Review: Mountain Hardwear MegaLamina 20 Two Person Sleeping Bag

The cost of hotels can eat up a trip budget quickly, so we’ve been working on a low cost alternative: car camping. Comfort as well as staying warm on cold nights was a priority, and tired of zipping our bags together it was time for a better solution: a two person bag.

While researching bags we found a number of low cost options available that we considered. However, as a quality sleeping bag stored correctly will offer service for years, we elected to treat the purchase as an investment and spent a bit more, settling on the MegaLamina 20 by Mountain Hardwear.

Mountain Hardware Megalamina bag on a queen sized bed

The MegaLamina is sized for plenty of room. Seen here on a queen sized hotel bed.

The MegaLamina is a double-wide synthetic bag, sized to accommodate two adults. The design of the bag is focused on comfort as opposed to heat retention, so the design is essentially two semi-retangular bags built into one. As our primary use for the bag is for car camping, the double wide cut was an ideal choice, and the size makes for comfortable sleeping in a number of positions.

Most nights started off with moderate temperatures

Waking up in Sedona, Arizona.

The bag features two full-length zippers, which allow ventilation and temperature control. Rated for 20 degrees, the bag uses Mountain Hardwear’s Thermal Q fill, and uses a lightweight nylon shell treated with DWR. We found that in use, this was an important feature. Most nights started off with moderate temperatures, and we heated the vehicle before turning off the engine. As the temperatures dropped below the 20s, We woke up from cold nights in the Arizona desert to find frost covering our windows, and as the sun heated the vehicle, water dripped on to the bag.

A cool morning outside of Las Vegas by Red Rock Canyon.

For cool nights we were concerned that the 20º rating wouldn’t quite be enough to stay warm, so when the temperature dipped below the bag’s ratings, we added blankets and thermal underwear. That proved to be an adequate solution for winter car camping.

The MegaLamina 20 combined with a quality foam pad makes for comfortable sleeping on bike trips.

The size of the bag with one sleeper is pretty awesome, and paired with a foam mattress pad has been an improvement from most hotel beds. We’re hoping to invest in a van this year to take on the road comfort to the next level, and our bag and mattress set up is coming with us. The bag comes with a mesh bag as well as a stuff sack if you need to maximize storage space while traveling.