Hey all you couples who sleep together on the tour - how do you do it?

Upon noticing that Exped now makes double-width sleeping pads I started dreaming about also having a shared sleep cover . I did some reading and choices seem to be a double sleeping bag (affordable) or a double quilt (expensive). Anyone here with experience about either or both?

I have no experience on using a quilt (single or duo) but I would think it is nicer in warmer climates as it is easier to regulate temperature by just flicking it open or sticking a foot out? Nice quilts seem really expensive tho compared to the BA synth bag, especially when combined with the price of a new pad.

Dunno, I reckon most people sleep at different temperatures, I know myself and my partner do, plus I'm known to starfish on the odd occasion. We ended up buying North Face Campforters, a sort of hybrid sleeping bag quilt thingo...

Some sleeping bags are designed to zip flat (zip open around the toes), and then have two identical (or similar) sleeping bags zip together to make a monster sized bag. Then to pack, just zip apart and pack individually.

Theoretically you could have one thin and one thick bag, and choose which you wish for the top depending on conditions.

We like different sleep setups so we each have our own sleeping bags and mattresses.

My wife likes the notion of touring, but from past hiking experiences she's not very enthusiastic about sleeping in a sleeping bag, on the ground, in a tent. However to answer your question, we had our separate bags and mats. If I could get her to buy back into camping while touring, I'd surely get her a quilt because they are so much better for 3-season camp in my opinion.

When I was touring with someone we had out separate bags and pads. I am 6'2" and she is 5', so anything double would have added useless weight and bulk.

We use two rectangular sleeping bags that we can zip together. One is older and the down has been crushed so it is not as warm. This allows us to decide which bag goes on top depending on the temperature. We just lay our two themarest pads next to each other. This setup also allows us to use the pads and bags separately.

In the past, I've used matching sleeping bags that can zip together. Not top-bottom, but left-right (they had zippers on opposite sides). Works well.

I always figured a two-person sleeping bag or quilt would weigh less than two one-person bags, but strangely, that's not the case. And it's generally easier to pack two small things instead of one big thing, so it's hard to see an advantage to two-person bags/quilts.

There is one advantage....

From a general camping perspective, always my own bag and pad these days. Years back, in college, my then GF and I used those zip together systems for a camping trip, and I hated every minute of it. Easy enough to move around on a queen bed with a quilt, being constrained in that bag was simply a nightmare.

Is it more enjoyable if you use intercoms?

It depends on the length and scope of the tour, as well as your relationship. If it's a long adventure, and there's a chance one partner may need to cancel or opt out and the other may wish to carry on with the other's support, don't carry double bedding. This has happened on multi-month trips my wife and I have taken over the years.

Well, you can talk about it during the day, either in anticipation or reminiscing, done that before...

Using an intercom? A true romantic you are.

It depends on theach partner, the mood, and sometimes the weather.

Good advice. Having split sleeping setups increases redundancy. That does mean added weight, but it also means if one of you gets lost / drops from the ride etc you still have a sleeping setup. If you're already sharing other essential gear between bikes (tents, food, water, cooking supplies) then sharing you sleeping setup is an option to up the coziness and decrease weight.

My SO and I have a very nice (and yes, very expensive joint Xmas gift) 2-person quilt we use for 3-season backpacking. At 1.7lbs it is less than many good single-person sleeping bags. We each have our own sleeping mat underneath based on our own sleeping preferences. We've found that we didn't need a bag rated for as low of temps because of the extra body warmth.

It works for us, saves a few lbs in gear weight and makes for a cozier time. Frankly on a bike tour another 2 or 3lbs bothers me less than it does backpacking. So as with all camping sleep related things, YMMV.

Gotta be better than shouting and waving your arms around...

If that's not happening than you ain't doin' it right.

I meant compared to zipping two together! That keeps all the "advantages" of a two-person, along with equal or lower weight and better packability.

My wife and I both have sleeping bags from the same brand that can zip together, but don't have to zip together.

As you investigate sleeping bags, you'll find that nearly all high-end Men's bags are left zip and nearly all high-end Women's bags are right zip. (Much to my right-handed chagrin.)

Back in 1988 as my wife and I were planning a longish tour on our just-being-built tandem, we went into a Marmot store in Berkeley. They sold us a nice rectangular down sleeping bag and a sheet that zipped to it which securely held two pads. The bag has multiple zippers so that one can open one or both foot//feet section(s) and stick a foot out. That's what we've used since then, except that we lost the sheet and had to make our own replacement and we've had the bag relofted once. (Marmot did it for free.)

One big advantage is that this one bag packs nice and small, which saves room. You really don't need as much bag when there's two bodies in it. There's also a small weight savings in having only one bag (the sheet weighs about nothing). As mentioned by others, there are additional benefits to such a sleeping arrangement.

We have two Big Agnes bags that zip together. Mine is long and her is regular length but we sleep even - head and shoulders. Our BA bags have no bottom insulation and rely entirely on the air mattress, which slide into sleeves, for ground insulation. Both bags are designed to be used separately as well as zipped together so no need for a separate sleeping system for couples. A plus to the BA design is you can’t roll off (be pushed off) the mattresses in the middle of the night.

Never seen that configuration. All I've seen are left/right-specific bags which zips together at the middle.


With the traditional mummy-style hood, a top/bottom configuration would lead to fairly strange profile at the top.

I've tried sleeping bags that zips together. It's OK, or even nice when it's fairly warm. But when it gets cold, my experience is that you lose more heat from not being able to close up at the top particularly well than you gain from the shared space. For warmth it's better to snuggle up in separate bags than to vent like a chimney from a shared bag.


Unless you have some custom arrangement with separate, sealable hoods and a shared body space.

Perhaps it is an older style.

A quick web search turned up:
https://www.rei.com/product/895333/t...0-sleeping-bag
https://www.rei.com/product/895337/t...0-sleeping-bag



It isn't completely clear if the "double" is the same as two of the "singles", but one could test the zip-together in the store.

Likely other similar bags too.