Top Sleeping Bags, Quilts & Pads on the Appalachian Trail (2025 Thru-Hiker Survey)

Here’s what 279 AT thru-hikers actually slept in during 2025 — the top sleeping bags, quilts, and pads on the Appalachian Trail, ranked by real survey data.

Sleep systems are arguably the most important gear choice you have; staying warm and getting enough comfortable sleep on a thru-hike are high priorities for most of us.

As always, we’ll look at the top choices of Appalachian Trail long-distance hikers in 2025, talk about the most popular brands and models, and wrap up with some takeaways from the data.

This year, we received 279 responses from the AT Class of 2025. If you’re using this as a resource to help plan your 2026 AT hike, make sure to sign up to take the survey yourself next year! Hit the button below to be notified when the 2026 AT Thru-Hiker Survey opens for submissions so you can help the Class of 2027 in their trail planning.

Sign Up to Take the 2026 AT Thru-Hiker Survey!

Sleeping Bags and Backpacking Quilts

Once again, we see well over half of the long-distance hikers on the AT choosing to use a quilt instead of a sleeping bag. We’ve written about the main differences between these two systems before, and it seems that more and more hikers are finding comfort and warmth in quilts. The percent of people using a standard quilt (58%) is up from 2024 (53%), and 67% of respondents used a quilt in some capacity (e.g. as part of a hammock setup). 

Underquilts are primarily used by hammock sleepers as a source of insulation under their body; 8% of hikers used an underquilt with their hammock setup, which is more than double the number from the previous year (3%). 

About a third of hikers (33%) chose to use a full sleeping bag.

READ NEXT – 2024 Thru-Hiker Survey: Top Sleeping Bags, Quilts, and Pads on the Appalachian Trail in 2024

We’ve been tracking quilt use and how much it’s grown for almost a decade now. Hammockers adopted quilts before most tent users and remain more likely to use a quilt to this day. However, the gap has gotten smaller over time as more and more tent users realize quilts are lighter, less constricting, and for many people, still plenty warm for their needs.

This year 72% of hammockers and 63% of tent users picked a quilt as their sleep system. It is important to note that there are many fewer hammockers than tent users in our survey, which could skew the data. 

While quilt usage among tent campers spiked sharply after 2019, growth has become asymptotic over the last few years. Only time will tell if quilt usage continues to grow or stay constant.

Switching and Replacements

Of course we asked hikers about the temperature rating of their quilt or bag, and recorded the temperature ratings of starting bags and quilts along with the temperature ratings of the gear hikers finished with. The average starting temperature was 22.3℉ while the average temperature ratings respondents finished with was 34.0℉.

One important note: The vast majority of survey responses come from NoBo hikers, who typically start in much colder temperatures earlier in the year. Most hikers swapping bags did so as the weather warmed throughout their hikes, and most switched to a less-insulated bag.

Finally, we asked hikers about the lowest temperatures they experienced in their sleeping bags. The average low temperature endured in their starting bag was 27℉, compared to 31℉ for the bag they finished with.

We also asked hikers about the type of insulation they chose for their sleeping bag or quilt. Natural down was the most popular choice as usual, with 70% opting for down. Synthetic fill and water-resistant dri-down were also common choices. 

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing between natural down or synthetic insulation; we’ve discussed the topic in the past, and this distribution has stayed fairly constant over the past few years.

Sleeping Pads

As per usual, inflatable pads were the most popular type of sleeping pad among hikers, with 74.5% of responds choosing them. Foam pads are the next most popular option at 13%, which is consistent with last year’s numbers. 7.5% of hikers used a combination of foam and inflatable pad, and 6% used none. The vast majority of the hikers not using a sleeping pad were hammock campers.

When asked about replacing sleeping pads, over two thirds of respondents said they used the same sleeping pad throughout the entirety of their hikes. 22% needed to replace theirs, but stayed with the same type (for example, swapping from an insulated pad to another insulated pad). Only 11% of hikers needed to change their sleeping pad and opted to change the type of pad they used.

Most Popular Brands and Models

Finally, we asked hikers about their favorite model of sleeping bag or quilt and sleeping pad. Let’s get started with the bags and quilts!

Enlightened Equipment is once again the top brand, and the Enlightend Equipment Revelation specifically was the top model by a huge margin. All the top brands and their popular models are listed below, followed by a table summarizing the top models. We asked hikers to rate their satisfaction with their gear on a scale of 1 to 10 this year, and that satisfaction rating is also included in the table below.

