Early Impressions: Nemo Rhapsody 15° Down Sleeping Bag – Women’s

Note: The following is my early impression of the Nemo Rhapsody 15 degree sleeping bag. I will either update this review or write a separate one later in the season. 

With another long distance hike looming in my future, Nemo Equipment was excellent enough to provide me with a Nemo W’s Rhapsody 15° Down Sleeping Bag. The bag I used on the AT in 2013  is much too bulky and heavy for a PCT thru hike, an upgrade was inevitable. I had long since had my eye on a Nemo bag because of their unique Spoon Shape and, maybe, just a hair, because they are all so beautifully designed.

Beautiful colors and wonderful design!

This sleeping bag weighs in at only 2lbs. and 3oz, an impressive weight for a 15° sleeping bag. For my PCT thru hike, I was looking for a warm sleeping bag that was still light weight and this little guy nailed it on the head. It’s unfortunately the heaviest item in my entire PCT gear set up, but it is also one of the most important. This bag seems to compress down well, though on my short test trip with it, I simply stuffed it into the bottom of my pack instead of compressing it.

The Nemo Rhapsody bag is wildly comfortable, largely in part to their Spoon Shape design. Instead of narrowing down toward the bottom, like a typical mummy sleeping bag, the knee box area opens up to allow for more space. This may mean that in very cold conditions there are more air pockets inside the bag to warm up with your body heat, thus taking longer to warm you up. Still, with a vertical baffle design, the chances of the down inside of the bag being displaced over time is much less. So over time, the bag seems as if it will hold up better than most. In my own experiences with the dead space in a sleeping bag, I’ve experienced some warmth issues, but it has yet to be a problem with the Rhapsody.  I’ve also enjoyed having the extra space to roll around in!

There are several design decisions made by Nemo that I really enjoy. The Blanket Fold at the neck is excellent for trapping in the warm air from body heat and keeping the cold air out. My nights spent out in this bag have been fairly mild, mostly in the high 30’s and low 40’s at night, but this particular feature proved to be wonderful up against the windy nights. The bag also has a little hidden zipper pocket, which I love to store extra ear plugs inside of, just in case my camp site neighbors like to saw logs in their sleep.

Overall, I love this sleeping bag. It’s exceptionally warm for someone who sleeps cold like me and has been used many nights here at Neel Gap over the winter when we had out single digit nights. It is also light enough for my intense scrutinization of ounces as I roll up towards the PCT.  Not to mention, it does all of this in style!

I will either update this review at the conclusion of my upcoming PCT thru-hike or create an entirely new one.  Either way, I wanted to provide you with my early impressions of this bag.

Disclosure: The following product was donated for the purposes of review. Every review on Appalachian Trails is representative of the honest opinion of the reviewer.