Best Budget Winter Sleeping Bags of 2023

A sleeping bag is a huge financial investment for outdoor adventures, so getting a good bag at a fair price is important. Your bag should keep you warm, and cozy, and provide essential features for sleeping in the backcountry because nothing can beat a good night’s sleep under the stars. Also, your bag is one of the three major weight-saving choices in your backpack. A typical mummy bag can weigh around 3 to 5 pounds while lightweight bags weigh less than 2 pounds. You can also get a lightweight bag and increase the warmth by bringing a lightweight liner or wearing a jacket and long johns while you sleep.

1. REI Co-op Frostbreak

Temperature rating: 5°F
Weight: 5 lbs. 1 oz.
Fill: Synthetic
Best use: Camping

REI Co-op Frostbreak is a 5-degree bag that is made of recycled polyester. The shell is treated with a durable water-repellent (DWR) coating, which resists stains and keeps moisture away. The bag is filled with 4 layers of synthetic insulation that provides great insulation against the cold even in wet conditions. The bag is made to provide even distribution of the insulation, which minimizes the formation of cold spots. This is a relaxed mummy-style bag so it provides a little more space to move than typical mummy bags. A draft tube and a face muffler also help keep cold air out.

There are stash pockets outside of your bag that can be used to store your small essentials. The hood is comfortable and two differentiated drawstrings let you adjust the hood and neck according to the temperature. This bag is available in three different sizes; short, regular, and long. The regular one fits folks up to 6 feet, the long one fits up to 6 feet 6 inches, and the short one fits up to 5 feet 6 inches. It includes a stuff sack for easy storage and it packs down quite small considering the temperature rating. Overall, this is a reasonably priced bag that can be used for car camping in the winter, late fall, or early spring.

What I like: Warm, cozy, enough room for moving around

What I don’t like: Big, bulky, the zipper is slightly difficult to zip but not a deal-breaker

See the REI Co-op Frostbreak

2. Hyke & Byke Eolus

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 3 lbs. 0.32 oz.
Fill: 800 FP goose down
Best use: Camping/backpacking

The Eolus is a budget-friendly 4-season down sleeping bag that is made with durable and lightweight materials. The design is streamlined and the bag features vertical baffles to facilitate even heat distribution from head to toe. The nylon inner and outer shells allow the adjustment of insulation to move where the fill is needed the most. The fill power is 800-Fill Power Goose Down which compresses down super small and offers great warmth. There are multiple drawstrings that you can adjust for additional temperature regulation. Whether you are sleeping in the backcountry or at a hostel in Europe, the Eolus bag is comfortable to sleep in.

Talking about the features, the Eolus features a full-length zipper on the right side with two sliders. You can unzip it from the bottom while keeping it zipped around your head. This feature is great for ventilation without completely getting cold. The hood of the bag is designed to accommodate a mini camping pillow when the draw cord is uncinched. When using a pillow it creates a comfortable and secure cocoon that keeps your head and neck warm. The foot box has enough room for your feet to wiggle and there are overlapping baffles to guarantee comfort and warmth for your toes.

What I like: Great value for the money, comfortable to sleep in, warm, and lightweight

What I don’t like: Zippers snag on fabric but get back on track easily

See the Hyke & Byke Eolus

3. Kelty Mistral

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 4 lbs. 2 oz.
Fill: Synthetic Cloudloft
Best use: Camping

Kelty Mistral is a roomy and comfortable bag for car camping but if you’re not going too far, it can be packed down small enough for the occasional backpacking trip. This is for someone who wants a versatile sleeping bag that won’t break the bank. This is a traditional mummy-shaped bag but you have a little bit more room to sprawl. You have plenty of space in the shoulders it tapers down through the legs but the foot box is nice and big for your feet to sprawl. The Mistral offers temperature regulation that’s perfect for chilly nights when you need to hunker down but can be vented if you don’t need all the warmth of a 0-degree bag.

When it’s all zipped up, the comfort holds the heat inside and cold air out but you can open the zipper at the bottom to vent if you feel too warm. That zipper goes all the way up so on those warmer nights I’d open the whole thing and use this flap as a cozy blanket. It’s filled with synthetic Cloudloft insulation, which resists moisture in humid climates and it dries fast if it becomes wet. The polyester taffeta shell and liner are soft and they repel moisture too to protect that insulation. There’s a stuff sack included for easy storage in the car or your backpack. With the comfort hood, cozy materials, and an attractive price tag, you’ll be sleeping well no matter where your adventures take you.

