Locating the best sleeping bags for the ideal climate and trail conditions is rather essential. Don’t know what to look for? Well, this guide should help you make that decision.
Selection:
Slumber bags are calculated in loft. Loft is generally how “fluffy” the bag is. How high is it when it’s laying on the ground. The taller it’s, the more air “pockets” or dead airspace there is and the warmer it will keep you.
Simply because of disparity in the past of the temperature measurement of the best sleeping bags, there have been new testing modifications within the slumber bag market in America.
The Europeans have had a testing structure, for a while now, that has shown to be reliable in how it determines a sleeping bag’s temperature range. It also gives more information by recognizing the matter that men and women have diverse opinions to what is a cozy sleeping temperature.
Some U.S. companies of backpacking sleeping bags have followed the European Norm (EN 13537) method of temperature screening. Without going into too much depth about how they arrive at these numbers, basically they check the best sleeping bags under stringent guidelines utilizing a clothed dummy sporting long underwear and a hat. Sensors on the mannequin record temperature readings.
The New Tag: A label utilizing this new testing approach displays:
* EN Comfort Rating for Women: This is an exterior air temperature that typical women would keep comfortably warm.
* EN Lower Limit Rating for Guys: This is an exterior air temperature that a typical man would keep comfortably warm.
* EN “Extreme” Ranking: This is an exterior air temperature that the sleeping bag would still keep a woman alive. These rankings must not be applied too seriously.
Take note that these numbers are centered on the fact that you are wearing a single layer of clothing and have a sleeping pad underneath the slumber bag.
Do not Remove This Label Under Penalty of the Sleeping Bag Police:
If the slumber bags that you are checking out have not adopted the EN standard, don’t freak out. You can go by their temperature measurement. The only distinction is that these measurements are to be employed as a guideline only and don’t take into account the male/female distinction. If you’re like me and are generally cold whenever you sleep, then get a slumber bag with additional loft and a lower temperature number. The lower the number, the colder the external ambient temperature can be where the bag will keep you warm.
How Low Can You Go:
In either situation, using the old rating or the innovative EN, when choosing a bag, determine what type of weather and what time of year you will likely be utilizing it the most. If you are in the mountains and only intend to hike Spring, Summer and Fall, then get a three season sleeping bag. Find out the average lows for that coldest time of year which you will probably be backpacking and subtract 10 to 20 degrees and find a bag in that scale. (Example: say that the average low in the mountains throughout the spring is 20 degrees Fahrenheit, then take away 20 degrees and look for a sleeping bag that’s rated at 0 degrees. michael kors bags blue