Lightweight Sleeping Bag Review
This review compares all the lightest ultralight sleeping bags in the world.
What’s the Lightest Sleeping Bag in the World?
I believe this is the current Top 5 lightest sleeping bags in the world:
- Cumulus Magic 125 – 245g / 8.6oz
- Yeti Fever Zero – 280g / 9.9oz
- Z Packs 40 Degrees – 323g / 11.4oz
- PHD Minim Ultra – 330g / 11.5oz
- Haglofs L.I.M. Synthetic +10 – 338g / 11.9oz
Scroll down for some alternatives that are even lighter though.
The Secret to Ultralight Sleeping Bags
The weight in any sleeping consists of three main factors:
-
- The filling – how much down or synthetic equivalent has it got inside to keep you warm?
- The lining – what material is being used to hold the bag together?
- Extra features – how many zips/drawcords/toggles, how long/narrow is it and does it have a hood?
As such, there is no great secret to making sleeping bags really lightweight. Once you’ve got the best quality down, found a really light fabric and removed all the zips, subsequent weight savings become increasingly small or at the expense of warmth i.e. putting less filling inside.
In other words, bags will usually be lighter because they have less features (e.g. no zips) or less filling (i.e. colder).
Cheap Lightweight Sleeping Bags
Really lightweight sleeping bags tend to be really expensive but there are a couple of lower budget options. I reckon these are five of the cheapest ultralight sleeping bags:
- Quechua 15-Degree Light – from £30
- Marmot NanoWave 55 – from £55 / $69
- AegisMax Urltralight (down) – from £64 / $68
- Mountain Hardwear Lamina 55 – from £115 / $128
- Jack Wolfskin Pounder (down) – from £121 / $135
Lightweight Down Sleeping Bags
Below is a more complete listing of the world’s lightest ultralight sleeping bags. Due to their specialist nature, they’re often only available in some countries, direct from the manufacturer or by searching on Amazon and eBay.
If I’ve missed any then let me know by adding a comment below.
| Brand | Name | Fill (g) | Fill power | Rating (C) | Rating (F) | Weight (g) | Weight (oz) | UK Price | USA Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulus | Magic 125 | 125g | 850 | 10°C | 50°F | 245g | 9oz | €154 | |
| Yeti | Fever Zero | 110g | 900 | 15°C | 59°F | 280g | 10oz | £286 | |
| Z Packs | 40 Degrees | 153g | 900 | 5°C | 41°F | 323g | 12oz | $350 | |
| PHD | Minim Ultra | 1000 | 8°C | 46°F | 330g | 12oz | £263 | ||
| Yeti | Passion One | 100g | 900 | 12°C | 54°F | 344g | 12oz | £273 | $650 |
| Cumulus | X-Lite 200 | 200g | 850 | 3°C | 37°F | 345g | 12oz | €189 | |
| Sea to Summit | Spark (SP) I | 180g | 850 | 8°C | 46°F | 360g | 13oz | £229 | $299 |
| PHD | Minimus K | 1000 | 5°C | 41°F | 380g | 13oz | £315 | ||
| PHD | Delta 150 | 900 | 6°C | 43°F | 385g | 14oz | £232 | ||
| Z Packs | 30 Degrees | 240g | 900 | -1°C | 30°F | 397g | 14oz | $370 | |
| Western Mountaineering | Everlite | 184g | 850 | 7°C | 45°F | 416g | 15oz | £249 | Amzn |
| Lightwave | Firelight 150 | 150g | 900 | 7°C | 45°F | 420g | 15oz | £299 | |
| Feathered Friends | Vireo UL | 247g | 900 | 2°C | 36°F | 441g | 16oz | $309 | |
| Mountain Hardwear | Mtn Speed 32 | 272g | 800 | 0°C | 32°F | 446g | 16oz | £380 | $480 |
| Jack Wolfskin | Pounder | 190g | 700 | 11°C | 52°F | 460g | 16oz | £121 | $135 |
| Haglofs | L.I.M. Down +1 | 290g | 800 | 1°C | 34°F | 462g | 16oz | £310 | Amzn |
| Yeti | Passion Three | 300g | 800 | 3°C | 37°F | 465g | 16oz | £350 | $750 |
| Western Mountaineering | Highlite | 225g | 850 | 2°C | 36°F | 472g | 17oz | $350 | |
| Sea to Summit | Spark (SP) II | 280g | 850 | 2°C | 36°F | 480g | 17oz | £272 | $359 |
Lightweight Synthetic Sleeping Bags
Even the best synthetic sleeping bag fillings cannot compete with goose and duck down in warmth-to-weight ratio. As such, it’s much harder to get ultralight synthetic sleeping bags that are as warm or as light as their down counterparts. However, here are some of the lightest:
| Brand | Name | Fill (g) | Fill type | Rating (C) | Rating (F) | Weight (g) | Weight (oz) | UK Price | USA Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haglofs | LIM Synthetic +10 | Haglofs Quadfusion | 10°C | 50°F | 338g | 12oz | £184 | $297 | |
| OMM | Mountain Raid 1.0 | 100g | Primaloft One | – | 400g | 14oz | £138 | $216 | |
