Down Sleeping Bag

When you love the outdoors and can't resist sleeping outside, you'll want to choose your camping equipment carefully. When you have good equipment, you'll be eager to get out there knowing you'll be comfortable and efficient.

One of your most important pieces of equipment is your sleeping bag. Your sleeping bag will make or break a night's rest and can leave you depleted or ready for new adventures as the sun rises in the morning.

A big component of any sleeping bag is what it is filled with. The choices are either natural down or synthetic fiber. You may never have seriously considered the pros and cons of down, so here's a rundown of some of the major considerations.

A great feature is that a down filled sleeping bag is lighter than any other kind. If you're carrying it on your back for any length of time, this is an important point to consider.

You don't want to burden yourself with unnecessary weight when you're hiking. It will probably be your heaviest item anyway. And a down sleeping bag rolls compactly, which is also important for your backpacking needs.

That's because it compresses more easily than any other material. Given all that, the magic is that it's still warmer than synthetic materials even though it's lighter and more compact.

When you want to get a good, warm night's sleep in areas where the weather turns chilly at night, which it almost always does, down is the filling for you.

Shivering all night is not fun and will leave you miserable instead of exhilerated the next morning! The only drawback to a down filling compressing so well is that it doesn't do great in wet weather.

It can compress if drenched into a mass of next-to-nothing so that you don't have a soft sleeping surface or warmth anymore.

That certainly precludes taking them on a rafting or kayaking trip, but also means they won't be good if you get caught in a downpour. Of course, companies are now manufacturing down bags with waterproof outer coverings so that the inside never gets wet.

That's your best bet to outwit the vaguaries of nature on your camping trip. The other big drawback to down-filled sleeping bags is that they're more expensive in general.

Synthetics are made so readily and cheaply these days that the retail prices for them can be a lot lower than for down. You can always shop carefully and look for sales that will make them comparable in price.

So all things being equal, if you can find a reasonably priced down-filled sleeping bag that has a water resistant or waterproof outer shell, it will be your best bet for camping, hiking, kayaking, or whatever outdoor activity you choose to engage in.

Your backpack will weigh less and you'll have more room inside it. You'll also stay warmer at night with down.