When you’re buying outdoor gear, it’s often easy to equate price with value. Arc’teryx, Patagonia, The North Face… sometimes it can feel like shopping for a tent, sleeping bag, or piece of apparel with the most well-known brands in the outdoor world will require you to take out a second mortgage on your house.
Yes, there is something to be said for high-end construction, (and there’s a reason why cutting-edge outdoor athletes don’t get their gear from Walmart). But you don’t always have to shell out an arm and a leg to get a reliable piece of outdoor e, particularly for weekend trips and casual car camping.
If you’re like me, you’ve likely been conditioned to think that a “budget” sleeping bag is in the ~$150 range, and that anything below $100 is probably downright hogfodder. That’s why Retrospec’s new line of “Dream” sleeping bags is such a refreshing surprise.
Available in three variants based on temperature rating (5°, 15°, and 30°), as well as a 25° kids’ bag, the Dream sleeping bags are all well under $100. The Dream 5°, the most expensive of the lineup, runs for just $80, while the Dream 30° summer bag is a mere $60.
Dream 15° is a $70 sleeping bag with outsized features
Yes, there are other sleeping bags out there for sub-$100 prices, but what’s impressive about these Retrospec bags is the technical value they manage to pack into this low price.
These bags are synthetic fill. (They are budget bags, after all.) But they aren’t your typical junky “tube sock,” value brand bags, with no heat retention and not much more warmth than a blanket. These are plush, mummy-style sleeping bags, with a slick, form-fitting shape that leaves very little dead space.
Each sports a draft tube and cinch-able collar to block out the cold, an articulated hood that locks in around the face, an external zippered stash pocket for valuables, and a water-resistant outer shell. They’re also fully machine-washable (one of the few upsides of synthetic fill…)
Yes, you won’t be taking the Dream 5° backpacking anytime soon unless you’re an utter masochist (these are beefy bags, the Dream 5° weighs a whopping five pounds). But for car camping, vanlife and RV-ing, and other outdoor endeavors that don’t require packing your gear in on your back, there is banger value here. It’s nice to be reminded that we can get reliable quality without splitting our wallet in half. I can’t remember the last time I felt this warm in a sub-$100 sleeping bag.