| OMM | Mountain Raid 1.6 | 160g | Primaloft One | – | 432g | 15oz | £170 | $256 | |
| Nordisk | Oscar | Thermal Dry Eco | 5°C | 41°F | 564g | 20oz | £190 | $261 | |
| Marmot | NanoWave55 | 255g | SpiraFil | 13°C | 55°F | 680g | 24oz | £59 | $69 |
| Quechua (Decathlon) | 15-Degree Light | 15°C | 59°F | 700g | 25oz | £30 | $131 | ||
| Mountain Hardwear | Lamina 45 | 340g | Thermal Q | 5°C | 41°F | 710g | 25oz | £115 | $128 |
| Cumulus | Dynamic | 3°C | 37°F | 500g | 18oz | €149 |
Featured: Marmot NanoWave55
The Marmot NanoWave 55 is one of the cheapest ultralight sleeping bags available. It has a decent 255g (9oz) of synthetic filling and a total weight of 680g (24oz). The NanoWave only costs £59 in the UK or $69 in the US which is excellent for a bag this light from a well-respected manufacturer. I use one for ultralight summer bivvying.
>> Used by the author
>> One of the cheapest ultralight bags available
Alternative Ultralight Sleeping Bags
The bags below are some alternative sleeping systems that are even lighter than any of those listed above.
However, none of them are quite proper sleeping bags. They’re either not full length (i.e. half or three-quarter length), quilts (i.e. a duvet you lie under rather than a bag you get into) or are just liners (i.e. no zips, toggles or tough shell).
| Brand | Name | Type | Fill | Rating | Weight |
| PHD | Wafer | Half Bag | 950 | 5°C / 41°F | 165g / 5.8oz |
| Nunatak | Arc AT | 3/4 Quilt | 5°C / 41°F | 240g / 8.5oz | |
| PHD | K-Series Filler | Liner | 1000 | 15°C / 59°F | 240g / 8.8oz |
| PHD | Alpine Ultra | Half Bag | 950 | -5°C / 23°F | 250g / 8.8oz |
Got a question? Just add a comment below.
If you enjoyed this then you may also like my other comparison articles:
See all comparison articles here.
10 Comments
Helen
You haven’t mentioned Cumulus sleeping bags. They do incredible value, very high quality down bags. I’ve used their lightweight bags throughout Africa, North and Central America and Asia and a much thicker one in Siberia. I would highly recommend their products…
http://sleepingbags-cumulus.eu/uk/categories/sleeping-bags/down-sleeping-bags
Tim Moss
Thanks for the heads up Helen. They look great. It’ll take me a while to compile all the information and update the article but I’ll give you a shout when I do.
alex daly
I would say when looking at ultralight, and that we all use decent sleeping mats these days, I have found a quilt to be the future. half the weight, as all the down you sleep on is crushed anyway. Something from the hammock market is ideal, my Enlightened Equipment quilt is good down to -10 and only comes in at 450g
Tom Fearnehough
Worth checking aliexpress for some of the bags by Aegismax – they do a down bag 230g 800 down 408g total rating 2 – 8c – costs £38! I bought one – really pleased with it – great loft and compression.
Tim Moss
Thanks for the tip off Tom.
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JungleJohn
I purchased a Plasma 15 a few years back. Got in it and almost ripped the zipper off trying to get back out. I felt like I was trapped inside a coffin 6 feet under. I am a side sleeper, I toss and turn, wife says I snore (which I don’t believe ;)
I know I have sleep apnea and can’t wear a C-pap for the same reasons I couldn’t sleep in something like the Plasma, severe claustrophobia. Anyone reading this have similar problems with confining mummy bags? Any suggestions for a decent winter bag that will keep me warm without feeling trapped ? Thanks to any and all for any feedback!
Special THANK YOU ! to Tim Moss for this site! Not sure if this is the place to mention it but after reading Mr. Moss’s stove reviews I have a Optimus Polaris on the way yo my crib. Can’t wait to try that Bad Boy out!
Tim Moss
Hey John,
Thanks for the comment although I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience with the Plasma. Mountain Equipment used to make a great comfortable/roomy range of sleeping bags called ‘Dreamcatcher’. They weren’t quite as restrictive and had a stretchy middle so you could put your knees. I don’t know any others off the top of my head although you might consider a rectangular bag and avoiding ultralight options like these ones will probably help too.
Glad you liked the stove reviews too. Enjoy the Polaris!
Tim.
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