When sleeping beneath the stars on your camping adventure, stay warm on chilly nights with the Ozark Trail 10F Mummy Sleeping Bag. This lightweight sleeping bag features a soft, insulated double-layer construction that is designed to maximize warmth and keep you comfy all night long, even in extreme temperatures. An ultra-durable, polyester outer shell and water-repellant finish make this adult-size sleeping bag stain- and moisture-resistant, ideal for backpacking and hiking trips. The mummy-shaped design with chest baffle provides optimal thermal insulation and is approved for temperatures as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. It protects your head and shoulders from the elements and boasts a roomy, tapered shape that provides extra warmth and comfort while sleeping outdoors.
If weight and packed size become important, a crossover backpacking/sleeping bag like the still-roomy NEMO Forte reduces both. Colorado-based Kelty has been in the camping business Ozark Trail Sleeping Bags for a long time, and we like what they’ve come up with in the Galactic 30. What makes this bag unique is its combination of quality 550-fill-power down with a rectangular shape.
Notable extras worth calling out are built-in pillows or pillow sleeves (the NEMO Forte boasts the former), which are a nice luxury for those annoyed by camp pillows that tend to move in the night. Additionally, integrated blankets, interior pockets for stowing small items like a headlamp, and draft tubes at the collar for trapping warmth are becoming more common. This is only a 30-degree sleeping bag and may get cold on late fall or winter camping trips. This sleeping bag does not unzip all the way around and cannot be connected to other sleeping bags. 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.
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. I bought the zero degree bag and nearly froze to death.
When it is very cold I also use a comforter over the sleeping bags. We wear warm clothes to sleep in, including a beanie. Hand warmers in our socks and body warmers in our shirts are helpful as well. Our sleeping bags zip together, allowing us to take advantage of the shared body heat. Pairing these strategies together made it reasonably comfortable at that temperature.
Mummy bags are popular for both camping and backpacking, but rectangular bags are roomier and can offer an even better sleeping experience. Our top pick in this category is REI Co-op’s Siesta Hooded 20, which replaces the Siesta 25 for 2023. For a reasonable $139, you get a high-quality bag with a useful 20-degree temperature rating, which is great for three-season car camping in a variety of conditions.
For those who run cold or simply want to bring their bag into lower temperatures, adding a sleeping bag liner can help keep you cozy without breaking the bank. Liners are made of soft materials like fleece, wool, polyester, or silk and typically add around 5 to 15 degrees to the warmth rating of your bag. They also serve as a barrier between you and your bag’s interior, which can help boost lifespan (you Ozark Trail Sleeping Bags can wash the liner after use rather than getting your bag dirty). Liners typically cost between $30 and $60, and a couple of our favorite options are Sea to Summit’s Thermolite Reactor for mummy bags and their Silk-Cotton Blend Liner for rectangular models. To be clear, liners are totally optional and not everyone needs one, but they do offer added warmth and comfort and help keep your bag in good shape.
I purchased this sleeping bag for warm weather camping trips at the local lake. For fifteen dollars I wasn’t expecting (or needing) anything that would stand up to freezing weather. Unfortunately the workmanship was more than a little upsetting, even for that price.