What I like: Affordable and versatile

What I don’t like: Bulky and not super warm

See the Kelty Mistral

4. Kelty Cosmic

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 4 lbs. 9 oz.
Fill: 600-fill DriDown
Best use: Camping

Kelty Cosmic is a cheap cold weather sleeping bag that delivers an impressive set of high-quality features. This is a 0-degree bag and it’s got a comfort and temperature rating. You can look at those ratings and compare them to how you normally sleep in the backcountry. This bag is filled with 600 fill DriDown and this down features a hydrophobic coating to keep you dry and warm even in damp conditions. If subject to any humid conditions or moisture, it’s going to resist that moisture and retain its loft a lot longer than traditional down. If it becomes wet, it’s going to dry out faster than traditional down and ultimately keeps you warmer.

In addition to the DriDown, you have a polyester ripstop shell on the outside that also resists moisture. It’s not a waterproof material but it keeps moisture away. Talking about comfort features, you have a thermal comfort hood. It is well-baffled and there’s a lot of fill and you do have a drawcord that goes around the top and bottom. If you’re getting close to that lower temperature rating, you can cinch that down and it seals in all the heat from your body. There’s also a comfortable collar on the inside and it seals heat from your core. A draft tube behind the zipper prevents cold air from sneaking in through the zipper.

What I like: Solid set of features at an affordable price.

What I don’t like: Heavy, large pack size, average weather resistance

See the Kelty Cosmic

5. Marmot Women’s Ouray

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 3 lbs. 10 oz.
Fill: 650-fill-power duck down
Best use: Camping/backpacking

This bag is built specifically for those backpackers who are looking for incredible value but a bag that’s reliable, packable, and warm. It’s packed with features and built for comfort. You’ve got 650 Fill Power down and that down is treated with Marmot’s Down Defender. In Down Defender, you’ve got plumes of down that are treated with a water-resistant coating that is going to keep you drier longer. If you’re in humid conditions or if the bag were to take on any moisture, those plumes of down are going to resist the moisture and dry out fast, and ultimately keep you warmer in the backcountry. With a sleeping bag like this 0-degree bag, you want that moisture to stay out of the bag so you stay warm and dry at night.

Now Marmot does account for the differences in male and female campers so they do have female and male sleeping bags. This is a women’s specific bag and it has cut a little bit differently than a men’s sleeping bag. It also has more insulation in key areas to really keep you comfortable in the backcountry. Now, this does come in two different sizes in the women’s so certainly look at those sizes before purchasing.

The bag is incredibly thermal efficient and has a true mummy cut. You have a well-baffled hood with a cinch cord around. On the inside, there’s a collar that you can cinch down around your neck and around your shoulders to hold in that heat around your core. You also have a nicely well-baffled foot box so your feet can move. A full-length zipper goes most of the way down to the foot box. If you do get a little warmer, you can vent from the bottom by pulling up that zipper. This is a snag-free zipper and it doesn’t irritate soft materials. There is a draft tube behind the zipper, which prevents unwanted cold air from sneaking through the zipper.

What I like: Versatile, you can use it for backpacking, car camping, and even mountaineering

What I don’t like: The zipper is harder to zip, a little snug in the shoulders

See the Marmot Women’s Ouray

6. Marmot Trestles Elite Eco

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 3 lbs. 8.3 oz.
Fill: HL-ElixR Eco Micro
Best use: Camping

Marmot Trestles is great for those who are seeking 4-season warmth at a budget-friendly price point. The thing that first impressed me with this bag is the quality of the insulation. Synthetic insulation tends to be more reliable than down over time and performs better in wet environments. It’s also simpler to care for and wash. That said the typical downfall of synthetic insulation is the bulky packed size and heavier weight. That isn’t a huge concern here as the HL-ElixR Eco Micro recycled synthetic fibers pack down relatively small and comes in at a reasonable weight of just over 3.5 pounds in the regular size.

While it isn’t the lightest sleeping bag on the market, it does provide a great balance of long-term durability, reliable warmth, and all-weather confidence that a lot of ultralight bags just can’t beat even at a higher price. The insulation is protected by a 20-denier polyester fabric, which is both comfortable and resilient. A contoured hood adds to the warmth of the bag and cinches tight for cooler nights. To further guard against the cold an interior draft tube seals the area on the other side of the zipper preventing any unwanted cold air from entering the bag and locking in body heat.

The main zipper has an anti-snag pull, which easily glides up and down allowing for quick ventilation on warm nights. To add to the ventilation capabilities, an additional side zipper allows you to fold down the top of the bag. I love the ability to configure the bag in slightly different ways for different climates. Other smart features include an anatomically shaped foot box, which provides extra room to allow your feet to rest comfortably in a natural position as well as a small external pocket to keep essentials nearby. A compression stuff sack is included to allow for easy storage in your pack.

