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.
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The Secret to Ultralight Sleeping Bags
The weight in any sleeping consists of three main factors:
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- 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).
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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:
- 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
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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 |
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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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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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What do you think? Please do add your thoughts below…