Sleeping bag or quilt

The planner writes this from the ride you describe, so there is no version of it that is true for everybody. Here it is worked against one ride, named below, with a single answer changed at a time to show what moves.

2 nights · wild camping · cold but not freezing (8 °C) · gravel and tracks · towns daily

You said cold but not freezing, so we plan to 8 °C. Ask for the comfort rating, not the limit rating — the limit figure is a survival number and you will not sleep at it. Five degrees of headroom covers a forecast that comes in wrong. You said a weekend, so what has to work is the last night rather than the first. A night you sleep cold is one you do not get back, and the bag goes into each night carrying more of your own moisture and a little less loft for it. The headroom is our allowance for both — it is not a temperature you told us to expect.

On that ride the planner marks it essential.

The ride above

comfort-rated to 3 °C or lower

Night low · Below freezing

comfort-rated to -10 °C or lower

Night low · Near freezing

comfort-rated to -3 °C or lower

Night low · Mild

comfort-rated to 10 °C or lower

One object doing one job, so this is a choice between them rather than a shopping list. Every one carries what it costs you as well as what it gets you.

• Down fill

  Warmest for its weight and packs down smallest.

  but Wet down does nothing at all, and it dries slowly. Costs the most.

  A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.

  Find one ↗

• Synthetic fill

  Keeps most of its warmth damp and dries overnight. Cheaper.

  but Bulkier and heavier for the same rating.

  A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.

  Find one ↗

• Quilt rather than a bag

  Lighter, because the insulation crushed flat underneath you was never doing anything.

  but Draughty if you move in your sleep, and it only works over a warm mat.

  A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.

  Find one ↗

We hold measured dimensions for bags and for nothing else, so this hands the requirement to a search rather than picking something for you. Nothing on this page has a price, a weight or a maker attached to it, because none of those were measured.

That depends on the ride, and this page does not know it. The interview does, and it is the only thing here that can answer the question — no account, and every line it gives you names the answer that produced it.

Plan the ride →