Top 12 Best Survival Emergency Sleeping Bags to Buy in 2024

Faithful companion of a thousand adventures, especially if you are a lover of excursions and outdoor experiences, the sleeping bags are the accessory of fundamental importance, which you must learn to choose with extreme care and attention because comfort depends on its specific characteristics and the quality of your rest at night

The sleeping bag is an accessory of fundamental importance for many travelers, both if they choose to sleep in a tent on a camping site, or if they are hiking for several days.

Often the mistake people make is to invest more in the purchase of a tent than the sleeping bag because you think it is the most important accessory for comfort during your outdoor experiences. But let me tell you you’re wrong. The tent serves “simply” to protect you from humidity, rain, and wind, but does not protect you in any way from the cold.

Let’s take a look at the best sleeping bags in the market based on reviews and top selling.

Things to Consider Before Buying Emergency Sleeping Bags

Keeping the right body temperature during rest is precisely the function of the sleeping bag. So if you do not pay the right attention to his choice, you will risk being too cold or too hot, and therefore you will rest badly.

How the Sleeping Bags Work

The first thing you need to know is that the sleeping bag does not produce heat, but simply maintains the heat of your body through the insulation effect it produces compared to the outside. So the engine that produces heat is your metabolism.

The functioning of the sleeping bag is absolutely identical to that of the clothes we wear: the intertwining of the fibers (or feathers) of the padding creates a system of small cells that imprison the air molecules around our body, limiting their movements convective that are responsible for dispersing heat to the colder external environment. In essence, an insulating pad is created around the body.

Temperature of Sleeping Bags

In practice, the heat produced by your body heats the air that is created between your body and the insulating perimeter of the sleeping bag and tends to keep it more or less at the same temperature. As a result, if you get into the sleeping bag that is particularly cold or with wet or even wet clothing, your body will not produce enough heat to get the right temperature in the sleeping bag.

The factors that determine the temperature and the perception of heat inside the sleeping bag. The temperature generated inside the sleeping bag varies according to various factors, many of which do not depend on its qualities.

In choosing the temperature range for your bag, you will therefore also need to make a careful and objective personal evaluation of different physiological factors as much as possible, because your nighttime metabolism plays a decisive role, together with climatic conditions that you will find at your destination.

Resistance to Cold

Your resistance to cold depends on your build, on the fatigue you are wearing, and, more generally, on your physical condition at a given time.

If you are overweight, you will generate less heat than those who are thinner because you generally have a slower metabolism, but body fat will isolate you more.

Gander and Age

By nature, women have a greater perception of cold, and being more minute than men, they will generate less heat inside the sleeping bag. In fact, the standard comfort value for women is 5 degrees higher than that of men. But even those who are older with the years will have a greater perception of cold than those who are younger because their metabolism is physiologically slower.

The Habit

If you are used to living in environments that guarantee you the possibility of always having the ideal temperature of comfort, your body will have a reduced ability of the body to withstand the cold.

The External Climatic Conditions

we are not only referring to the ambient temperature but also the humidity and wind. To keep these elements under control, sleeping in the tent becomes really important

The Physical Form

It is clear that if, for example, you lead a very sedentary life and you undergo a strenuous excursion, you will immediately feel a lot of effort. This significantly reduces your ability to produce heat, which is why you are more likely to feel the sensation of cold

The Equipment’s

For example, if you sleep on a mat or a cot, you will not have contact with the ground or with the lower surface of the tent, and therefore you will avoid humidity, with a consequent less perception of the cold

Bulky Sleeping Bags

In this last aspect, we give you some advice. First of all, always protect the extremities of the body, because they are the ones that disperse the most heat. Wear a cap, socks, and gloves, especially if the outside temperature is cold. If you can, put a bottle of hot water in your sleeping bag, which helps you create the heat you need to not feel the annoying sense of cold as soon as you put it on. Wait a few minutes, and then take it off.

Contract your muscles while remaining immobile, because 70% of the energy produced by this contraction is transformed into heat. I suggest you do this by staying still to avoid producing cold air flows.

How to Choose the Perfect Sleeping Bag

Surely it is not surprising to hear that the absolute perfect sleeping bag does not exist, but the choice depends on the specific use you have to make of it.

For example, if you need it for camping where you will sleep in a tent, it must have certain characteristics, different from those that will be useful if you plan to use it for trekking excursions without a tent.

Below we list the different characteristics of sleeping bags, to guide you in your choices. In particular:

Shape

Although it seems strange, the shape of the sleeping bag is an extremely important aspect to consider, because it determines its ability to maintain body heat, and thus to create the ideal conditions for resting well in specific conditions. But it also affects weight and compactness, and consequently ease of transport.

The sleeping bag can have two forms: ” mummy “or ” blanket ” (also known as “a square”).

A Mummy

The sleeping bag with the “mummy” shape is, as the name implies, the one that has the contours that adhere to the body.

Thanks to the “mummy” shape, the space between the body and the perimeter of the sleeping bag (and therefore with the insulating padding) are very limited. Consequently, the air present is very limited, so the internal environment heats faster thanks to body heat. And the inability to move does not generate convective movements that favor the movement of air and, therefore, the dispersion of heat.

In general, sleeping bags with this shape also include a collar and a hood, two very important accessories to avoid heat loss. The hood completely wraps the head, which is one of the areas of our body with the greatest heat loss.

These characteristics make them particularly suitable for trekking excursions in the mountains or in particularly harsh environments.  Then they are generally less voluminous than the “deck” ones, and therefore more compact and more easily transportable. A very important aspect when you have to put it in your backpack.

