DEUTER USA Starlight EXP Children's

It packs down as small as a summer bag and weighs just two pounds, so testers greeted this mummy with skepticism: Few dared to take it to its 15°F limit. But the Alpini wowed the ones who did. “I stayed warm at its rating, and would trust it down to 5°F,” reports one tester who used it during a snow-cave campout at 10,000 feet in Colorado’s Park Range.

The Alpini achieves its impressive warmth-to-weight ratio with 850-fill down sandwiched between ultralight, 15-denier Pertex Quantum fabric. Plus, offset baffles stagger the stitching on the outer and inner shell to prevent cold lines on the seams. The draft tube running along the full-length zipper uses two seams instead of one to create a fat U shape that effectively traps heat.

The hood is “snug but not confining, so I warmed up fast without feeling stifled,” reports one tester, and the opening is trimmed with a down-filled tube (instead of an elastic band), which feels softer than elastic and helps further trap warmth.

Durability is excellent; we dragged it over rocks and sharp tundra grass in Iceland’s Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, and the Alpini never snagged or lost a feather.

Bonus: A tiny interior pocket holds lip balm. Caveat: Side-sleepers and big guys found the hyper-efficient cut a bit tight.

$369; 2 lbs.

15°F; reg. and long;

brooks-range.com
The Starlight EXP is an expandable children’s sleeping bag designed to grow as the child grows. The hidden bottom zipper reveals an extension to the bag which offers additional leg room. Length expands for 63″-75″