Sleeping Bag for Tall People: Which Size Fits Over 6 ft
Regular bags fit to 6 ft and Long to 6 ft 6 in at the brands we checked, so a 6 ft man buys Long. Above that: 7 ft bags, X-Long quilts and 84 to 98 in bags.
Buy by the maker’s “fits to” height, not the word on the label, and leave about six inches above your own height. At the brands whose size charts we read (Therm-a-Rest, Nemo, Enlightened Equipment), Regular fits to 6 ft and Long to 6 ft 6 in, so a 6 ft man is at the very top of Regular and should buy Long. Between 6 ft 1 in and 6 ft 6 in a standard Long from any major maker fits, and backpackers of 6 ft 4 in, 6 ft 5 in and 6 ft 6 in on the forums report exactly that. Above 6 ft 6 in the choices narrow to Western Mountaineering’s 7 ft bags, Enlightened Equipment’s X-Long quilts, American Tall’s 98 in bag, and the 84 to 90 in rectangular car-camping bags in Amazon’s big-and-tall listings.
Which size for which height
The size names mean the same thing at the three brands whose charts we checked.
| Your height | Buy | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 1 in to 5 ft 6 in | Small or Short | Therm-a-Rest Small; EE Short |
| 5 ft 7 in to 5 ft 11 in | Regular | Therm-a-Rest and EE Regular end at 6 ft; Nemo Regular fits to 6 ft |
| 6 ft exactly | Long | 6 ft is the last inch of Regular at all three; no margin |
| 6 ft 1 in to 6 ft 6 in | Long | Therm-a-Rest Long 6 ft 1 in to 6 ft 6 in; Nemo Long to 6 ft 6 in; EE Long 6 ft to 6 ft 6 in |
| 6 ft 6 in to 7 ft | X-Long or 7 ft | EE X-Long 6 ft 6 in to 7 ft; Western Mountaineering 7 ft; PHD Extra Long; American Tall to 7 ft 1 in |
| Over 7 ft 1 in | Custom | No stock chart we found goes higher |
The Long tier is cut for standard-girth bodies: Therm-a-Rest’s Questar, Parsec and Ohm carry 64 to 66 in shoulder girths in Long, and Nemo’s Forte Long is 66 in. The Amazon big-and-tall bags are cut for a broad body as well as a long one.
“Fits to” versus the length on the box, and the six-inch rule
A bag’s “fits to” height is the maker telling you the tallest person who can zip it closed with the hood up. The length printed on a rectangular bag is the outside of the shell, and the two are not the same number. A 6 ft 7 in poster on Mountain Project bought an 88 in winter bag for his 79 in body, could not close the mummy flap, and reckoned more than 9 in of the length went to loft and the top flap. That gap is what a fits-to number accounts for and a shell length does not.
So buy a bag whose fits-to is at or above your height, then leave margin. Six inches covers the loft at the foot end, the hood, and the fact that nobody sleeps perfectly straight; Enlightened Equipment’s guide says stomach sleepers should add 4 to 5 in to their height before reading the chart. A 6 ft man in a Regular that fits to 6 ft has zero margin, which is why the table sends him to Long.
Mummy, rectangular, or quilt for a tall body
In a mummy the length is spent on a hood that closes over your head and a foot box that holds the insulation off your toes. Too short, and the hood pulls over your face or the foot box flattens and your feet sleep cold. In a rectangular car-camping bag your head is outside on a pillow, so the fits-to only has to reach your shoulders. That is how an 84 in bag can be labelled for 6 ft 7 in, and it works until you pull the flap over your head on a cold night. A quilt has no hood and no back, so length is only your body plus the foot box, and the cottage makers cut more sizes: Enlightened Equipment’s chart runs Short to X-Long, each in Slim, Regular, Wide and X-Wide.
Tall is not big. The Amazon big-and-tall bags are 39 to 40 in across, roughly 78 to 80 in around, cut for a broad body; a slim 6 ft 5 in sleeper in one is warming a lot of empty space, and a 64 to 66 in Long mummy will sleep warmer. If you are tall and broad, measure around your shoulders first; the plus-size sleeping bag guide has the girth numbers and the wide-cut bags.
