How to buy a sleeping bag

Ask yourself why the sleeping bag is being purchased. Is it for the kids for the occasional sleep out in the backyard, or is it for year-round and hard-weather camping?

Keep this helpful sleeping bag weight guideline in mind when deciding which bag best serves your needs:

• Summer weight for conditions above freezing
• Three-season weight for conditions as low as -10º C
• Four-season weight for conditions between -15º and -20º C
• Winter extreme for conditions as low as -40º C

If you are considering a down-filled sleeping bag, you will find it lightweight, extremely compressible and, depending on the quality of the down, unrivalled for providing the ultimate in warm comfort.

Remarkable advances have been made in the insulation quality of synthetic fibres, and they should not be disregarded as providing inferior quality when compared to down. Although less compressible and not as lightweight, you'll find synthetic-filled bags are less expensive and quicker drying. They generally don't pose any allergy problems.