hood, no-snag zipper and plush collar, plus it allows for foot ventilation, just like the Forte. The Big Bay is a mummy-style sleeping bag, starting wide at the shoulders and tapering around the feet. coleman sleeping bags However, close-fitting mummy bags, like those designed exclusively for backpacking and alpine pursuits, can feel claustrophobic for most people because there’s not a lot of room to toss and turn. The open footbox design adds space, and the bag has enough room for me to side sleep and bend my knees. Made using Coletherm insulation for lightweight insulation, the Blue Bandit is machine washable.
It is important to consider the temperature rating, especially when camping in cold weather. It is advisable to understand what the temperature ratings mean for each. For convenience and ease of storage, the sleeping bags feature a stuff sack and elastic straps so you can bundle them into a manageable compact size. The Coleman Big Bay 20° is rated for a lower temperature limit of 20 degrees Fahrenheit, which seems about right based on my experience. Wearing long johns and wool socks, I crawled into the Big Bay, napped on a cot in 32-degree weather and found it comfortably warm.
On milder nights, the Coleman Biscayne is every big and tall camper’s best friend. This best-selling sleeping bag is great for family camping with a two-way zipper that opens from the bottom for ventilation and allows you to zip two bags together for even more room. Choosing the right one can significantly impact your comfort, and each design has pros and cons.
The most important (or more heavily weighted metrics) for us are warmth and comfort. Comfort was assessed by sharing the bag with multiple testers to garner diverse opinions. We also conducted specific tests involving ease of movement, bag dimensions, and natural padding. For warmth, we were able to test even more scientifically with an ice-block test, a laser thermometer, as well as side-by-side timed tests on the same chilly night. Features and packed size were the final performance areas of interest, and we broke features down into a list and rated each one. While a small packed size is nice, we ascribed the least importance to this metric.
Looking at the modest price tag of the Brazos, we expected to be quite underwhelmed by its performance. However, its warmth ratings outperformed several of the more expensive bags. Additionally, despite its basic design, the Coleman Kompact also lived up to its cold weather rating. We were also very impressed with the Kelty Galactic — its warmth-to-weight ratio, in particular. The Galactic is one of just a few down-insulated car-camping bags on the market. Its feather interior makes it the lightest bag we tested, yet one of the warmest.
Kelty’s popular Cosmic Down 20 has been a mainstay in their lineup for years and remains a popular choice among campers and backpackers alike. Along with a healthy dose of 550-fill down, the bag offers cozy warmth and good compressibility. And considering the typical price of a down bag, the Cosmic Down’s $165 MSRP really stands out.
Once you have that number, it’s a good idea to build in a little buffer (we like an extra degrees) to avoid getting cold. And keep in mind the temperature rating is closer to a survivability rating rather than being comfortable and warm. Other factors to consider are your age—people typically don’t sleep as warm the older they get—and whether you are a cold or warm sleeper. Most campers stick to the warmer months for their outdoor adventuring, and as a result, most of the sleeping bags on this list are rated in the degree range. Similar to The North Face’s One Bag above, Big Agnes’ Lost Ranger 3N1 uses an innovative layering system for adapting to shifting conditions. In this case, you get two down-filled bags (the One Bag has a synthetic outer bag and down midlayer) that can be paired together on cold nights or separated in warmer temps.
If you do not want to break a bank and still have a reliable 3-4 season car camping sleeping bag, this selection of Coleman sleeping bags for adults is for you. If you’ve ever had a pad deflate or slept directly on the ground in cold weather, you know firsthand the importance of an insulated pad beneath you. Further, when you lay on a sleeping bag, you compress the insulation, which impacts its ability to warm you (this is particularly true for down fill, but does impact synthetic as well). As a result, it’s important to choose a sleeping mattress or pad that will protect you from the ground if you’ll be camping in cooler temperatures (typically under degrees). A third type is the no-zip style, which is limited to a couple designs (none of which made our list), including a handful from Sierra Designs. The large oval opening requires some modest flexibility and patience to get out of, but going zipper-less can be nice.
If you want to try backpacking, you can get away with hauling the Big Bay for an overnight hiking trip, but you wouldn’t want to take it too far. It’s much smaller than a traditional rectangular bag—especially one that’s fleece-lined—so it stows better in a trunk, and you don’t lose out on comfort. I tested the Coleman Big Bay 20° against 12 other sleeping bags for an in-depth sleeping bag roundup and awarded it the best value sleeping bag at $120. This mummy-style bag will keep you toasty warm without feeling restrictive, like some sleeping bags that taper in drastically at the feet.
From handmade pieces to vintage treasures ready to be loved again, Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. It’s also home to a whole host of one-of-a-kind items made with love and extraordinary care. While many of the items on Etsy are handmade, you’ll also find craft supplies, digital items, and more. A few other reasons for our lower score include a limited 5-year warranty and a very low resistance to water. Despite a synthetic outer shell, the Brazos soaked up water rather quickly during our water tests. Keep in mind that, for us, five is average on a scale from 1 to 10.