ProView – Sierra Designs Night Cap 35°

The Women’s Night Cap 35 degree bag is the ideal sleeping bag for summer camping. With a zipperless design and overlapped foot vent, this bag allows you to customize your temperature level for maximum comfort. The price and weight make this bag accessible to new campers and backpackers, or those looking to get into the outdoors on a budget. 

Since becoming increasingly environmentally conscious these past few years, I’ve thought about trying a synthetic sleeping bag, but never believed that they could really compare to their down-filled counterparts. After my experience with the Night Cap Synthetic Cloud, however, I am sold on the synthetic bag. With great features, accurate temperature rating, and serious comfort, the Night Cap Synthetic Cloud was a dream to use car camping in Colorado summertime.

Fit/Comfort

I tested the regular size Night Cap, and at 5’2 (small to x-small range), I found this bag to be very roomy. Plenty of space to roll side to side without feeling restricted or confined. The zipperless collar allowed me to feel free and comfortable in this bag, and never felt trapped or wrapped up. Additionally, I enjoyed the bag’s soft and gentle fabric, and the weight of the bag nestled around me.

Performance

This bag may have convinced me that synthetic bags are the way to go! For how thin the bag felt upon first unpacking it, it was incredibly comfortable and warm! I used this bag camping in Colorado, below treeline. The lowest temperatures I took this bag out in were low 40’s, which the comfort rating for women is 39 degrees, and I found myself to be a very comfortable temperature. This bag is great for car-camping, or camping in your car! I would even bring this bag backpacking in the warm summer months as well. All of the advertised features (zipperless, foot vent, pad sleeve) really did improve my overall experience and made this bag a surprising success. 

Features

The sleeping pad sleeve on the underside of the bag is a really great feature! I fit my Big Agnes Insulated Air Core (20” wide) into the sleeve no problem and I had absolutely no issues with the pad sliding around, which was awesome! No more sliding up and down my pad all night. I also love the zipperless design. With my other sleeping bags, pretty much anytime I zip or unzip the bag the zipper gets caught, but with the Night Cap I can get in and out with ease. The flap that you tuck in around you is quite large, allowing for a lot of room for movement when tucked in, and it feels more like I am sleeping at home under a comforter rather than in a sleeping bag. The flap also allows for more flexibility with how covered you wish to be based on temperature. Speaking of flexibility, three cheers for the foot vent! What a great addition to the bag! The foot vent is designed perfectly so that it is easy for a foot to escape out, but once drawn back in it seals back up automatically. I also found it useful if I needed to get up but didn’t want to get out of my bag. I was able to pop my feet out, slip my shoes on, and walk about, while still in my bag. Score! 

Weight/ Packability

The regular length bag comes in at 2lb 3.7 oz, which for a 35-degree bag is slightly heavy, and doesn’t pack down quite as well as its down-filled competitors. However, for its price and perks, this bag is both a reasonable size and weight.

Durability/Construction

The synthetic material proved to be durable and comfortable. I love that it is made out of recycled bottles! So cool! The outer fabric of the bag felt more durable than my other down-filled bags, and I was happy to not have the worry of looking for any escaping feathers. I have a feeling this bag will last for many seasons to come.

Room for Improvement

My only real wish is that the bag had a way to secure the flap so you could keep it tighter around you on a colder night. Although the hood does have a cinch cord to help keep your head and face warm, it would be nice to have a button or velcro to keep the flap in place.

Final Word

I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a summertime camping bag or a summertime backpacker on a budget! This bag had far more features than I expected for its price, and it outperformed my every expectation. If you’re camping in the summer, below treeline, in Colorado, this bag will fit your every need.

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