Best sleeping bags for 2025 | Tested and reviewed

This premium bag from Aussie brand Sea to Summit is stuffed with hydrophobic goose down for improved performance in damp conditions – the traditional drawback of down bags. There's plenty of it too, with an impressive 430g of wonderfully lofty 850FP down. This gives a comfort rating of -2°C and a lower limit of -8°C.

Yet the bag weighs just 665g in total. To achieve this, it employs superlight fabrics for the shell and lining. The upper area features vertical baffles to keep your core warm and minimise down migration, with horizontal baffles across the lower half to cut weight. Box-wall construction throughout maximises down loft and reduces potential cold spots. Unlike many highly tapered ultralight bags, which often feel restrictive, the Spark is pretty accommodating, with plenty of wriggle room.

The technical focus means that other features are fairly limited, but you still get a long, two-way zipper for good ventilation and an easy-cinch hood with a front draught collar. The thin performance fabrics mean you shouldn't treat this bag too roughly, but it does ensure the packed size is impressively tiny for a true 3-season bag that can cope with sub-zero temperatures.

Read our full Sea to Summit Spark SPIII review

We're big fans of Rab's versatile Neutrino range. With 10 total products sporting various weights and materials, the 400 is a stand-out contender. Rab haven't skipped a single detail; each bag is hand-stuffed and fully-featured, treated with a level of care that has earned the Neutrino 400 a number of top awards from us over the past few years.

Features include an adjustable hood, ¾-length YKK zipper, angled footbox, internal stash pocket, cotton storage sack and waterproof compression sack, amongst others. As well as being packed with nifty features, the Neutrino 400 has a unique baffle design that solidifies its place at the top of this list.

Baffles are the individual pockets of down fill responsible for the bag's insulation. While most bags go for horizontal baffles, the chevron-style arrangement in the Neutrino 400 allows for more loft, fewer cold spots, and uses less overall material.

We're also very pleased to see some newly implemented sustainability upgrades. Rab have used PFC-free DWR treatments as well as increasing the amount of recycled materials in their construction, particularly in the Pertex Quantum shell.

Women's version here

Read our full Rab Neutrino 400 review

We'll state the con of this sleeping bag straight away: at 1450g and packing away into a 46 x 24cm package (long size), this isn't a compact sleeping bag. But everything else about it is fantastic. It's comfortable, warm, durable, and sustainable.

The Orbit 0° is made from a 50D recycled polyester shell and 75D microfibre lining, with Hollowfibre synthetic insulation. Not only are these materials tough, but they're also much softer and nicer to touch than the slippery, shiny feel you often get.

Its Hollowfibre synthetic insulation means the Orbit 0° gives down sleeping bags a hiding on price but is also effective at insulating in damp conditions. There are other features to help improve insulation too, such as a draft collar, adjustable hood, and efficient mummy shape. The Orbit 0° is compatible with zip coupling too.

There are two lengths available, plus a women's version (suitable for up to 175cm height). Sustainability is very good too. The Orbit 0° is PFC-free and uses a recycled shell fabric. Deuter is also Fair Wear Foundation member with 'Leader' status.

It's easy to be fooled by this lightweight sleeping bag that appears to be filled with not very much insulation. Such is the deceptive beauty of high-quality down.

The Ultra 0° uses high loft 850-fill goose down, which means you don't need much to get a warm sleeping bag. Thus, 295g of fill (long size) gives the Ultra 0° a temperature rating suitable down to about 2°C. For a 600g (long size) sleeping bag, that's very impressive.

There's another big plus point to the Ultra 0°. While most sleeping bags come in regular and long sizes, the Ultra 0° comes in five sizes: small, medium, wide medium, large, and wide large.

Furthermore, you get a very sustainable sleeping bag here too. Naturally, the down is responsibly sourced, but the Exped Ultra 0° goes further. The Pertex Quantum outer material is recycled, as is the zip. It is a bluesign-approved product and PFC-free; Exped has even offset the manufacturing and shipping emissions.

Downsides to this sleeping bag include the trade-off with the 10D Pertex fabric. Sure, it's super lightweight and has the potential to be long-lasting, but you need to be very careful with it to achieve that. It's a tad delicate. It's also understandable to baulk at the price on initial inspection. However, you do get a lot in return.

Read our full Exped Ultra 0 review

Therm-a-Rest make some of the best winter sleeping bags on the market, and the superb Parsec -18°C is no exception. It is warm, cosy, light, very packable, fully featured and eco-conscious – it ticks all of the boxes. With a best-in-test -10°C comfort rating but clocking in at just 1155g (excluding compression bag), it offers a phenomenal warmth-to-weight balance.

This is achieved through clever 'heat-mapped zoned insulation'. Most (70%) of the down in the top of the bag where you need it most, and 30% below your body. Hence the Parsec is able to deliver better temperature ratings at a similar weight to competitor products – a massive win.

Other features include a 100% recycled ripstop nylon DWR shell and liner and 'synergy link' connectors that strap your bag to your mat for an integrated sleeping system. The Parsec also has a super-cosy 'toe-asis' footbox and heat-trapping draft collars and baffles. Compression and stuff sacks are provided too.