What I like: Great built quality and value for money, includes a stuff sack that works

What I don’t like: A little snug fitting

See the Marmot Trestles Elite Eco

7. Big Agnes Blackburn UL

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 2 lbs. 10 oz.
Fill: 850 FP DownTek
Best use: Backpacking

Don’t be fooled by the UL or ultralight designation. This is a full-featured bag suited for cold-weather adventures. The bag provides you with a draft collar, a draft tube, a built-in sleeping pad sleeve, and plush 850-fill waterproof down insulation. Down has long been the standard for insulating outdoor gear due to its lightweight and insulating properties. But just ask any duck and they’ll tell you when down gets wet it turns into a messy clump of feathers and loses its stability to insulate. Not so with water-resistant down materials like DownTek. Each feather has been varnished with a super-thin, antimicrobial, antibacterial, and water-repellent coating. This treated down stays dry longer in wet conditions. It will eventually get wet but when it does it dries out faster than untreated down.

The shell is made of ripstop nylon to provide durability. A DWR coating on the shell helps protect the insulation and you from moisture. This bag is designed to eliminate cold spots by minimizing the movement of fill inside the baffles. Inside, a nylon taffeta lining provides next-to-skin comfort. There’s also a pocket for little things. The contoured and insulated hood has an internal pillow barn to keep a pillow in place. The jacket-style hood opening contours to the shape of your face and the low profile cord lock lets you easily adjust the hood. There is a roomy foot box as well as a draft collar. The anti-snag zipper has a draft tube to keep warm air inside the bag.

There are external loops on the bag for hanging it to dry or store. This bag is available in a wide variety of sizes fit for folks 5 foot 5 up to 6 foot 6. Every bag includes a stuff sack and a storage sack. A serious cold-weather sleeping option, this bag has features to keep your heat in, keep your insulation dry, and keep your sleeping pad right where it should be.

What I like: Perfect for taller folks, lightweight and compact

What I don’t like: Difficult to regulate temperature, expensive

See the Big Agnes Blackburn UL

8. Marmot Never Summer

Temperature rating: 0°F
Weight: 3 lbs. 3 oz.
Fill: 650 FP duck down
Best use: Camping/backpacking

This bag is perfect for that backpacker who’s looking for a warm and reliable sleeping bag that also packs down nice and small. With all of the high-quality features, you’ll be hard-pressed to find such a high-quality bag at such a reasonable price. It’s 650 fill down and Marmot goes to great lengths to certify the fill so you know exactly what you’re getting. This bag is even filled and finished in the USA. Marmot is using their Down Defender which is basically a hydrophobic coating that’s applied to each plume of down. This makes that down resistant to moisture.

The shape of the bag is a relaxed mummy and it provides great thermal efficiency but sometimes it can be a little tight or claustrophobic. There’s a true hood up at the top, it’s well-baffled and you can cinch it down at the top and the bottom to hold in your heat on those chilly nights. On the inside, there’s an extra little collar that you can cinch down as well and it helps on keeping the heat in your core.

The bag also features a full-length zipper so you can vent from the bottom. If you’re heating up inside and you just need to vent, you can open it from the bottom. This zipper is an anti-snag zipper and they are using gentle materials over the top of that metal zipper. With these lightweight materials, it’s a lot easier for me to slide. It’s a small feature but it does make a difference. Behind that zipper, you also have a more durable material so if something were to get snagged it would get that durable material and not the lightweight materials.

You have plenty of room in the shoulders but it does taper down towards the legs to save on heat and to give thermal efficiency. The foot box is well-shaped and gives you lots of room for your feet to move. The baffles on this bag are stitched-through baffles which means that the down isn’t going to migrate throughout the bag. Each chamber in the bag holds that down so you don’t have unwanted cold spots.

This bag is EN tested which means that there’s a comfort rating and a lower limit rating for the temperatures. Definitely take a look at that comfort and lower limit ratings before taking it into the backcountry and kind of compare that to how you normally sleep in the backcountry.

What I like: True 0-degree down bag, quality materials, the zipper doesn’t snag on fabric

What I don’t like: A little expensive compared to other options.

See the Marmot Never Summer

Best Budget Winter Sleeping Bags: Summary

Conclusion

Sleeping bags come in a variety of shapes, sizes, temperature ratings, and comfort ratings. Choosing the one that meets your need perfectly can be difficult. For example, a lightweight bag may not offer your desired comfort and features and similarly, the most comfortable and full-featured bag would be heavy and expensive. So, you need to strike a good balance between comfort, weight, and price. Also, take a look at comfort ratings and temperature ratings and compare them to how you normally sleep in the backcountry. Consider the climate where you will be camping because you may not need the loftiest bag out there.