Shopping for gear can feel pretty intimidating. The outdoor industry has its own lingo, which can be hard to decipher. Here are explanations of a few sleeping bag terms.
People will look at you funny, don't worry about it. You are funny.
To Comfort rating: Comfort ratings are tricky. If a bag is rated to 15 degrees, not every sleeper will actually be warm at this temperature. In particular, women tend to sleep colder than men, so a bag rating may not be applicable to both genders. All of this points towards comfort ratings being subjective. To combat this, the European Norm was developed. REI has been an early adopter of this standard, so when you buy one of their bags, you are getting a more accurate comfort rating.
Draft tube: A draft tube runs along the side of a zipper with added insulation to prevent heat loss.
Shell: You probably guessed this one already. The shell is the outside of the sleeping bag. One thing to consider is the level of water resistance. Keeping a down bag dry is very important because it will lose its warmth when wet. However, highly water resistant bags can be less breathable.
Down fill power: Sleeping bags keep you warm by trapping air in pockets that minimize heat loss. The more loft a bag has, the more efficient it is in trapping this air. Now, fill power refers to the quality of down used in a bag. Higher fill power has more loftiness, which means that it costs more but weighs less. Because lower fill down has less loft, it takes more of it to create the same level of warmth, so lower fill down tends to weigh more but cost less.
Lining: The lining of a bag is not terribly important. I recommend using seperate liner, as it prolongs the life of your bag.
Pad loops: Pad loops wrap around the bottom of your sleeping pad so that you don’t slip off or shift during the night.
Trapezoidal footbox: Traditional footboxes are square or rectangular. They can be uncomfortable because they force your feet to stay straight while you are sleeping. A trapezoidal footbox allows more room for your feet and accomodates more positions. Some companies call a similar design a vaulted footbox.
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