Need Advice on Winter Sleeping Bag Length

I'm planning to buy a winter sleeping bag (-20º) and I'm not sure if I should get a regular or long... I'm 5'11" 175lbs. Main use will be for overnight and extended winter climbing trips. Will also see some general winter camping use.

Pro's of a long bag are to keep gear warm in the bottom of the bag.
Con's are extra size and weight.

Big question is will it be colder having 6+ inches of extra space at the bottom of the bag.

Don't have much experience with this at all myself, so I'm looking for any suggestions/advice. Thanks!

I'm 5'9" and 185lbs and I have plenty of room in a normal length bag. If I were you, I wouldn't get a long bag or a -20F. For me, 0F and the clothes that I carry with me are plenty. I've slept in a Marmot Couloir at -30F (but I was in a tent). It was plenty warm.

If you are set on getting a warmer bag, I have a Marmot CWM -40F for sale. It's in great shape and I'll sell it cheap.

I'm 5'5" and got a regular length (6') 0F bag for a couple mountaineering trips this year. Lots of foot space for water, fuel and electronics at the foot, but my feet definitely got cold unless I filled that space with some extra layers, too.

Not sure if you do this but, we used to put our boots in a plastic garbage bag at the bottom of our sleeping bag to keep them from freezing. The extra length bag was nice to have.

And hot water in a Nalgene bottle inside your sleeping bag was almost as good as a woman ;)

I would also recommend getting a Long, so that you have room for boots, fuel, water, layers, etc. that you want to keep warm at night.

But as mentioned, you will need to try to keep this space filled to prevent a big pocket of air robbing you of some warmth.

I am 6' and about 165lbs. I was young and inexperienced when I purchased my long -20 bag - I had visions of exposed bivys and long cold nights with everything I owned stuffed around me. While that happened (mostly due to me being young and inexperienced) I would have been just fine with a regular sized bag - probably even warmer. If you can go into a store and try out a few, that's best. If you can fit comfortably in a regular then go for that.

just my 2 cents

Your body will have to heat the extra internal volume. Sleeping bag manufacturers try to reduce the dead space in sleeping bags and you're trying to increase it. Just buy a bag that fits you, all of the extra stuff you want to put in it will still fit.

OldManRiver wrote:...accommodate a cold dog...

I would not go with the long one. I am 5'1" and froze in all sleeping bags, no matter the temperature or rating until I purchased a Feathered Friends women's bag for people 5'3" and under. A bag must fit you in order to be warm, otherwise you will never be able to heat the dead air space around you. I've noticed this with bags that are too wide as well.

I don't know about all manufacturer's, but my -10deg FF seems to be more spacious than my 20deg FF and I can fit a lot of gear into it. I also put gear along the side of my body.

Maybe you should go to a store and lay in the bag and see what gear you can fit in the bag with you?

OldManRiver wrote: my dog digs under covers and into sleeping bags. He's a glutton for warmth, I've woken up to him pushing me out of my own sleeping bag from the feet out.

I too would suggest a long (that is after you go to the store and try out some bags just to make sure) You can always fold the extra length under you to reduce the dead space. I am 6' and while I would fit in a regular bag, I like keeping extra layers in the foot of the bag. Also my western mountaineering ultra lite long is only 2oz heavier than the regular.