Selk’bag Lite 6G sleeping bag review: sleep in it or wear it

Selk’bag Lite 6G: first impressions

Uniquely brilliant, Selk’bag Lite 6G wearable sleeping bags combine a cosy all-in-one outfit with a good quality kipping cocoon. The result is a perfect solution to cold evenings at the tent, hut or bothy; lightweight bivvying; sleepovers; and regular camping. 

The new Selk’bag Lite 6G is designed to offer maximum comfort and warmth with full freedom of movement. It has full-length arms and legs, a snug hood, and it unzips from neck to waist for easy on/off. There’s a good-sized kangaroo pocket in front that works as a handwarmer or snack stash. A soft-feel polyester outer and hollow-fiber fill feel warm and comfortable to wear. 

Selk’bag suggests the wearable design comes up a couple of degrees colder than a standard sleeping bag of the same weight and fill. But team it up with a good base layer, cinch up the cuffs and hood, and zip on the booties and it’s incredibly cosy. Taking your arms out of the sleeves and sleeping with them next to your body also increases warmth.

Selk’bag Lite 6G: in the field

It’s not hard to imagine the fun our kids had testing these out. They quickly became a firm favorite both inside and outside the tent for play(fight)ing, watching movies and generally putting off getting dressed in the mornings.

But, after a few weeks of more extensive testing, it became clear that Selk’bag’s wearable sleeping bags aren’t really designed as younger children’s sleeping bags. The smallest adult size fits our 10-year-old well (our seven-year-old definitely has some growing to do) but the idea that this is something they’re supposed to sleep in appears to be entirely lost on both of them.

Whether square or tapered, the best sleeping bag with a traditional design offers a gentle but effective means of calming an overexcited child down. Fully zipped up, the most they can do is caterpillar around the tent, which soon gets tiring. Sleeping bags are also deeply associated with sleep – snuggling down at the end of a long day’s adventures is one of the joys we all experience on camping trips. But – at least with our kids – Selk’bags seem to have the opposite effect. 

To be fair, they probably work brilliantly for more chilled-out teens, but the novelty of wearable, warm, padded outfits and everything this enables hasn’t made for particularly restful evenings in the tent. Reading is out and wrestling is in.

In summary, these ingeniously designed suits are perfectly suited to those for whom a relaxed and cosy evening is an essential part of camping. But if you’re camping with younger children, we’d probably suggest sticking with a standard sleeping bag design.