The pillow question
If the pillow is outside the bag under a head that is outside the bag, the fits-to number already assumes that. A pillow inside a mummy needs a bag longer than your fits-to by the pillow’s thickness plus a few inches; the common rule of thumb is 6 to 8 in, which pushes a 6 ft 4 in sleeper out of Long and into the 7 ft tier. The cheaper answer is a small camp pillow inside the hood, which is what the hood is shaped for. Nemo’s Forte has an integrated pillow pocket that takes a jacket, spare clothes or a Nemo Fillo, and its Long fits to 6 ft 6 in. No 90 in rectangular bag we checked states a pillow pocket on its maker page.
Bags that fit, by height
Grouped by the height each serves, not ranked. Specs are from maker and retailer pages; the roundups ranking for this query contradict each other on the same bags.
Nemo Forte 20 (Long), for 6 ft 1 in to 6 ft 6 in
A synthetic 20F mummy with Nemo’s spoon shape, which gives side sleepers room at the knees without a wide cut. The Long fits to 6 ft 6 in with a 66 in shoulder and 62 in hip girth, and it has the pillow pocket. That is the pick for a tall, not broad, backpacker. It lists at $199.95 and was $144.99 on sale at evo when we checked. Check price on Amazon
Western Mountaineering in 7 ft, or an Enlightened Equipment X-Long quilt, for 6 ft 6 in to 7 ft
Western Mountaineering sells eleven models in a 7 ft length. The AlpinLite (20F) in 7 ft is 65/56/39 in at shoulder, hip and foot, 2 lb 4 oz, $740 to $815; the TerraLite (25F) is the semi-rectangular option at 65/68/42 in, 2 lb 2 oz, $645 to $710. The cheaper route is a quilt: Enlightened Equipment’s size guide lists X-Long for 6 ft 6 in to 7 ft in four girths, and the hoodless Enigma runs $295 to $660 by fill; X-Long was not in the stock size selector when we looked, so confirm it is orderable for your model. See the Western Mountaineering size list
Coleman Heritage Big and Tall 10F, for car camping on a budget
An 84 x 40 in rectangular flannel bag with a 10F label, a draft tube and a 5-year warranty, $106.49 at the retailer we checked (out of stock there, so try a second seller). Coleman says it takes campers up to 6 ft 7 in. By the six-inch rule 84 in is comfortable to about 6 ft 6 in head-out, and the one roundup that claims to have slept a 6 ft 7 in person in it called the fit tight. Treat 6 ft 7 in as the ceiling. The 90 in VENTURE 4TH and HiZYNICE bags are longer, but neither maker publishes a fits-to height on a page we could read, so they are mentioned rather than recommended. Check price on Amazon
The pad and the cot have to be long too
Standard pads are 72 in; Long and Long Wide pads from the main brands are 76 in. A Long bag on a 72 in pad puts the foot box on the ground, so any bag over Regular wants a Long pad. Which pads come in Long Wide is in the plus-size sleeping pad guide. On a cot the deck length is the same problem one layer down; cots sized for tall and heavy sleepers are in the big and tall cot guide, and the rest of the cluster is on the Big and Tall Fit hub.
Over 6 ft 8 in: 7 ft makers and custom
Western Mountaineering’s 7 ft bags are the only stock down bags we found at that length. American Tall sells a 98 in synthetic mummy rated 25F, 34 in across the shoulder with a drawstring hood, designed for people up to 7 ft 1 in, at $179. PHD in the UK runs an Extra Long tier (6 ft 8 in to 7 ft on its ultralight ranges, 6 ft 9 in to 7 ft 1 in on the rest) and a design-your-own service that adds Extra Long to any bag, quoting up to 45 days for custom orders. Feathered Friends is said on the forums to take custom lengths; its FAQ would not load for us, so ask them directly.
Quick answers
What size sleeping bag for a 6 foot man? Long. Regular fits to exactly 6 ft at all three brands, leaving no room for loft, a hood or bent knees.
Is there a sleeping bag for someone 6 ft 8 in? Yes: Western Mountaineering’s 7 ft length, Enlightened Equipment’s X-Long quilts, PHD’s Extra Long tier, American Tall’s 98 in bag, or a 90 in rectangular bag if you sleep head-out and do not mind 40 in of width.
Can I fit a pillow inside a sleeping bag? In a rectangular bag, yes, if its length is your height plus 6 to 8 in. In a mummy, put a small camp pillow in the hood; the Nemo Forte has a pocket to hold it there.