When you want to cosy up with your partner on an adventure, a two-person or double sleeping bag is probably your best option. Sharing one sleeping bag ain’t doable. Neither is unzipping two and laying them on top of you. C’mon, we’ve all tried it.

From spring through to autumn double sleeping bags certainly make for a convenient, cosy way to share a night out together, and they’re especially suited to car camping or living ‘the Vanlife’.

Related: Best Backpacks For Hiking

The problem with many double person sleeping bags we’ve seen in the past is that they haven’t quite offered the thermal efficiency needed for proper hiking and camping in the wild. Unlike a single sleeping bag where you can hunker down and close up any gaps, with two people alongside each other in a double sleeping bag, heat is able to escape between your heads. Fortunately there are some options out there that have found a solution to this. You’ll see some of them below in this test.

How To Choose The Best Double Sleeping Bag

When choosing the best double sleeping bag, you need to consider all of the same factors that you would with a normal, single person one.

The majority of double sleeping bag options out there are made for campervan touring, and these might not be suitable for a cold night under canvas. It’s therefore important to always check temperature ratings to understand whether a bag will be up to scratch for the conditions you’re going to be taking on.

Also consider the materials. With down sleeping bags you generally get excellent thermal efficiency at a low carry weight, while with synthetic insulated sleeping bags, which are often heavier and not as warm as down ones, you can usually rely on the fill to still keep you warm even if it gets wet – something normal down can’t offer. That said, there are down options out there that come with a hydrophobic treatment to get around this problem. In the end it’s horses for courses when it comes to choosing between fill types.

If you plan to carry a double sleeping bag on a hike, one big thing to consider is that most of them cannot be split into two and therefore one person will have to bear the weight themselves. If it can be split up, keep in mind that it will likely mean there are more zips involved and therefore more areas where heat can escape. It’s another catch 22 and you need to weigh up the pros and cons with your hike and the conditions in mind.
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Best Double Sleeping Bags 2023

• Big Agnes Dream Island – Best Double Sleeping Bag
• Nemo Tango Duo
• Coleman Hampton Double
• The North Face Dolomite Double
• Therm-a-Rest Dorado Duo HD
• Outwell Campion Lux Double
• Coleman Basalt Double

BEST BUY: Big Agnes Dream Island

Price: $270
Weight: 3.43kg
Best for: Campsites, wild camping
Key attributes: Warmth, technical performance

This is the the god of all double sleeping bags. They should all be made like this. Why? Because it offers all the obvious benefits of a double sleeping bag but with the same technical and warmth maximising features of a solo bag. It’s a synthetic insulated option, made using 50% post-consumer recycled polyester, with an optional divider down the middle of the hood so each of the inhabitants can cinch in and get rid of that gap where heat can be lost. There’s also a sleeve on the base where one big sleeping mat or two standard size ones can be slipped in. At 3.43kg, it’s not too hefty a weight either for a three-season option.

Nemo Tango Duo

Price: $300
Weight: 3.34kg
Best for: Campsites, off-grid camping
Key attributes: Sleeping mat integration, built-in pillow top, warm

There’s some good thought put into this synthetic insulated double sleeping bag by U.S. brand Nemo. Take, for instance, the fact it can be fully integrated with two sleeping mats or one full 50 incher. Then there’s the addition of a built-in pillow top and a clever blanket fold that will allow each of the inhabitants to properly tuck themselves in to minimise heat loss. Its temperature rating for comfort limit is -7C.

Coleman Hampton Double

Price: £59.95
Weight: 4.55kg
Best for: Car camping, campervanning
Key attributes: Superb price

With its optimum comfort temperature of +6C and limit of +1C this is more of a campervan camping-type option rather than something for sleeping out in. It’s also on the heavy side so you wouldn’t really want to be sticking this in your backpack. But priced at about £76, depending on current offers online, it’s a useful option to consider if you’re not in the market for anything high spec.

The North Face Dolomite Double

Price: $170
Weight: 4.47kg
Best for: Campsites, car camping, campervanning
Key attributes: Warm, well-priced, good temperature rating

Harnessing the same design features as some of their popular solo sleeping bag designs, this option from The North Face is a double bag that will certainly do the job for any three-season use in the great outdoors. It’s all thanks to its lofty Heatseeker synthetic fill which is made from 30% post-consumer recycled polyester and has a temperature comfort limit rating of -7C. While it might not be as light as the Big Agnes (which has a similar temperature rating) it’s a fair bit lower in price.

Therm-a-Rest Dorado Duo HD

Price: £225
Weight: 1kg (single bag)
Best for: Camping, wild camping
Key attributes: Versatility, hydrophobic down

This is a bit different to the other double sleeping bags on this list. That’s because it’s not necessarily a two-person sleeping bag, but a single option that can be transformed into a two-person quilt. You can also combine it with a second Dorado bag and two sleeping mats to make for a proper two-person lightweight sleep system for summer use (comfort limit of 2C). What’s more it uses a Nikwax treated down that will be able to repel any moisture it comes into contact with.

Outwell Campion Lux Double

Price: £65.99
Weight: 2.5kg
Best for: Camping, campervanning
Key attributes: Lightweight, bargain price, good warmth-to-weight

The Lux Double from Outwell is a good value option that’s suited to campervan nights or for camping in temperatures not reaching below -1C. At 2.5kg that’s also a pretty decent warmth-to-weight ratio. There’s not much in the way of technical details, it’s just one of those does-the-job synthetic options. And we like it.

Coleman Basalt Double

Price: £99
Weight: 4kg
Best for: Campsites, campervanning
Key attributes: Lightweight, bargain price, good warmth-to-weight

An impressive -5C comfort limit rating comes courtesy of a whopping 2.3kg of synthetic insulation – making this bag lovely and cosy. It has a long and wide rectangular shape providing adequate room for two, and you get some nifty features including two phone pockets and an integrated head rest. If the temperature rises, the 360-degree zips can be opened to increase ventilation so you don’t overheat.