Top-8 Ultralight Sleeping Bags for Backpacking: Review & Buyer’s Guide

Comparison Table

	Best Feature	Comfort rating	Fill	Weight	Shell	Zipper	Pros	Cons
5050 $	Check price for WESTERN MOUNTANEERING Summerlite Best High-End Ultralight Sleeping Bag Summerlite WESTERN MOUNTANEERING Check Price	Comfort rating 32F	Fill 850 goose down	Weight 19 oz	Shell Extremelite 20D Nylon	Zipper Right/Left	Very lightweight Highly compactible	Doesn’t handle moisture all that well It’s easy to get your hair caught in the Velcro
5050 $	Check price for NATUREHIKE Naturehike Ultralight Best Budget Pick Ultralight Sleeping Bag Naturehike Ultralight NATUREHIKE Check Price	Comfort rating 50F	Fill 650 duck down	Weight 32oz	Shell 20D/380T Rip-Stop Nylon	Zipper Right	Most affordable ultralight sleeping bag Durable 20D Ripstop Nylon shell	A bit heavy for an ultralight mummy sleeping bag Zippers can be a bit finicky
	Check price for AEGISMAX Aegismax Ultra Light Best Mid-Range Ultralight Sleeping Bag Aegismax Ultra Light AEGISMAX Check Price	Comfort rating 39F	Fill 800 goose down	Weight 26oz	Shell 15D Nylon	Zipper Right/Left	Very Comfortable Good weight-to-price ratio	Horizontal seam-style leads to cold pockets Fabric keeps getting caught in the zipper
5050 $	Check price for NATUREHIKE LW 180 Best Envelope-Style Sleeping Bag LW 180 NATUREHIKE Check Price	Comfort rating 59F	Fill Synthetic	Weight 24oz	Shell 320D nylon	Zipper Right/Left	Most affordable sleeping bag on our list Quite compact (11.4” X 4.7”)	Not very warm Cotton fill is not very breathable
5050 $	Check price for MARMOT Voyager Most Comfortable Ultralight Sleeping Bag Voyager MARMOT Check Price	Comfort rating 55F	Fill Synthetic	Weight 28oz	Shell 50D polyester	Zipper Left	SpiraFill synthetic material behaves a lot like down Comfortable interior lining	Too narrow for larger adventurers Not as compactible as down
5050 $	Check price for Arctic Monsoon Arctic Monsoon Ultralight Best Lightweight Sleeping Bag for Beginners Arctic Monsoon Ultralight Arctic Monsoon Check Price	Comfort rating 32F	Fill 600 goose down	Weight 38oz	Shell 20D nylon	Zipper Right/Left	Very affordable Included compression sack	A bit heavy for an ultralight sleeping bag
	Check price for BLACK ORCA Wild Fortress UL Best Water Resistant Sleeping Bag for Camping Wild Fortress UL BLACK ORCA Check Price	Comfort rating 10F	Fill 700 goose doown	Weight 40oz	Shell 20D Ripstop Nylon	Zipper Left	Water resistant sleeping bag Comfortable 700G goose down fill	More expensive than some of the bags we looked at A touch heavy for an ultralight style sleeping bag for backpacking
	Check price for MARMOT Phase 20 Best of the Rest Phase 20 MARMOT Check Price	Comfort rating 30F	Fill 850 goose down	Weight 27.8oz	Shell 10D pertex nylon	Zipper Right/Left	The best premium UL sleeping bag Warm, lightweight, & highly compressible	Slightly more expensive Zipper can tear fabric if you’re not careful

Best High-End Ultralight Sleeping Bag for Backpacking – Western Mountaineering SUMMERLITE Sleeping Bag: 32 Degree Down

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Imagine my disappointment when I roll out my brand new North Face sleeping bag all ready to gloat to my companions about how light it is, when one of them whips out this little ditty. The SUMMERLITE bag by Western Mountaneering isn’t just lighter than the TNF bag I have been using for years, but it is also more comfortable by a significant degree.

This three-season bag doesn’t have the rating to handle some of the more harsh temperatures that you might encounter during winter travels or high-altitude expeditions, but in terms of a light weight sleeping bag for summer backpacking, you will be hard pressed to find anything lighter than this one. At 1lb 3oz, it is one of the lightest sleeping bags that we have ever reviewed.

While there is no arguing that the SUMMERLITE is pretty supreme in terms of insulation performance and wind blocking, it does have something of a weakness against moisture. While it is true that no down sleeping bag fares well with water, the exterior nylon-based shell of the SUMMERLITE feels a bit more susceptible than other models.

