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What You Need to Know About Sleeping Bags

Before you even decide to get your first sleeping bag, you need to know how it should work for you. Whether you are out for hiking, scouting, camping or backpacking a sleeping bag is a must have. If you have not purchased one yet, here are some basic facts you need to know about sleeping bags.

Your sleeping comfort during the camping adventure is affected by the type of environment or the weather in the campsite. Your sleeping bag therefore should be able to withstand this challenge so you have to check its insulating ability. It will be helpful if you will check customer reviews like those of Marmot Atom reviews.

Sleeping bags come in different types, shape, fit weight and features. The most common shapes of these bags are rectangular and mummy shape and have designed especially for men, women and children. They usually come in regular and long sizes aside from those constructed slightly smaller to fit kids’ size. The construction, material and size will define the weight of the bag. Common to hikers and backpackers are the mummy shaped sleeping bags as they provide better insulation especially during cold season camping trips.

Sleeping bags are also rated according to the number of seasons they can withstand thus they are rated as one-season, two-season, three-season or four-season bags. Relative to this, down fill bags the ones used for extreme weather camping due the material’s insulating ability. Synthetic fill is a cheaper, lighter alternative but does not provide maximum comfort during extreme weather conditions.

Weight is important to most campers so sleeping bags made from light materials like Microfiber, Gore-Tex and DryLoft are made for them although these are more expensive. A cheaper choice would be those made from nylon, polyester and taffeta but are not recommended for extreme weather camping and are less durable.

Other sleeping bag features include zippers, hoods, collars, pillow pockets and sleeping pad connections. These are miscellaneous parts of a sleeping bag but are still important to maximize the insulating ability of your bag for your sleeping comfort. Sleeping bag compartments called baffles that keep the bag filling from moving. Lastly, the stitching your bag is also critical to insulating performance as the bag may get cold spots along the stitch lines so quilted sleeping bag are preferred.

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