Exped
Exped Ultra 30
No citable owner-review average published for this one, so no stars.
The widest honesty gap in this catalogue, and the reason the gap is worth measuring at all: this bag is sold as a 30 and its published ISO comfort figure is 43 °F. Thirteen degrees. Exped is not hiding it — they print comfort, limit and extreme side by side on the product page, which is more than most brands do — but a buyer reading the name and not the table will be cold on a 35-degree night. Taken on its real numbers it is a very good summer bag: 22.5 ounces, 850-fill RDS down, a 10-denier recycled shell and a shoulder girth of 58 inches with a wide option at 64.
Label against lab
Sold as a 30 °F bag; its ISO 23537 comfort rating is 43 °F, which is 13 °F warmer than the name suggests. Plan around the comfort figure, not the label. Why the gap exists
At that temperature the pairing table wants at least an R 2 pad underneath it.
Size run
One product, 3 sizes. The headline numbers on this page describe the M.
| Size | Weight | Approx. price | Length | Shoulder girth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 1 lb 5 oz | ~$400 | 77 in | 58 in |
| M | 1 lb 6.5 oz | ~$400 | 80 in | 58 in |
| MW | 1 lb 8.5 oz | ~$400 | 80 in | 64 in |
Specifications
Highlights
Features
- ISO or EN rated
- RDS down
- Draft collar
- Half-length zipper
- Wide option
- Recycled fabric
What it does well
- Publishes comfort (43 °F), limit (34 °F) and extreme (7 °F) side by side, which is full disclosure even though the headline number flatters it.
- 22.5 ounces for a hooded down bag with 850-fill RDS down.
- A genuine wide option at 64-inch shoulder girth, and published girth figures for every size.
- Recycled bluesign-approved 10-denier shell.
- Same price in every size, including the wide.
What it costs you
- The 30 in the name is thirteen degrees off the ISO comfort figure — the largest gap in this catalogue.
- The down is not treated with a hydrophobic finish, which matters more on a bag this light.
- 10-denier shell is fragile.
- $400 for what is, on the lab numbers, a 43-degree summer bag.
Those two lists are drawn from Exped’s published specifications and from reviews that measured them. They are not owner sentiment — anything owners said appears under its own heading below.
What owners say
No owner discussion has been collected for the Exped Ultra 30 yet. The pros and cons above come from Exped’s published specifications and from reviews that measured them — nothing on this page claims owners said anything. How that works.
Exped Ultra 30, head to head
Others in the same band
More from Exped →REI Co-op
REI Co-op Magma 15
The Magma is the bag most people who compare specs end up buying, and the numbers explain why: 850-fill down, 23.3 ounces of it, an ISO comfort rating of 21 °F and an ISO lower limit of 9 °F, for $399. That is a genuinely six-degrees-warmer comfort figure than the 15 in the name, which is the opposite direction from almost every other bag in this catalogue — REI named the bag closer to its limit than its comfort and then published both, which is the honest way round.
Best for: Backpackers who want the best published numbers per dollar
Full spec sheet
NEMO
NEMO Riff 15
The Disco's trimmer, more expensive sibling: the same Spoon silhouette and the same Thermo Gills in a narrower cut with 800-fill down instead of 650. That buys four ounces and half a litre of pack space for $100. Whether that is a good trade depends entirely on how far you are carrying it — for a weekend it is not, for a long trail it very much is.
Best for: Side sleepers going long enough that four ounces matters
Full spec sheet
Therm-a-Rest
Therm-a-Rest Boost 650 20
Six sizes, three lengths in two widths, which is more fit choice than almost any other bag here offers and the reason the Boost is worth a look for anyone who has been cold in a standard mummy because they couldn't fill it — or trapped in one because they overfilled it. The Wide versions add eleven or twelve inches of shoulder girth, which is a genuinely different bag rather than a token option. The tradeoff is 650-fill down and 43 ounces in the Regular: heavy for backpacking, entirely reasonable for a bag that gets used a dozen nights a year.
Best for: Sleepers who have never found a mummy bag that fits
Full spec sheet