Best Sleeping Bags Under $100

How to Choose a Sleeping Bag

Below we will dive into the various factors that you should consider when choosing a sleeping bag. Of course, this list considers budget by focusing on only the best sleeping bags under $100, but there is a range of prices to consider beyond what we featured on our list. 

If budget is your highest priority though, don’t worry about everything described below. Just know that you might be missing out on key factors that would make for a better night’s sleep on your best camping trip when skipping some of these key features.

Sleeping Bag Type

There tend to be two different types of bags, especially in the category of best sleeping bags under $100 – rectangular or mummy. 

To decide which style is right for you, it is easiest to ask yourself a few questions:

• Are you mostly car camping, and you tend to like more room within your bag to move around? 
• Do you prefer your bag to feel more like your duvet at home? 
• Do you like having the option to unzip your sleeping bag to use it as a duvet or to zip your sleeping bag together with another sleeping bag to make one giant pocket of outdoor snuggles? 

If you answered yes to the questions above, then, you want a rectangular sleeping bag. 

If you aren’t sure if the rectangle bag is right for you, but are still on the fence about a mummy-style bag, ask yourself these questions:

• Are you mostly backpacking, when you camp, where weight and pack size is important?
• Have shivered each time you felt a draft sneak in over your shoulders, or do you have when your body is warm, but your head is freezing? 
• Do you relish being cocooned by your bag, cuddling every curve of your body, and keeping you safe and warm? 

If you’re leaning more towards yes on these answers, then, you want a mummy bag. 

If you are transitioning from a rectangular to a mummy bag, it may take some time to get used to it. When I go long stints without sleeping in my mummy-style sleeping bag, I miss it. The way it wraps around my body has become a comfort, similar to how you swaddle a baby. It feels like I am being hugged all night long. 

I tend to run cold, and I hate feeling a breeze on my face at night. These are just a few reasons why I love that my bag has draft tubes along the zipper and the hood, along with a lofty hood, bungees around the hood to cinch it down, so my shoulders are always protected. 

The toe box is another bonus for me, which you only find in mummy bags. A toe box provides more space above your feet and more warmth. On warm nights, I unzip the bag halfway, and drape it over me, my back laying flat on the ground pad.

However, in a mummy bag, I do miss being able to zip my bag together with my sweetheart’s. This is an option with rectangle bag designs. On the few nights I am tossing and turning, struggling to find just the right spot, I can begin to feel a little claustrophobic as there is less room to move in a mummy bag than a rectangle one. 

Comfort Rating & Seasons

This is your most important consideration if you will be camping in a variety of seasons, climates, countries, or elevations. If you expect to sleep in colder temperatures, or you run cold, don’t skip over this section.

I run cold. I have camped at the top of Mt. Whitney, in the southernmost part of Chile in Patagonia, and New Zealand in very late Fall surrounded by snow. There have been many sleepless shivering nights in my days, but mostly with former sleeping bags I’ve owned. It took me a while to figure out that my number one priority should be the comfort rating.

Comfort and EN Ratings 

Comfort rating? Yes, there is a wide variety of ways that brands can measure the temperature rating of a sleeping bag. You’ll notice above that some of the best sleeping bags under $100 have only one temperature rating, some have three to six, and some have this “EN rating.” 

An “EN Rating” (or an ISO rating) is a lab testing temperature rating. I find that these ratings are more reliable, and they are easier when comparison shopping because they are all based on data and an agreed standard. However, for our best cold weather sleeping bags under $100, we do not have many listed above with an EN rating so we have to rely on other temperature ratings.

If you need the best 0-degree sleeping bag under $100, look for one with multiple temperate ratings (preferably one with a women’s and a men’s temperature rating). A bag may have “0” in the title, but that may be the extreme range of the bag. If 0 degrees is the extreme limit of the temperature rating, this means you will merely stay alive. However, you likely will not sleep at all because you’ll be so cold. If you are looking to be able to sleep soundly, without a liner, at 0 degrees, you want 0 to be the comfort temperature.

Men’s Vs. Women’s Ratings

It is a generalization, but women tend to run colder than men, and therefore some sleeping bags also have ratings that are different for each sex. 

Some bags are unisex and have both men and women comfort and extreme temperature ratings for the one bag. Other brands build two separate bags – a men’s and a women’s. Besides the temperature rating, the main difference here is the length of the bags (regular size is shorter in a women’s bag), where insulation is focused (feet and core), and the shape of the bag (more room at the hips).

If the bag has one single temperature rating, then it is based on the brand’s testing and opinion of the bag. It won’t be specific to a comfort rating or an extreme limit rating, and it won’t consider the differences in whether a person runs hot or cold. 

If, due to budget, you choose a bag with the one rating that is not EN/ISO tested, do not take it on a 0-degree temperature trip. You need to try it out in milder weather, with your sleeping pad, your tent, and different base layers.

Monitor the temperatures and how comfortable and warm you are. After a few trips out under the stars, you’ll have a better idea of where your comfort temperature is, your extreme limit, the rest of your gear, and your bag. 

Having owned my current bag for two years, I know that my extreme limit is in a tin hut, in New Zealand, surrounded by snow. At well below freezing temperatures, I was alive, but I did not sleep for a single minute. I simply shivered the whole night. I know that in 60 to 70 degree Fahrenheit evenings if I zip open my bag halfway and wear it like a quilt, I can sleep well.

Some bags will hail as a summer bag or a winter bag. Most are labeled as a three-season bag – so pay attention to which three seasons they are referring to – usually, it’s excluding winter. 

