This sleeping bag was expressly designed for use in milder weather. Sure, it can keep you warm even as temps fall into the low 40ºs outside your tent, but it can also help you rest cooler thanks to a dual slider zipper that lets you ventilate a large swath of the bag. Which is important, we know, because we run hot! A large footbox lets your feet move more freely while a zippered internal pocket can be used for securing a phone, headlamp, or snack. And the bag can be laundered and dried without losing its loft or efficacy.

If you are looking for a classic style of sleeping bag in that rectangular shape you know (and love) from sleep away camp, time in the Scouts, or from sleepovers at friends’ houses, this is a great bag for you. And that’s especially true because unlike those cozy but overstuffed behemoths, this sleeping bag is packable and relatively light at 4.2 pounds. It measures 74” by 34” so it will accommodate must adults with ease, and it’s roomy enough for some rolling over. The Wild Aspen 20 is rated for three season use, and zipped open, it’s a good summer sleeping bag.

Finally, a sleeping bag designed for side sleepers. Like some of us at DGR, actually, which is why it’s a favorite. The Sidewinder was designed specifically for the side sleeper, with its shape tapered or widened as needed where an adult’s shoulders or hips will be situated during side sleeping and with the opening to the mummy hood situated to the side of the bag. The zipper stays out of your way, you don’t feel constricted, but you do feel plenty warm and cozy on cooler nights. And as the weather warms (or the tent warms, anyway), you can zip the bag open into more of a shaped blanket.

This is a great sleeping bag for couples to share, even if they don’t share the same sleep temperature preferences, as its individual draft covers let each person control their level of warmth. On chilly nights, you can batten the bag down, as it were, with a snap closure that cuts out the drafty space between the two of you. The bag really is big enough for two adults to not just share but even to move around in a bit as each seeks a comfortable position, yet it’s compact enough to share the warmth. And it only takes up the footprint of two air mats. A pad sleeve on the bottom of the KSB Double secures it to a single large air mat or to a pair of air mattresses. And the KSB Double packs down smaller than two separate sleeping bags would.

The Kids Mistral 30 is as well-made of a sleeping bag as any adult would want, just in kid size. This has been one of our go-to pieces of camping gear for years. It’s rated for 30º temperatures and is small enough for kids as young as three but it’s also big enough for kids up to five feet tall, so will be with you for years. A spacious footbox allows ever-growing feet and toes to wriggle while the soft, lofty synthetic fill keeps bodies warm and cozy on cool nights. On warmer nights, just zip it down and let out the eat.

The Pika Youth 40º is like a classic sleeping bag, as in a rectangular shape instead of a mummy shape, but with a hood added. It allows plenty of wriggle room for littler camper while still letting them snuggle down warm in temps as low as — you guessed it — 40 degrees F. The soft, smooth poly fabric is comfortable against skin or pajamas, and the recycled synthetic fill provides warmth and padding. This is a very affordable yet very cozy kids sleeping bag well-suited to car camping trips, sleepaway camp, sleepovers, or basement camp imaginary play. Oh, and the Pika Youth 40º is a great price, too.

This is a lifetime purchase, this camping blanket. And it’s not just for camping. You will never regret having this soft, warm blanket whether you’re using it on the couch at home, in your folding camp chair while by the fire, or draped over your sleeping bag on a particularly frosty night (in a different season). It’s water-repellent and has a unique “cape clip” that lets you wear your Rumpl like a puffy poncho of sorts.

Just the height of comfort in a camping mattress, this mat from Sea to Summit will be one of the highlights of your kit. It’s heavy, definitely a car camping kind of air mat, but for those campouts, it’s a great choice. It’s thick, soft, and provides great support and insulation, letting you rest easy even on hard, cold ground — or on uneven ground should you have pitched your tent over rocks and roots and such.

This air mat is plenty big to be shared by two adults. Large, comfortable, and supportive, the Double V is also a great size for a parent to share with a kid. Deflated, the air mat packs down to about the size of a soccer ball, so it’s easy to toss in the trunk, to store at home, and even to pack in for a couple miles on the trail, if need be. We find the included inflation bag a bit tricky to use and tend to bring an air pump or just huff away at it, FYI, but however you inflate your Double V, you’ll rest easier for having it.

If you’re looking to go light in terms of gear weight and price, the minimalist EXPED FlexMat pad is a great choice. This closed-cell foam mat is a great choice for thru-hikers to strap onto their packs, bikepackers to strap onto their cycles, or for campers who just appreciate a light (and, again, affordable) sleeping mat. The FlexMat deploys in about a second and folds up in just two or three, and provided you made camp on flat, relatively smooth ground, it and your sleeping bag are all you need for some good shuteye.

This folding, packable cot weighs five pounds but can support sleepers weighing 320 pounds. The Cot One cot tucks into a bag that’s just 21” long and about as thick as a loaf of sliced bread, yet when set up, the cot itself is 75” long by 27” wide, a perfect size for tent sleeping. And as it keeps you up off the cold ground it can keep you warmer, yet the cot can also help you release excess heat and avoid sweating, making it a great choice for camping in seasons prone to variable weather.

A brilliant camping product if there ever were one (and there are so many), the Drift Camp Pillow lets you rest not only in comfort but in cleanliness, which is precious when camping. That’s because it can be quickly “drifted” (more like shaken) into its self-contained water resistant outer shell when you’re not using it, or it can have its soft jersey cotton pillow case folded out and around the memory foam pillow when it’s bedtime. And after the camping trip, you can fully remove the shell for washing.