Sleeping Bags
A sleeping bag is the single piece of gear between you and a cold, miserable night — choosing the right one makes every other piece of kit feel better. Whether you're car camping in Connemara, backpacking across the Camino, or preparing for a winter mountaineering trip, the temperature rating, insulation type, and packable weight need to match your actual use.
Insulation: down vs synthetic
Down sleeping bags offer the best warmth-to-weight ratio and compress more tightly than any synthetic alternative. For backpacking and technical use, a quality down bag is hard to beat. The trade-off is performance when wet — down loses insulation value when damp, so pairing with a dry bag or sleeping bag liner is recommended. Synthetic bags — like Snugpak's Softie range — retain warmth even when wet, dry faster, and are generally easier to care for. For car camping, festival use, or trips where moisture exposure is higher, synthetic is often the more practical choice.
Temperature ratings
EN 13537 / ISO 23537 ratings give standardised comfort and lower limit figures. Comfort rating reflects a comfortable sleep for a relaxed adult; lower limit is the minimum a person can sleep without feeling cold. We recommend using the comfort rating for your planned conditions, adding a buffer for Ireland's genuinely cold, damp nights.
Frequently Asked Questions
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