Women are colder than men – I didn’t believe it at first, but when I camped with a unisex sleeping bag, I experienced this first hand. Talking about chilly body parts, women have much colder feet and hands. Therefore, we need “women’s specific” sleeping bags, that provide extra warmth in the right spots.
I bought my Marmot 600 fill goose down sleeping bag (women’s Teton, 0 degree) in advance of a snow camping trip last year. I wanted a mummy sleeping bag that would keep me nice and cozy in very cold conditions, but I also wanted a bag that I could use year round. Since I bought mine, I’ve taken it from the desert to the mountains, and have never been too cold or too hot!
Some of the features I really love about this sleeping bag:
- Ample room at hips so I can twist and turn a bit. Because this bag is designed for women, it also has more room at the hips rather than the shoulders (just think of women’s bodies versus men’s!), and has extra insulation at the toes and near your hands.
- Stash pocket. Another feature I really like about this goose down sleeping bag is that it has a stash pocket near the top of the chest on the inside, where I can put my earplugs and other essentials. Obviously when I’m in bear country in the summer time I don’t keep anything in there like chapstick – that all goes in my bear canister! 🙂
- Highly compressible and lightweight. It is a 600 fill down bag, so compresses down extremely small, which makes it great for backpacking trips. I stuff mine into a trash compactor bag, then I put it in a compression sack so it gets down to the size of a football. Not many 0 degree sleeping bags can do that!
- Hood has a soft “face muff”. This means that you can have your head enveloped in the warmth of the mummy sleeping bag, but your face won’t be rubbing against any nylon. You can be a sleeping beauty, not a sleeping mummy!
- Glow in the dark zipper pull. It is great to be able to find the zipper in the middle of the night!
- Trapezoidal footbox. When I saw this feature on the specs page, I didn’t appreciate how happy I would be to have the cushion but also warmth around my toes. The trapezoidal shape allows down to fully loft, so it stays nice and fluffy and therefore provides the most insulation.
If you are in need of a cozy, high-tech, super light weight down sleeping bag, then I wholeheartedly recommend the Marmot Women’s Teton goose down sleeping bag. I did my research when I made my purchase, and have been extremely happy with it!
As an aside, when I saw the King Tut exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I couldn’t get my mummy sleeping bag off my mind! Seriously, the sleeping bags all are the shape of an entombed Egyptian royal! At least I can feel like royalty when I’m out in the wilderness.
Great info–I see that the recommended bag is no longer sold. Do you have a second favorite that you like? I am in need of a warm bag and I love the idea of one cut for a women’s figure as the current mummy bags are so narrow. ugg. Off to look up down booties too. I hate hate cold feet.
THANKS!
I am 5’10 and have noticed that many of the woman specific sleeping bags tend to be for woman of much “smaller stature” than myself. I do however have arguably the coldest feet on the planet, so I really like the idea of the female specific bag. As stated above, price range is a problem as I am a single mom of two teenage boys who rival redwoods for size and grizzly bears for appetite, so funds are limited. Suggestions?
very great information…I really impressed to read all that great information.your information is really vry best..
Great question Sybil! Yes in the summer I just unzip it fully, and generally just lay on top of it and I’m fine. A light sheet would be nice if you have space in your backpack. I tend to do most of my backpacking in the mountains, and it is fairly cool there at night even in the summers. I’ve used this Marmot Teton sleeping bag in Joshua Tree several times too and I just keep it fully unzipped. Happy trails!
Hi Hiking Lady! You said you use this bag year round without getting too hot. How do you use it in the summer? Do you just lay on top of it with a sheet over you? Sorry, I’m very new to all this, ha!
Hi Anita!
I use the big mesh bag…it is best that you keep your sleeping bags aired out to keep the loft in the down. Definitely don’t store your sleeping bag in a stuff sack! The ideal thing is to actually have it hanging in a closet…I just don’t have space for that.
Happy backpacking!
Thank you for the great tip Hiking Lady!! 🙂 Unfortunately Big Agnes products are seldom available here across the pond (i.e. Germany), so on your recommendation I decided to go for a Marmot model. The Teton was a bit out of my price range, so I went for another (I think previous season/year) model, the Angel Fire. There isn’t a whole lot of room in it, but boy is it comfy! When I tried it out, I ended up staying in it for 45 minutes…..it was just too nice and cosy to get out of! 😉 So my first impression is definitely very very positive!!
Just one question….how do you store yours? Mine came in this gigantic mesh bag. I heard that this is better as it helps to maintain the loft of the bag. I just don’t know whether to fold it and put it in the meshg bag or stuff it like you would into a stuff sack? What do you think?
Great question, Anita! We definitely need to do a Hiking 101 section on sleeping bags. The brand that you should look at is called Big Agnes. They are designed with wide footboxes and have a more rectangular shape throughout the body. I think one of their bags would be really comfortable for you. I really like my Marmot bag, but it is narrow. Because the Big Agnes sleeping bags are a bit wider than other mummy bags they’ll take up a bit more room in your backpack, so be sure to keep that in mind and make sure you get a good compression stuff sack to be able to compress it down as much as possible. Happy trails, and thank you for the excellent question! 🙂
Hi there,
I wasn’t really sure where to post this question….hope it’s OK to do it here! 🙂
I’m also thinking of getting a sleeping-bag to go with my Deva60 backpack, but I tend to sleep in weird positions and so would really prefer one with a wide (square) footbox. Any chance you could recommend a decent one? Thanks! 🙂
Yael,
I have a Deva 60 and a Marmot Women’s Teton 0 bag. I don’t even use a stuff sack and mine fits nicely in the lower pack compartment. I just stuff it in and go!
Hi Yael,
Yes, it fits…but you’ll need a compression sack. This is the one I use – it is 8×19 inches: https://hikinglady.com/reviews/gear-reviews/compression-stuff-sack-for-sleeping-bag/
Here’s more info on compression sacks:
https://hikinglady.com/hiking/how-do-i-know-what-size-stuff-sack-to-get-for-my-sleeping-bag/
Have fun backpacking!
does your marmot sleeping bag fit in the deva60 bag with no problem?
i recently bought the deva60 bag and now am debating on which sleeping
bag to buy. i’ve read many reviews and found that the teton is highly
recommended (on your site and others).
before i finalize the purchase i want to make sure that it will fit in
the bag in the sleeping bag area. also, i assume it will fit after i
use the compression sack?
thanks!!!