Covered Sleeping Bags

Blanket sleeping bags have a much wider surface than “mummy” ones, and therefore are much more comfortable because they leave you more space to move and to spread your arms and legs.

In “covered” sleeping bags, the air between your body and the insulating wall of the sleeping bag is much more, and therefore the internal environment heats up much less and much more slowly. This is why they are only indicated with fairly high temperatures. You don’t have to take them into consideration if you plan to use your sleeping bag for hiking in the mountains, but certainly, if you plan to go camping in summer or to sleep in a refuge.

The Heat

The heat level generated by a sleeping bag thanks to its insulating function corresponds to the ambient temperature of the place where it is used during the night.

The Temperature Scale of The Sleeping Bags

If you want to use the sleeping bag in summer in medium mountain areas, consider buying a sleeping bag that maintains a comfortable temperature between + 5 ° C and + 10 ° C, while if your intention is that to stay in a bivouac in the high mountains, consider that even in summer you will have to use one that guarantees comfort temperatures below 0 ° C.

The Padding Materials

The heat generated by the sleeping bag depends on its insulating power, and this varies according to the material with which the padding is made. Generally, two materials are used for the padding: goose down or synthetic materials. Also, in this case, the choice of one or the other presents positive and negative aspects, according to the characteristics of the place and the situation of use.

Obviously, the level of comfort and the price depend on the quality of the padding. In addition to the padding, the heat performance also depends on the quality of the lining that covers it.

Feather and Down Jacket

Feather is traditionally the option preferred by sleeping bag manufacturers for padding because it is soft, light has a high calorific value even with a few grams and a great compressive capacity, which makes sleeping bags not bulky, very compressible and very light to carry.

This aspect is especially important during multi-day trekking excursions in the mountains because it is precisely in these situations that the heat/weight/size ratio makes the difference in the backpack. And then down sleeping bags not only generate a lot of heat, but they also do it very quickly. Much faster than synthetic ones.

Mixed padding is often found, with different percentages of feather and down. For example, if you find the wording feather 90/10 on the label, it means that the padding is made up of 90% down and 10% feather. The higher the percentage of down, the more precious the padding is.

Synthetic Material

The padding with modern synthetic fibers guarantees excellent performance in terms of its ability to generate heat and comfort standards. The most performing fibers on the market are ultra-thin hollow ones, which allow perfect insulation from the outside, even in wet conditions.

On the other hand, however, these padding, with the same performance, have a slightly higher weight than those in feather and down, and a limited compression capacity, with consequent greater bulk. This aspect can be an annoying hindrance, especially during multi-day trekking excursions. And then they take longer to warm up.

Double Sleeping Bags in Synthetic Material

These sleeping bags are also much more resistant to humidity if you tear and come out (or get dirty) the padding, you can still continue to use them. And they are obviously more ecological, but also cheaper. For their specific characteristics, as well as for camping use, they are highly recommended for spring or summer excursions in rough territories and for on-the-road adventures.

You will notice that it is rather complicated to find quality synthetic bags that keep warm at low temperatures. But you can reach a good compromise by choosing products with mixed goose down/synthetic padding.

The Cover and The Sleeping Bags

we advise you to keep in mind that the quality of the heat generated by the sleeping bag does not depend on the temperature and humidity of the external environment, but also on the level of sweating and evaporation that the body produces even in resting situations. These latter conditions can help create a humid and inhospitable environment, which changes the performance of the sleeping bag, regardless of the quality of the padding.

It is precisely for this reason that we advise you to pay close attention also to the lining that covers it, which must be made of a hydrophobic material, that is, capable of not retaining moisture.

Compactness and Ease of Transport, or Comfort?

The ease of transport of the sleeping bag is obviously conditioned by its weight and its compactness. This aspect is not so important when you have to go camping, where you need above all a comfortable, soft and wide product. But it becomes essential when hiking, especially if it lasts several days, and you have little space in your backpack. In this case, you need a decidedly more compact and lighter product, with a “mummy” shape, and a shorter zip.

Maintenance and Washing

Proper storage of the sleeping bag can greatly increase its lifespan, even if you use it frequently. In the case of feather and down bags, be careful to store them in absolutely dry environments when you are not using them, avoiding to compress them excessively so as not to risk that the padding remains crushed for too long. In this case, when you return to using them, they can have a reduced performance because the feathers do not return to distribute themselves evenly over the entire surface.

The bags with synthetic padding, on the other hand, do not require particular attention in terms of conservation. However, we advise you to keep them out of the appropriate compression bags in a dry environment. For washing, both in the case of a sleeping bag with goose down padding and in the case of padding in synthetic material.

Washing the Sleeping Bags

The best thing, however, is hand washing in a tub with warm water, using specific detergents, and absolutely avoid rubbing it. Equally important is the rinsing phase, to which you must pay particular attention because there must be no traces of detergent inside. So use plenty of water. After that, to dry it, do not wring it out but lay it on a drying rack completely open in the open air and let it dry gradually.

Be careful, though. Do not overdo it with the sleeping bag washes. Wash it when the dirt exceeds the attention threshold.

Camping Bed for Use with The Sleeping Bag

The inflatable mattress to be used under the sleeping bag
The compressible mattress to use for trekking with a sleeping bag
Obviously, this suggestion is valid if you use the sleeping bag on a camping trip, while if you use it during trekking excursions, you will be able to use a rubber mat at the most, which will however, help you avoid contact with the ground.

On the market, there are many models of mattresses and camp beds, which differ in size, materials, performance, weight, and obviously price.