Comparison of Lightweight Sleeping Bags

Lightweight Sleeping Bag Review

This review compares all the lightest ultralight sleeping bags in the world.

Ultralight Sleeping Bags

What’s the Lightest Sleeping Bag in the World?

I believe this is the current Top 5 lightest sleeping bags in the world:

  1. Cumulus Magic 125 – 245g / 8.6oz
  2. Yeti Fever Zero – 280g / 9.9oz
  3. Z Packs 40 Degrees – 323g / 11.4oz
  4. PHD Minim Ultra – 330g / 11.5oz
  5. Haglofs L.I.M. Synthetic +10 – 338g / 11.9oz

Scroll down for some alternatives that are even lighter though.

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The Secret to Ultralight Sleeping Bags

The weight in any sleeping consists of three main factors:

    1. The filling – how much down or synthetic equivalent has it got inside to keep you warm?
    2. The lining – what material is being used to hold the bag together?
    3. 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).

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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:

  1. Quechua 15-Degree Light – from £30
  2. Marmot NanoWave 55 – from £55 / $69
  3. AegisMax Urltralight (down) – from £64 / $68
  4. Mountain Hardwear Lamina 55 – from £115 / $128
  5. Jack Wolfskin Pounder (down) – from £121 / $135

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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

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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

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Featured: Marmot NanoWave55

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Marmot NanoWave55 Sleeping Bag

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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

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Want One?

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Search Amazon.co.uk and Ebay.co.uk

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Search Amazon.com

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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

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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.

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Comments

10 responses to “Comparison of Lightweight Sleeping Bags”

  1. 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

    1. 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.

  2. alex daly avatar
    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

  3. 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.

    1. Thanks for the tip off Tom.

  4. JungleJohn avatar
    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!

    1. 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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