We would have expected that an everyman sleeping bag like the Brazos to fit, well, every man, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Dimensions for this bag are 75”x33”, but the Coleman website states it will only accommodate campers up to 5’11” in height. coleman chair The 66” girth throughout the bag could have also benefited from a bit of expansion. For web orders returned in store, please take the item in original packaging, along with invoice to any
Camping World retail locations for a refund or exchange.
But in the end, we don’t see the zipper-less concept completely taking over the market. Put simply, the in-and-out convenience and ability to use the bag as a blanket with a full-zip sleeping bag is the better answer for most campers. Each year we add a few new pieces of camping gear to coleman chair make our trip more comfy. This year, I focused on finding the perfect sleeping bags for camping. Our kids already had sleeping bags but my husband and I didn’t. We just used bedding from home but I don’t like lugging that around and it doesn’t pack up as conveniently as sleeping bags.
Super plush material from top to bottom gives soft, relaxing comfort. Coleman’s storied history dates back to 1900, when William Coffin Coleman introduced the world’s first portable, gas-powered lantern. Today, you’d be hard-pressed to walk through any general-merchandise big-box store in North America without coming across one of their products.
Pretty much everyone has used at least one Coleman product in their lifetime, whether it’s a lantern, a cooler, a grill, a camp chair, a tent…you get the idea. The reason we picked the Brazos for our Best Buy on a Tight Budget is because it perfectly balances cost with basic necessities. For the price, it really holds its own against bags that are much more expensive, especially in the areas of warmth and durability. The one negative we found with the stuff sack is the compression zipper. The idea is that after you’ve stuffed your bag and cinched the top, then you zip the compression zipper to reduce the overall packed size. In our opinion, the zipper is not needed because the bag has an average packed size.
A final shape worth mentioning is the semi-rectangular bag, which—as the name implies—shares commonalities with both rectangular and mummy designs. In terms of dimensions, they’re typically roomier than standard mummy bags (particularly at the shoulders and hips) but not overly generous like some rectangular models. All in all, semi-rectangular bags typically offer a good mix of comfort and weight, shaving away excess material while still providing enough space to roll around during the night. For instance, Nemo’s Disco 15 and Forte Endless Promise 20 have roomier fits than most traditional mummy bags, with a noticeable boost in space around the knees and elbows.
Some bags, like The North Face’s One Bag, feature unique warmth-tailoring systems that allow you to customize the amount of insulation depending on conditions. To be sure, most of these additions won’t be deal-breakers for many, but they can be helpful in deciding between similar models (and we’ve called them out in the write-ups above whenever possible). Feels more like a medium weather sleeping bag, may be too much sleeping bag for some. Might not be suitable for serious campers who need something more heavy-duty. Big and tall design can accommodate most people up to 6-foot 5-inches. Features warm cotton canvas cover, heat-locking flannel liner, and matching flannel pillow.
Backpacking sleeping bag features integrated packing system and is easy to roll up for storage. Great for camping in temperatures as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit. If you expected this budget bag to skimp on the bells and whistles, well, you’d probably be right. However, it does come with a comfort cuff for your head and an internal stash pocket for your cell phone. Still, we would have preferred if the pocket could be closed with a zipper rather than Velcro, but that might be just us splitting hairs. You snugglers out there can also use the anti-snag zipper to join two of these sleeping bags into a double bag.
In choosing the proper approximate rating, try to get an idea of the very coldest temperature you’ll be experiencing overnight. Once you have that number, it’s a good idea to build in a little buffer (we like an extra degrees) to avoid getting cold. And keep in mind the temperature rating is closer to a survivability rating rather than being comfortable and warm. Other factors to consider are your age—people typically don’t sleep as warm the older they get—and whether you are a cold or warm sleeper.
As we touched on above, temperature ratings tend to be fairly generous and often require adding a sizable buffer to ensure you’ll stay warm throughout the night. For those who run cold or simply want to bring their bag into lower temperatures, adding a sleeping bag liner can help keep you cozy without breaking the bank. Liners are made of soft materials like fleece, wool, polyester, or silk and typically add around 5 to 15 degrees to the warmth rating of your bag. They also serve as a barrier between you and your bag’s interior, which can help boost lifespan (you can wash the liner after use rather than getting your bag dirty). Liners typically cost between $30 and $60, and a couple of our favorite options are Sea to Summit’s Thermolite Reactor for mummy bags and their Silk-Cotton Blend Liner for rectangular models. To be clear, liners are totally optional and not everyone needs one, but they do offer added warmth and comfort and help keep your bag in good shape.
We take day hikes and do outdoor activities from our drive up camping spot in the Smoky Mountains. Therefore, I was looking for sleeping bags for camping that offered comfort. I also wanted them to keep us comfortable in cold weather down to degrees. For having a knit liner and far from space-age insulation, the Brazos still managed to come in at a reasonable 4.1lb, which is just a hair lighter than its main competitor on our 2021 list, the $45 Kelty Callisto 30. Packed size, i.e., compressed volume is pretty much negligible with this bag; it’s simply not built for backpacking but rather for camping. That being said, the bag comes with a stuff sack that does a decent job of keeping everything together.