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I have owned several Down Fill (goose feathers)
and Synthetic Fill sleeping bags. Down sleeping bags packs smaller, weigh
less, and feel very soft when new. The problem I keep having with Down sleeping bags
is that they are hard
to wash on the road, do not work when they get wet, and the soft loft breaks
down after about a year of everyday use and then it is not so warm or soft
anymore.
Synthetic sleeping bags are a bit bigger and
slightly heavier but last longer. The big appeal is that you
can throw them in a washing machine or hand wash while on the road.
Synthetic sleeping bags also cost much less. When we are shopping for
sleeping bags there a few things that we like.
Things that we look for when buying sleeping
bags
- A rating of 0 F. These
ratings always seem very optimistic. A 0ºF bag will usually be comfortable down to
freezing. This is the rating we usually use. We need this because our trip is long and we encounter all types of weather. You may be able to
get by with less but always remember that the temperature rating are not
realistic.
- Can be washed and dried easily. For us,
traveling by bicycle can be a grungy business. Showering everyday is not
always possible. We even find stretches were we are forced to go several
days without a proper shower. It seems like a sleeping bag wipes the dirt and sweat
away nicely and you wake up cleaner than when you went to bed. Of course, it
does not take much of this and the sleeping bags need to be washed. In
developed countries we use half the amount of any of normal laundry detergent and drop it in
the washing machine. In developing countries where everyone washes their cloths by
hand so, we do to.
- Extra long for me (Tim) I am fairly tall and
many brands of sleeping bags offer models that are extra long. Cindie
prefers a regular length
- Different colors Because our sleeping bags
are different lengths it is convenient to have them different colors so we can
tell them apart
- Opposite zippers On very
cold or romantic nights (we are married you know) it is nice to be able to zip
our sleeping bags together. If the zippers are opposite this can be done.
Before buying we always check to see about the compatibility of our bags.
We sometimes cause quite a stir in the camping store as we have the new
sleeping bags on the floor and attempt to zip them together.
Accessories that we like
- Water proof stuff sack / backpack
We have found that we like to use a waterproof dry bag for our stuff sack.
It is easiest to have one bag like this for both of our sleeping bags. In
the canoe and kayak section of the camping store all types and sizes of dry bags
can be found. The dry bags that we like best double as a backpack for day
hikes.
- Pockets Some sleeping bags
come with outside pockets which can be handy.
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