Lafuma TMB 40

[lightweight bargain]

When testers love a down bag that costs a fraction of what you’d pay for top-shelf competitors, it’s time to pocket the change. This 600-fill, duck-down mummy kept our editor-in-chief cozy on 50°F nights along Utah’s Green River. “It’s roomy at the shoulders, compressible, and quick-drying,” he says. Thanks to a down-protecting DWR treatment, condensation beads off the shell fabrics (30-denier ripstop on top and 40-denier on the bottom, for greater abrasion resistance). “I slept outside for four nights, and the dew never penetrated into the down. Come morning, the bag dried superfast,” he reports.

Fit is comfortable for big hikers, thanks to a 64-inch shoulder girth. Normally, we’d lament the extra bulk of 600-fill down over the premium stuff, but the Lightway requires very little fill for the modest 45°F warmth; packed, it’s as small as a water bottle. A draft tube eliminates cold spots along the two-way zipper, which opens at the foot for hot-weather venting and even features glow-in-the-dark pull tabs. No feathers pushed through the fabric, which is heat- and pressure-treated to create a shiny surface that inhibits down from escaping. $130; 1 lb. 9 oz.; 45°F; shoplafuma.com