How to choose sleeping bags? Advice

If you do not know how to choose sleeping bags, then you are going to spend the night in camping conditions for the first time. This article will help to make the right choice, and, possibly, save money.

Before choosing sleeping bags, you need to decide what they are needed for. Will it be a summer overnight on a picnic or are you going to conquer the mountain peaks in winter? Why is it important? Yes, because these products are different for the season of application and the temperature regime. And if the sleeping bag is needed only to spend the night in the river near the river, it will be silly to buy a winter cocoon that is heavier, takes up a larger volume and is incomparably more expensive than a sleeping blanket, which is quite sufficient for the summer.

In addition, sleeping bags are different material. Here you also need to clearly understand how the product will be used. If you move it in the trunk of the car or lie in the country, then the requirements for the material will be low. But if you plan a long trip, respectively, the sleeping bag will have to rub around the days in the backpack, get wet from the condensate in the tent, dried on the branches. The material from which it is made must be of the highest quality.

So, let's get down to business. Let's designate the main criteria for choosing sleeping bags:

1. The size. Sleeping bag should be free in the shoulders and 20-30 centimeters above the growth of its owner, maximally (leaving no voids) to encircle the body. Of course, the harsher the conditions for spending the night, the more the sleeping bag should meet the specified requirements.

2. Form. Sleeping bags are sewn in two versions: "cocoon" and "blanket."

The first repeats the form of a person and completely closes the body, leaving only the face open. The second blanket is, with the only difference being that it is fastened with a lightning bolt.

"Cocoon" is designed for harsh conditions and long hikes. It is heavier and thicker than a blanket, incomparably more expensive, but it can even be heated even in severe frost.

"Blanket" is an easy option for picnics and short summer hikes. This sleeping bag is small in size (folded), light and comfortable. It can be transformed into an ordinary blanket or bedding, and also fastened with another similar bag and get a double sleeping bag.

3. Temperature regime. To simplify the question of how to choose sleeping bags, these products are marked with a temperature scale. It shows the critical and comfortable temperatures for each individual sleeping bag.

The comfort temperature is the outside air temperature at which the sleeping bag guarantees a normal sleep. Critical - this is the temperature of the outside air, in which the sleeping bag (with a high probability) guarantees protection from hypothermia. So do not think that if the bag says "up to -30", then at -20 you will sleep like at home.

In the same way, children's sleeping bags are also chosen. However, it is hardly worth packing a child in a "cocoon", except to prepare for future campaigns.

From well-known manufacturers it is possible to recommend sleeping bags Alexika, Marmot, Hannah, Pinguin, Deuter. All these firms are considered the standard of quality of tourist equipment.