Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed Duo
Frankly, our reasons for liking this two-person sleeping bag aren’t suitable for a family magazine. Use your imagination.
Brand: Sierra Designs
Model: Backcountry Bed Duo Sleeping Bag
Fit
There’s only one thing that could’ve made our senior editor like the 2014 Editors’ Choice Award-winning Backcountry Bed more: room for his wife. Like the original version, the Duo eschews zippers for a 64-inch-wide integrated “comforter” that folds down for easy entry, folds up for warmth, and folds any which way to suit your preferences. At 106.5 inches across the shoulders, there’s enough room for all but the broadest of couples to fit together. (Note: The dual pad sleeves work best with rectangular mattresses; other shapes create gaps in the middle.)
Weight
Because the Duo requires less overall material than a pair of separate bags, designers were able to use cost-effective, 600-fill DriDown (from ducks) and still keep the weight less than 2 pounds per person. Compressibility is excellent at 9 by 16 inches.
Warmth
The comforter’s shape is slightly larger than the opening it fills, making it easy to tuck in the sides and create a natural seal to trap warmth. Downside: More svelte couples may have a hard time filling the space. One warm-sleeping couple stuffed a puffy into the bottom to eat up extra room and stayed warm in the upper 20s during a trek on Zion National Park’s East Rim. But a cold-sleeping couple had to add layers and huddle for warmth with temps in the 30s.