One problem that we had was that the placement of the upper Velcro patches, the ones that extend across the top of the zipper to keep it from unzipping … they’re just unfortunately placed on the inside of the bag. It’s somewhat easy to get your hair caught in the Velcro when you are rolling around at night.

Best Budget Pick Ultralight Sleeping Bag – NATUREHIKE Down Ultralight Mummy Sleeping Bag for Backpacking

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We’re no strangers to the folks over at NATUREHIKE, who have spent the better part of the last decade coming up with newer, more affordable versions of the best outdoor gear that you might get from a more recognizable brand such as The North Face. We’ve reviewed all sorts of stuff by them … everything from tents for ground camping to camping axes and survival knives. And for the most part, we have been impressed. While their products are significantly less expensive than their competitors, NATUREHIKE has managed to hold on to a decent level of construction quality. These aren’t your super cheap-o sleeping bags, but they aren’t your top the line bags either.

Simply put, they are somewhere in between, which is a good explanation of how wildly popular these products have become with people all over the world.

This mummy-style sleeping bag has a surprising amount of loft and comfort. The head cavity is plush and comfortable, but not overly roomy. There is just enough space for some breathing room and a bit of head movement, but with a 4-season bag like this one, what you are really looking for is a reduction of extra space, which means a warmer sleeping experience.

The outer shell is 20D ripstop nylon. This material is significantly thicker than what you would find on an ultralight bag such as the SUMMERLITE we reviewed above. The added durability and tear resistance is a huge pro for anyone looking to spend a significant amount of time in their sleeping bag.

The only drawback in our opinion is that the zippers on Naturehike products don’t seem to last that long before requiring a little maintenance.

Best Mid-Range Ultralight Sleeping Bag – AEGISMAX Ultra-Light Goose Sown Mummy Sleeping Bag

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Next up we have another contender in the high-value ultralight category … in other words, a sleeping bag that is trying simultaneously to be high-performance and low-cost. And we can confidently say that the Aegismax mummy bag does a pretty good job of both. It is a few pounds lighter than its closest competition (the aforementioned NATUREHIKE bag) and has a lower extreme temperature rating (though it is worth noting that it actually has a higher comfort temperature rating than that bag.

So did the AEGISMAX bag hold up to our tests? While we found it to be a highly comfortable bag, it is certainly not the warmest one on our list. We had it out in about 30 degree weather overnight with an under layer on, and it got quite chilly. Anything above 32F and we think it would work just fine, but we are not going to recommend it for four season use.

The key to this reduced insulation rating might have something to do with how this bag is sewn. The horizontal stitching created little compartments of down fill that are ‘trapped’ in place, The result is that you can actually feel the cold spots inside the bag as they align with the stitch lines. That’s where this bag is losing heat, and they might want to look into this stitching style.

Also, the zippers on this bag were just as finicky as they were on the Naturehike bag. It isn’t hard to get a bit on Nylon stuck inside the zipper, in fact, it happens quite often.

Best Envelope-Style Ultralight Sleeping Bag for Camping – NATUREHIKE Ultralight Sleeping Bag for 3 Season Traveling, Camping, Hiking

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Here is an even lighter bag from the folks over at NATUREHIKE, who have become known for their super-affordable gear. This is without a doubt the least expensive bag on our list, no doubt due to the relatively cheap cotton filling and how thin the bag itself is.

There are a few main differences that set this bag apart from Naturehike’s mummy-style bag that we looked at above. For one, the “envelope” style construction means that the bag is significantly wider from top to bottom. This uniform width provides a bit of extra space for people like me who are usually tossing and turning the whole night through. The width is about 33.5”, which is wider than mummy bags are even at the shoulders.

Now there is going to be a bit of an insulation drop with a bag like this. While cotton is a pretty good insulator, it is not going to match the size-to-warmth ratio of down, or the moisture-wicking capabilities of synthetic. It does however have one major advantage over both those fills, and that is, it is incredibly affordable. This bag is cheap enough that you can keep one in your car at all time and never really have to worry about damaging it. If something ever happens to it you can simply get a new one. Our favorite part of this bag is the compatibility. An included compression sack allows the user to pack the whole thing down to just 11.4” X 4.7”, which is small enough to compete with any down-filled ultralight sleeping bag on the market.

