Teton Sports Trailhead 20 Sleeping Bag Review

Bottom Line

The Teton Sports Trailhead 20 is far from a serious backpacking sleeping bag. But it absolutely crushes the barrier of entry to backpacking with its incredibly affordable price point. 

On the upside, the Trailhead 20 is thoughtfully constructed with a cinchable hood, a zipper that doesn’t snag, and even an interior stash pocket. However, it’s not the warmest bag. We only recommend it for mild summer conditions, but it’ll easily take the edge off a chilly summer night.

And when it comes to comfort, it feels more like a wearable blanket that’s tough to slide into and is slightly constricting. But once you’re in, the bag heats up quickly and moves with you as you roll around.

After testing this bag in freezing temperatures in Colorado, it clearly doesn’t hold up next to high-quality sleeping bags. If superior backpacking gear is what you’re after, head over to our full guide to backpacking sleeping bags. But if you’re on a shoestring budget or backpacking-curious, keep reading, my friend.

How We Tested

We tested the Teton Sports Trailhead 20 on overnight car camping and on short backpacking trips in the Colorado Rockies that were far too cold for this bag. We compared this budget bag’s warmth, comfort, packability, and overall usability side-by-side with sleeping bags of every caliber.

Warmth

The Teton Sports Trailhead 20 is a budget sleeping bag best reserved for summer and mild conditions. Although it has “20” in the name, it’s only rated down to temperatures between 40 and 50ºF. We tested it out in freezing temps just to make sure, and can confirm that it’s not a winter- or shoulder-season bag.

The bag features a modest amount of synthetic insulation and feels more like a full-body sweatshirt than a high-loft sleeping bag. The snug fit helps reduce excess air space, which slightly improves heat retention by limiting the volume your body has to warm up. The synthetic material means that if it gets wet, it’ll retain some of its heat better than down. If moisture gets in, the bag maintains more of its insulating ability, which can be useful in humid or wet environments.

Comfort

Comfort isn’t the Teton Sports Trailhead 20’s strong suit. It’s pretty narrow and gives the feel of a “wearable blanket”. Once you’re inside and settled, it works well, although we find that the material takes a little more wiggling to slide into than slippery, ultralight shell fabrics and can feel clingy depending on your baselayer for the night. We don’t recommend this bag for larger people or those who prefer more room to spread out. On the upside, the bag does move with you when you roll from side to side.

Weight & Packability

Despite its synthetic material and low price, the Teton Sports Trailhead 20 actually isn’t the heaviest bag on our list. It’s by no means ultralight. But it also doesn’t feel overly burdensome compared to similar entry-level options.

It also packs down impressively small for the material (probably because there’s not much of it). A compression sack would help, but we generally found no use for it, as the bag, in its included stuff sack, fits comfortably in most medium- to large-backpacks.

Features

The Teton Sports Trailhead 20 partially makes up for its limited performance in other areas with a surprisingly well-thought-out set of features for a budget sleeping bag. For one, the zipper doesn’t snag at all. The lack of ultralight fabric, combined with the webbing zipper liner, allows it to easily glide back and forth. 

This bag even comes with an interior stash pocket — something that even expensive ultralight sleeping bags sometimes lack. The hood features a simple drawcord that allows you to cinch it down on colder nights for a tighter, more secure fit around the head. On the exterior, multiple hanging loops at the footbox make it easier to air the bag out.

Should You Buy the Teton Sports Trailhead 20?

If you just read our review of the Teton Sports Trailhead 20, you may be asking yourself how this made it onto a ‘best of’ list of backpacking sleeping bags. Well, the answer is cost. We recognize that backpacking has a financial barrier to entry, and the Trailhead 20 is the cheapest option we’ve found that’ll let you get into the great outdoors, as long as conditions are mild.

It’s warm enough to take the edge off of a summer night’s chill and isn’t so heavy and bulky that you’ll feel like you’re hauling a ton of bricks up the mountain. It’s even sensibly designed, with a zipper that doesn’t snag, a stash pocket, and a cinchable hood.

Obviously, this isn’t a premium option, and it’s not meant to be. If you can afford a better bag, we recommend making the investment. But for folks on a super tight budget, or anyone interested in getting into backpacking, the Trailhead 20 will at least get you out there.

What Other Backpacking Sleeping Bags Should You Consider?

For more budget picks as well as premium ultralight options, be sure to check out the full list of our favorite backpacking sleeping bags. 

Kelty Cosmic Down 20 Review: The Cosmic Down 20 is the most affordable down sleeping bag on our list. It’s lightweight, high-quality, and punches well above its weight in overall performance.

Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 20 Review: As the next most affordable synthetic bag, the Elite Eco 20 retains all the benefits of synthetic insulation while keeping you much warmer than the Trailhead 20. This bag is designed for 3-season use in very wet conditions.

Exped Terra 15 Review: The Terra 15 is another affordable down sleeping bag. It excels mostly due to its intuitive feature set and will keep you toasty warm with a comfort rating of 25ºF.