I'm looking for a new sleeping bag and curious what y'all have found that works well for you. I currently use the military sleeping system. I'm cold natured and it's not warm enough with just the green bag when I'm backpacking (even with a liner). I believe that one is rated 32 deg but that's survivability rating not comfort. I use the black bag on winter canoe treks and regular campouts but it's too big and too heavy to fit in a backpack.

I'm looking for something 20degree or maybe even 0 degree rated.
Need compact
Need lightweight
Want cheap. I know there's plenty of expensive and ultralight bags out there but I have to get me, my wife, and one of my sons all one plus other replacements and upgrades on gear this year.

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Need compact
Need lightweight
Want cheap

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Does not compute for sleeping bags. As you probably know.

You can have light and compact, but not cheap.

You can have cheap, but it won't be light and compact.

You're best bet is buying used, or trying for a best bang for buck down fill bag. Down will compact better and be lighter.

And from my experience - cheaper bags don't meet their temp ratings. I have a cheap zero bag that maybe gets me to 15 with clothing layers on.

Would check out REI. My son went on a a school trip to New Mexico this summer. I had several older bags I thought i would send him with but the new bags are very different... light and small... compared to my 20 year old bag. Also, was not sure my old bag was still rated based on age. Price was not too bad.

agree with this. I bought a REI 20 degree down bag several years ago (may be the Radiant, or it may have been replaced with the Radiant, regardless...) and it's a great bag. Very warm, well made, stuffs small, great value. I have a couple Alps bags in down and synthetic and the 0* down one is great (but big and heavy), but the synthetics have been hit or miss on warmth

Don't know a lot about serious sleeping bags but maybe some of these might work?
Sportsmans guide surplus sleeping bags

Agree with the above consensus on light, compact, cheap.

Check Craigslist or other used websites. Have to be a bit leery about what care the person used with it, but should be able to find something.

I have REI and one or two others. The ones I have are not lightweight, but they suit my purposes. I was wondering if anyone here has experience with wiggys.com?

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/13152732/gonew/1/western-mountaineering-versalite-super-sleeping-bag#UNREAD

If you buy a used one, try to make sure you get one that has never been pissed inside of. You don't want to sleep on someone's old piss if you can help it.

The kelty cosmic 20 down bag has been the best bang for your buck bag I have used.

I just bought the Nemo Riff 15 and can't wait to use it in the field. It fits all of your criteria except "cheap" (although it's 20% off at rei). And it's semi-rectangle in case you're like me and find the mummy design to be terribly uncomfortable

If you're in BCS, i've got a slumber jack 20* down that i'd be willing to part with. I'm the opposite, I can comfortably sleep in a higher temp bag well below freezing. This one's too warm for me.

Just saw you're looking to purchase for family as well. These were pretty reasonably priced when I got mine, so if you'd like to try mine and make up your mind before buying more, that may be an option.

Check out the REI garage sales when they have them. You'll have to get there early to get a sleeping bag but there will be some.

CamoFire has some sleeping bags posted today. Don't know anything about them or sleeping bags in general...just an FYI.

WestGalvestonAggie said:

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If you buy a used one, try to make sure you get one that has never been pissed inside of. You don't want to sleep on someone's old piss if you can help it.

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This is really a rule that you should apply to 99 percent of purchases. New or used.

You can sometimes find good deals on backcountry.com

Marmot Trestles 15

Love this bag. Backcountry has it on sale right now through the link. I've slept in it in actual 15 degree weather and was comfortable.

It's relatively cheap. Not light but not heavy. It's somewhat compact. It's true to the temperature rating. I'm 6'2" 195 lbs and it is comfortable to sleep in and not suffocating at all.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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WestGalvestonAggie said:

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If you buy a used one, try to make sure you get one that has never been pissed inside of. You don't want to sleep on someone's old piss if you can help it.

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This is really a rule that you should apply to 99 percent of purchases. New or used.

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And that 1%?

You need to decide if you want one made in China or the US. Some American made are really nice but substantially more expensive.

I'd recommend searching rokslide classifieds. There's a lot of good quality bags that come up for sale at a greatly reduced price. I wouldn't waste money on a cheaper bag.

I researched this earlier this year and wound up going with the REI Magma 10. It's normally $369 but I bought 20% off during an REI Sale (of which one is going one right now). If there is another down bag out there that has 850 fill for less than $300 then I would like to know because I never came across one. It was down in the teens at night on my October elk hunt and worked great.

If you want to be warm but want to pay less then go synthetic. Something like the Marmot bag linked above seems perfect. If you want to be super-light (about 2 pounds) and warm then down is the way to go but there's really no cheap down options.

The highest end down bags (Western Mountaineering etc) with 800 plus fill push $500 plus. You can find some deals on down bags with 600-650 fill weight but I would be weary of them living up to their temperature rating if they claim to weigh the same as the high end bags (about 2 pounds.)

Take a look at Butler bags.

https://www.butlerbags.us/product/mild-climate-sleeping-bag/

I'm 6'3" and have a love my XL North Face Cats Meow

AgEng06 said:

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Milwaukees Best Light said:

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WestGalvestonAggie said:

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If you buy a used one, try to make sure you get one that has never been pissed inside of. You don't want to sleep on someone's old piss if you can help it.

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This is really a rule that you should apply to 99 percent of purchases. New or used.

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And that 1%?

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Maybe a house or RV.

TommyGun said:

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Marmot Trestles 15

Love this bag. Backcountry has it on sale right now through the link. I've slept in it in actual 15 degree weather and was comfortable.

It's relatively cheap. Not light but not heavy. It's somewhat compact. It's true to the temperature rating. I'm 6'2" 195 lbs and it is comfortable to sleep in and not suffocating at all.

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That looks like a good deal.

Have you checked outdoorgearlab.com?

AgEng06 said:

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Milwaukees Best Light said:

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WestGalvestonAggie said:

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If you buy a used one, try to make sure you get one that has never been pissed inside of. You don't want to sleep on someone's old piss if you can help it.

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This is really a rule that you should apply to 99 percent of purchases. New or used.

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And that 1%?

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Toilet and urinal purchases!

Define cheap?

This is the cheapest bag rated on outdoorgearlab, but not light or truly backpacking oriented.

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/backpacking-sleeping-bag/kelty-tuck-20

I have a bag in this line and like it a lot. My wife is also cold when she sleeps and kept warm in the 20 degree version of this bag in freezing temps.

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/backpacking-sleeping-bag/mountain-hardwear-hyperlamina-spark-35

Started this thread last week and then things went nuts and I couldn't check back until today. Lots of good responses, thanks!
Cheap I know is a relative term and I knew it might not be realistic, that's why I said "want" for that category. Under $100 would be awesome but I know that's pushing it. $300 + is out of the price range. There's several recs in here that could very well fit the bill. Now time to do more research on all the links!

ajn142 said:

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If you're in BCS, i've got a slumber jack 20* down that i'd be willing to part with. I'm the opposite, I can comfortably sleep in a higher temp bag well below freezing. This one's too warm for me.

Just saw you're looking to purchase for family as well. These were pretty reasonably priced when I got mine, so if you'd like to try mine and make up your mind before buying more, that may be an option.

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Googled this one and it looks like the packed size is still too large. Thanks though!

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-Patrick McManus

Western Mountaineering is the best bag I've owned.

Enlightened Equipment Quilt 20 degree. 950 down, packs down to nearly nothing, $400 (cheap compared to some brands)

I got a Northface 20 degree aluva or something like that. It's not small, but packable... bought it for $120 and used once..