Most Comfortable Synthetic Fill Ultralight Sleeping Bag – MARMOT VOYAGER 55 Mummy Sleeping Bag

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For as long as we can remember, sleeping bag manufacturers have been trying to figure out a way to emulate the high insulation and compatibility offered by down fill. That’s because nothing quite comes close to down in these areas, even with all the ongoing advances in synthetic materials technology. Yes, it’s mostly because synthetic materials are more inexpensive to produce than down-filled products, but there are other things to consider, such as the little animals that provided the feathers in the first place.

There is also the added moisture wicking properties of synthetic materials. The thing about down fill is that if it becomes wet it will lose all or most of its insulation capabilities. Synthetic materials on the other hand are capable of providing insulation even if they are damp or wet. So depending on your conditions, a synthetic bag might indeed be the way to go.

Let’s talk  SPIRAFILL. That’s that Marmot is calling their new-ish synthetic fill blend. It’s purportedly a mix of hollow fibers and polyester shreds, and this balance of materials is what makes the VOYAGER feel so much like a down bag. In fact, if someone put this sleeping bag in our hands and told us that it was a down-fill bag, we probably would have believed them .

The interior lining is soft and plush, giving the VOYAGER the comfortable feel of a blanket. However the bag is quite narrow, too narrow in fact for broad-shouldered guys such as myself.

Best Lightweight Sleeping Bag for Beginners – ARCTIC MONSOON Ultralight Sleeping Bag

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ARCTIC MONSOON is only the latest in a long line of outdoor gear manufacturers that have decided to take a crack at the ultralight affordable sleeping bag game, and if their burgeoning popularity is any indicator, they are doing a pretty good job of it. Their ultralight sleeping bag weighs in at 2 lb 6 oz, which is about in the middle of the spectrum for the ultralight category of sleeping bags.

The compression size might be the real strength of this bag. While the thicker fabrics like Nylon and Pongee lend a bit of extra weight to the bag, the light a fluffy down fill can be significantly compressed for travel. When utilized in tandem with the included compression sack, it is possible to reduce the size of the sleeping bag to only 12.6” X 7” X 7”. Surprisingly enough, the zippers work pretty well on this sleeping bag, which is something that we do not expect to see on a budget-level sleeping bag. It was a nice surprise. Not that there wasn’t a small amount of snagging, but let’s be honest … we’ve never seen a sleeping bag zipper that doesn’t get snagged every now and then.

Best Water Resistant Sleeping Bag for Camping – BLACK ORCA WILD FORTRESS Ultralight Mummy Down Sleeping Bag

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Here is a great sleeping bag for larger people like myself who often have a difficult time finding a sleeping bag that has enough room for both my legs and my broad shoulders. While the mummy style sleeping bag is inherently more confined than the rectangular competition, the folks over at BLACK ORCA decided to split the difference somewhat and offer just a little bit more room all around, and it makes all the difference.

What’s really remarkable about the WILD FORTRESS sleeping bag is how plush it is. A generous 700G goose down fill provides one of the most comfortable sleeps that you can get.

Sure, there is a bit of extra weight here. It’s about 2.5 LBS, which, according to the super-snooty ultralighters that we know, does not qualify as an ultralight bag. But since it’s under 3 pounds, it fits our purpose. We couldn’t find a whole lot of information online about the BLACK ORCA brand, only that they do make a few different sleeping bags and even a couple backpacks. Time will tell whether they reach the same level of recognition as some of the other brands we looked into on this list.

Best of the Rest – MARMOT PHASE 30F Degree Down Sleeping Bag

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Even the most finicky of sleepers isn’t going to have a hard time falling asleep in the PHASE sleeping bag by the professionals at MARMOT. These folks have been making some of the best jackets and sleeping bags for decades, and you can safely trust that any product with their name on it is going to provide at least a respectable level of performance.

The PHASE represents one of Marmot’s most popular product lines of all time. That’s because it offers true ultralight performance for a price that isn’t totally ridiculous. It’s true that it’s quite a bit more expensive than beginner or budget level sleeping bags like the NATUREHIKE Sleeping bag, but the extra price is absolutely worth it if you need a warm sleeping bag that is also lightweight and compactible. Seeing as how those are the three biggest things to look for when looking for a new sleeping bag, we can safely say that this is perhaps the finest sleeping bag on our list.

You might be tired of us saying it at this point, but once again we have encountered the fatal flaw of a sticky zipper. And since the outer shell fabric is so relatively thin, it can be easy to rip the fabric if you’re not being careful.