How to Read a Sleeping Bag Temperature Rating

Every sleeping bag we produce carries a temperature rating on its label, and buyers often ask us which of the numbers actually matters. The short answer: the comfort figure.

A standard rating has three parts.Comfortis the temperature at which an average adult woman can sleep through the night without waking cold.Limitis the equivalent for an average adult man in a curled-up position.Extremeis a survival figure only — it is not a sleeping temperature.

In our own range we use the comfort rating as the headline number on the retail label, because that is the figure a shopper can trust. Limit and extreme are still printed, but in smaller type.

Ratings are also measured on a manikin under a standard test method, so the same bag with a different shell fabric, lining or filling weight will rate differently. If you are developing a private-label range, tell us the comfort target and the season you are selling into, and we will build the filling weight around it.

We can supply the rating test report with each development. Write to linda@reliableoutdoors.com for current test data.