Top Quilts and Sleeping Bags on the Appalachian Trail

Top Sleeping Bag and Quilt Models

Quilts	Rank	Model	Responses	Satisfaction (Out of 10)
	1	Enlightened Equipment Revelation	50	9.3
	2	Enlightened Equipment Enigma	35	9.0
	3	Katabatic Flex	9	9.7
	4	Hammock Gear Burrow	8	9.5
Sleeping Bags
	1	REI Magma	12	8.9
	2	NEMO Disco	6	9.53
	3	Zpacks Classic Sleeping Bag	3	8.3

Top Sleeping Bag and Quilt Brands

Rank	Brand	Responses
1	Enlightened Equipment	105
2	REI	29
3	Katabatic	18
4	Hammock Gear	14
4	Nemo	14
5	Western Mountaineering	9
6	Marmot	7
6	Sea to Summit	7
6	Zpacks	7
7	Big Agnes	6

1) Enlightened Equipment (105)

• Revelation (50)
• Enigma (35)
• Accomplice (2)
• Convert (1)

2) REI (29)

• Magma (12)

3) Katabatic (18)

• Flex (10)
• Palisade (1)
• Sawatch (1)

4) Hammock Gear (14)

• Burrow (11)

4) Nemo (14)

• Disco (7)
• Pulse (1)
• Riff (1)
• Salsa (1)

5) Western Mountaineering (9)

• The majority of Western Mountaineering quilt users did not specify which model they had, and no individual model was listed more than once.

6) Marmot (7)

• The majority of Marmot sleeping bag users did not specify which model they had, and no individual model was listed more than once.

7) Zpacks (7)

• Classic Sleeping Bag (3)
• Solo Quilt (1)

8) Sea to Summit (7)

• The majority of Sea to Summit sleeping bag users did not specify which model they had, and no individual model was listed more than once.

9) Big Agnes (6)

• The majority of Big Agnes sleeping bag users did not specify which model they had, and no individual model was listed more than once.

Top Sleeping Pads on the Appalachian Trail

Sleeping Pad Top Brands & Models

For sleeping pads, Therm-a-Rest was once again the top brand, and their NeoAir X-lite was the top model. The top models are listed below with their popular brands. Following is a table of the top models and their satisfaction ratings.

1) Therm-a-Rest (114)

• XLite (73) 
• XTherm (16) 

2) Nemo (82)

• Tensor (61)* 
• Switchback (12) 

*All sub-models encapsulated here

Big Agnes (20)

• Rapide SL (9) 

Sea to Summit (11)

• Ultralight Insulated Air (5)

Top Sleeping Pad Models

Rank	Model	Responses	Satisfaction Rating
1	Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite (Regular and Women's)	73	8.4
2	NEMO Tensor Ultralight Insulated	47	8.3
3	Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm	16	9.4
4	NEMO Switchback	12	8.0

Top Sleeping Pad Brands

Rank	Brand	Responses
1	Therm-a-Rest	114
2	NEMO	82
3	Big Agnes	20
4	Sea to Summit	11

Summary

• With 67% of hikers using a quilt in some capacity, the “early adopter” phase is over. Quilts are now the standard choice for the majority, and future growth will likely be incremental rather than explosive, as we had seen in previous years.
• Over two-thirds of hikers finished with the same pad they started with, despite two-thirds of hikers using inflatable pads, which have a larger reputation for leaking or popping on trail.
• The jump in average temperature rating from 22.3°F (start) to 34.0°F (finish) indicates hikers staying flexible with their gear and being willing to swap sleep systems to reduce weight as the weather changes.
• The majority (70%) of hikers opt for natural down insulation, but Dri-Down and Synthetic fill are common as well.
• Enlightened Equipment remains the most popular brand for sleeping bags or quilts; the top two overall quilt models were the EE Revelation and Enigma.
• Therm-a-Rest and Nemo Equipment hold all of the top spots for sleeping pads this year, with the NeoAir XLite as the top model again. The Nemo Switchback was the most popular foam pad this year.

Thank you!

Congratulations to all the Appalachian Trail hikers this year — and a huge thank you to all of you who took the time to fill out the survey! Upcoming posts will detail AT hikers’ backpacks, and stoves/filters. To stay up to date on the latest survey posts, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter.

More from the 2025 AT Thru-Hiker Survey:

• The Top Backpacks on the Appalachian Trail
• The Top Tents and Shelters on the Appalachian Trail
• The Top Stoves, Filters, and Rain Gear on the Appalachian Trail
• Sign Up to Take the 2026 AT Thru-Hiker Survey!

  Featured image: Graphic design by Chris Helm.