Since your winter may be quite different than the winter referred to in most outdoor adventures, be sure to pay attention to the temperature rating and how it relates to your environment, not just the season listed. 

For example, I lived along the coast of California for most of my life and winter there is incredibly mild to non-existent. Now, I live in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range near Lake Tahoe. Winter here is extreme, harsh, and can be quite dangerous. 

Type of Insulation

First, there is the type of material for insulation – synthetic or natural. Then there is down versus anything else. Your preference for the material used in the insulation will likely be based on either budget, warmth, or personal consumer choices (i.e., you only purchase vegan products).

In the best sleeping bags under $100, you will see more options that are synthetic and fewer options that have down insulation. This is because goose, and other natural down insulators, tend to be more expensive. 

Another factor to consider regarding sleeping bag insulation is the recommended washing instructions. Natural down insulation cannot be thrown in a washing machine. It will clump the feathers and potentially ruin the bag. They must be taken to a professional who has experience cleaning down sleeping bags with natural feathers. Some synthetic bags, with synthetic down insulation, will also recommend more gentle washing techniques.

If you can throw your family’s sleeping bag into the washing machine, just like your regular blankets, be sure the bag you choose does not have down insulation and says “machine-washable.”

Lastly, having a bag that fits your height and body shape well (reducing the amount of empty space) and a ground pad that also fits your body (removing any areas that are exposed directly to the ground), will have a drastic impact on the effectiveness of the insulation. This is where the sleeping bags with multiple length options move to the top of the list.

Whether you want a bag that is simple to clean, the warmest sleeping bag under $100, or want to maintain your values there is a bag on this list with the insulation type right for you.

Additional Features

The more you slumber out in nature in a sleeping bag, the more you realize which features are important to you. Manufacturers are coming out with an increasing variety of elements that did not exist as options for previous generations. Just like any other technology, it continually expands and improves.

Zippers 

The zipper is one of these items. Everyone knows that snagging a zipper on material is far more annoying and frustrating than it should be. When you are in your sleeping bag, in the dark, and tired, these feelings increase exponentially. Therefore, the zippers that are touted as “no-snag” are worth consideration. I wouldn’t say these zippers never snag material, but it will happen very rarely, and if it does happen, it quickly and easily unsnags.

Another factor of the zipper is if there is an inside handle and an outside handle. Again, this may seem inconsequential, but the ease of zipping up, without awkward wrist and hand angles is a bonus.

Hanging Loops and Water Resistance 

Some of the bags have two loops at the bottom for hang drying your bag, and some claim a water-resistant shell fabric. For those that might be backpacking, where you stuff your bag early each morning immediately after you wake up, these two features can help. 

Whether its condensation on your bag from the difference in temperatures between outside the tent and within the tent, an extra stormy night where some water gets in the tent, or maybe rain seeping through your pack to splotch a few spots on your bag during the day, your bag will get wet, and you will need to hang it. 

Laying your bag out, zipped open, on a granite rock is not always an option, so those two loops hung on two tree branches could save you some time and allow you the peace of mind and safety of a dry bag. 

The water-resistant shell on my bag has been a huge relief more than once, usually due to heavy condensation sometimes drenching my bag near the hood from my breath or my feet from the wall of the tent. The outside may look wet, but I stay all dry.

Packing Size 

Another feature that is important specifically to backpackers, or anyone limited on space, is the pack size. Most mummy bags can easily be packed with a compression sack, but rectangular bags will be much bulkier. A few of the models we listed do come with a compressions sack. 

Know that compressions sacks can be purchased separately in a variety of price ranges and styles (some completely waterproof like a dry bag), which can drastically decrease the pack size. Using a compressions sack for my bag gives me room to fit a full-sized bear can, or my preferred sleeping pad (which is large in volume), directly inside my pack.

Interior Pocket

Lastly, an interior pocket can be incredibly valuable to those that plan to sleep in colder temperatures. Batteries will drain drastically when left in cold temperatures. 

If you leave your cell phone, a steripen (water purifier that is battery powered), or headlamp just lying on the ground of your tent, you may find the battery has been drained by the morning.

Even your fuel can struggle to power your stove in the morning when it is below freezing. All of these items need to be kept warm overnight. An interior pocket can help you do this more efficiently and comfortably, without having random items jabbing you in different places inside your bag.

Final Thoughts

Like any other outdoor gear, your sleeping bag choice is unique to you. What are your top priorities? Use these as a guide and narrow down the above list by crossing off those that don’t have your most essential features. 

Remember that warmth and comfort will not just be dependent on your sleeping bag, but also your base layers (or pajamas), your sleeping pad, your tent, and your choice of pillow. It’s a whole package, just like your bed at home.

If you’re new to the camping world and are a fair-weather camper, don’t get caught up in finding the perfect bag. Get something you can afford right now. Try it out on a few trips. If later down the road, you have fallen in love with camping and want to sleep out in colder temps, or in the middle of the woods many miles from a trailhead, you might purchase a new bag. 

My current model, which has all the features that are important to me, is the fourth bag I tried over a six-year period. I learned a lot in that process. Don’t worry – it’s always nice to have a backup, for different weather, to loan to a friend when you invite them out, or maybe to gift to someone who is just starting.

Choosing any of these best sleeping bags under $100 will open up life to a new world of experiences. Even though I don’t know you, I am truly honored to help guide you and am genuinely excited for your adventures ahead.

Sources:

• https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/expert-advice/sleeping-bag-guide/
  
• https://coolofthewild.com/types-of-sleeping-bags/
• https://www.backpacker.com/gear/sleeping-bag-buying-guide
• https://www.trespass.com/advice/sleeping-bag-guide/

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