Regarding niggles, we wonder about the long-term durability of this bag's lightweight construction – will it cope well with prolonged heavy use in the outdoors? Also, the premium price will be prohibitive for many, and the temperature ratings may be overkill for milder winter camps.

The Marmot Trestles Elite Eco sleep bags have consistently impressed us with their combination of high performance and reasonably sustainabile materials.

The Trestles Elite Eco 30 is our pick of the bunch because it has a temperature rating of around zero, which makes it useful for most scenarios. It's made from fully recycled materials throughout, including the innovative HL-ElixR Eco insulation. For a synthetic sleeping bag it offers an very good warmth-to-weight ratio and maintain insulation even when damp—a hallmark of synthetic materials.

The Trestles Elite Eco 30 is also compact, certainly for a synthtic sleeping bag. It has a full-length main side zip that resists snagging and an additional zip on the opposite side for improved ventilation and ease of access.

Inside the bag, you'll get plenty of space for a hiking sleeping bag, especially in the foot area, setting it apart from traditional mummy-shaped designs. The hood cinches snugly around the head, enhancing comfort during colder nights.

While there are some minor points to consider, such as the main side zip not extending fully to the foot, resulting in warmer feet even when partially open, and the shoulder baffle being slightly less effective compared to some competitors, these are relatively minor concerns rather than significant drawbacks.

Overall, the Marmot Trestles Elite Eco stands out as a top choice for those seeking both performance and eco-conscious design in a synthetic sleep bag.

Check out the women's version here

We're quite fortunate at Live for the Outdoors to have a primary school-aged tester who's prepared to climb mountains, sleep in strange places, and generally give outdoor kit the thrashing it deserves on a regular basis. We should also point out he doesn't actually work here but is closely related to someone who does.

He graduated to his first 'proper' sleeping bag when he turned 6 years old, and the Snugpak Explorer has been an excellent choice. At 170cm long (he's about 130cm tall), it's nice and roomy with plenty of space to grow into, and the thing we really like is it's manufactured to the same standards as Snugpak's adult sleeping bags.

The Explorer has the same technical insulation and fabrics, including a Supersoft lining and technical Isofibre insulation. Like most sleeping bags you can fully unzip it to use as a duvet, plus you can unzip just the area around your feet to make it into one big airy tunnel.

Available in a range of three colours, including blue and purple, but the camouflage one has gone down very well with our mini reviewer. The price is very fair for what you're getting here too – basically an excellent sleeping bag for camping with kids from spring through summer.

Be honest – you thought wearable sleeping bags were a gimmick, right? Well, you're wrong. We've been using the Selk'bag Lite for summer camps for a couple of years, and it's brilliant. Somewhere between a synthetic sleeping bag and a high-altitude suit, the Selk'bag offers a near-perfect combination of cosy comfort and mobility.

The feet are reinforced but can be zipped off altogether to wear the Selk'bag with regular shoes, and the sleeves have built-in mitts to fully enclose your hands. Add in the drawstring hood, and you mostly feel as snug as a bug in a rug. That said, on our last camp, we were starting to feel the chill a little, but this is the Lite version of the Selk'bag, meant for spring to summer use; the Original is thicker and warmer.

Because of the extra fabric forming the limbs, the Selk'bag doesn't pack down as small as an equivalent sleeping bag and is slightly heavier. But the convenience of being able to get up, wander around camp, and even cook and enjoy breakfast effectively without leaving your bed is a revelation. The fact that the bag has been updated with 100% recycled materials since we started using only adds to the appeal.

People will look, people will stare. But on the inside, they're seething with jealousy.

If you're travelling as a pair and want to stay cosy when it's time for bed, this Coleman Double sleeping bag allows you to zip yourself up into one big compartment. The quilted bag has a cotton flannel lining which feels as soft as your duvet at home against the skin, paired with your typical polyester/cotton shell.

Though you can fully unzip the left side of this sleeping bag to form an open layer, it's also built with a mummy hood which tucks you in for a warmer sleep (there's room to fit two pillows inside too). The right side of the bag also has a quarter zip, so it's easier for both parties to wriggle in come bedtime.

This sleeping bag has a comfort temperature of -2°C, with a limit of -9°C, though anything between 0 and 10°C also felt manageable to us. Of course, the main benefit of a double sleeping bag is that if you're sharing it with someone else, your combined body heat will keep you even warmer during those cold camping nights.     

The Cosy Double is made from Coleman's Coletherm synthetic insulation, which is designed to be lightweight and compressible. That being said, it's worth noting that a double sleeping bag is going to pack down much larger than a single, especially considering that this bag is made to keep you toasty during colder nights.

The dimensions of the sleeping bag, when laid out, are 235cm by 150cm, and the packed away bag (52cm x 55cm x 26cm) weighs a hefty 6kg. But, if you're travelling by car and have the room, then this shouldn't be an issue. You'll certainly be glad of the comfort when it's time to sleep!