North Face Lynx Sleeping Bag – Gear Review

There are two types of people in the world: those that can easily fall asleep under most conditions, and those that need the conditions to be absolutely perfect in order to fall asleep easily. Unfortunately, I am in the later group, which can be especially difficult when camping. I had previously tried a couple of different bags for warmer weather camping, including a 20 degree synthetic that I originally purchased when I first started backpacking, as well as a 30 degree down bag that I had a chance to review in late spring. Both of these bags perform great when temperatures were warm, but not hot. So when North Face sent us a Lynx sleeping bag, which has a European Norm (EN) comfort rating of 47°F, I decided to leave my other bags home and took it out for a week camping in the Adirondacks, hoping I would be able to sleep comfortably. So was the bag comfortable? Was I able to fall asleep easily? Read about my experience below to find out.

Tech Specs:

• EN Lower Limit Rating: 39°F
• EN Comfort Rating: 47°F
• Weight: 1lb 15oz (regular), 2lbs 1oz (long)
• Shape: Mummy
• Fill Type: Heatseeker™ Pro Synthetic
• Regular size fits up to 6’0’’, long size fits up to 6’6’’
• Shell Fabric: Nylon
• Lining Fabric: Polyester

Design:

The first thing I noticed when I took the bag out of the packaging was how light it was. When I looked at the forecast for my trip and saw that a cold front was expected to come through mid-week with night time temperatures dropping to the low to mid 40s, I got nervous that the bag might actually be too light for me, despite the fact that the bag has an EN Lower Limit of 39°F. One thing is for sure: this bag is lightweight. (I’ll talk about this more in the comfort section below, but I was comfortable, even when temperatures were in the low 40s.)

So, after feeling how lightweight it was, I wanted to see how small it would compress. I shoved it into the stuff sack that it came with and cinched all of the cinch cords as tight as I could make them. Just as North Face promised, the Heatseeker™ Pro fill was able to compact down, and with the bag stuffed into the stuff sack, this bag quickly became the smallest stuffed bag that I own.

The only issue I had with the design was the zipper. There were a few times when I decided to zipper up in the middle of the night, and almost every time, the zipper got caught on the bag. To prevent this from happening, I had to pull that section of the zipper as taut as I could, and then zip it closed.

Comfort:

I can’t stress enough how impressed I was with this bag. For summer weather camping, this is my new go to bag. It isn’t even a debate for me compared to my other bags. On the nights that were in the high 60s or low to mid 70s, I crawled into the bag and left it unzipped. I was still inside the bag, and I felt great. When the cold front came through and temps were in the low to mid 40s, I crawled into the bag but this time zipped it up. The bag provided just the right amount of warmth where I was not too hot, nor too cold, and I slept comfortably. With temperatures in the 40s, I at no point felt cold.

Packability:

If you are looking for a traditional hood and zipper bag for summer weather, at 1lb 15oz, the Lynx is not only extremely light, but also packs down small using the provided stuff sack. This is perfect for any backpacker looking to trim down on weight or save valuable space, especially if they don’t want to spend a fortune on an extremely light bag.

From left to right: North Face Lynx, 30 degree down bag, 20 degree synthetic, 0 degree down bag

Value:

The regular length Lynx has an MSRP of $139, while the long length version of the bag has an MSRP of $149. This is a great value for everything you get out of the Lynx. Sure, there are bags that are lighter and pack smaller, but some of them can cost as much as $450+.