REASONS TO BUY
Very light
Packs down small
Finely crafted
REASONS TO AVOID
Too short
Hood and collar doesn’t seal well
Zipper comes undone by itself
Western Mountaineering HighLite Review
While this bag is the one of the lightest in the review, its features and fit drag it down toward the bottom of the rankings
One of our complaints with this bag is that the hood didn't easily cover our entire head and forehead, and it wasn't easy to seal off the face enclosure to trap warm air inside.
Price: $435 List
By Andy Wellman ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ Nov 4, 2019
RELATED: Best Ultralight Sleeping Bag of 2024
Our Verdict
The Western Mountaineering HighLite is a hooded mummy bag that is the second lightest in this review. It also packs down into a very small stuff sack, making it one of the best choices for those who need light and small. That said, it ranked near the bottom of our overall comparative rankings. We had issues with the fit, which was narrow and constricting, and a bit shorter than advertised. We also thought the features like the hood and half zipper performed pretty poorly compared to the many other bags we tested with the same features. While this was a bag that we really wanted to like, at the end of the day it is not one we would recommend over other products tested for this review.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Western Mountaineering HighLite | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  | |  | |
| Price | $425.00 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $549.95 at REI Compare at 3 sellers | $449 List $429.00 at Feathered Friends | $469 List $469.00 at Feathered Friends | $270 List |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This is a hooded mummy bag we wanted to love, but compared to the competition, it simply didn’t stack up | Stay warm and comfy in this excellently executed bag | The only mummy bag that uses more down fill in the foot box and less around the torso, to take advantage of the clothing you have with you | An awesome set of features allows you to use this bagin a surprising amount of different temperatures and situations | A functional, versatile, and well-featured quilt well worth the low price |
| Rating Categories | Western Mountaineer... | Therm-a-Rest Hyperi... | Feathered Friends V... | Feathered Friends F... | Hammock Gear Econom... |
| Warmth (30%) | |||||
| Weight (25%) | |||||
| Comfort (20%) | |||||
| Versatility (15%) | |||||
| Features (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Western Mountaineer... | Therm-a-Rest Hyperi... | Feathered Friends V... | Feathered Friends F... | Hammock Gear Econom... |
| Manufacturer Stated Temperature Rating | 35°F | 20°F | 25°F lower half, 45°F upper half | 40°F | 20°F |
| Measured Weight (bag only) | 15.0 oz | 21.4 oz | 16.2 oz | 19.2 oz | 25.8 oz |
| Stuff Sack Weight | 1.5 oz | 1.6 oz | 0.8 oz | 0.8 oz | 0.6 oz |
| Stuffed Size | 6" x 12" | 6" x 8" | 7" x 10" | 7" x 10" | 6" x 10" |
| Manufacturer Claimed Weight | 16.0 oz | 20.0 oz | 16.7 oz | 20.0 oz | 22.2 oz |
| Fill Weight | 8.0 oz | 12.5 oz | 9.4 oz | 8.4 oz | 13.2 oz |
| Shell Material | ExtremeLite shell fabric | 10D Nylon RipStop w/DWR | Pertex Endurance UL | Pertex Endurance UL | 20D nylon taffeta |
| Fill Power | 850+ fill down | 900 fill RDS Nikwax hydrophobic goose down RDS | 950+ fill goose down | 950+ goose down | 850 fill duck down |
| Style | Hooded mummy | Hooded mummy | Hoodless, zipperless mummy | Center zip mummy bag or unzip for quilt | Quilt |
| Construction | Baffle square sewn through construction | Horizontal box baffle consruction | No hood, no zipper and a variable fill | Continuous baffles | Box baffle consruction |
| Shoulder Girth | 59" | 57" | 64" | 62" | 55" |
| Hip Girth | 51" | 49.5" | 48" | 48" | 50" |
| Foot Girth | 38" | 43" | 38" | 39" | 45" |
| Zipper Length | 1/2-length | 1/2-length side zip at top | No zipper | Full-length center zip | 1/3-length at bottom |
| Sizes | 66", 72', and 78" | Small, regular, long | 62", 68", and 74" | Regular, long, and wide | Short, standard, long, short wide, standard wide, long wide |
| Temp Options (degrees Fahrenheit) | 35°F | 20, 32°F | 25, 45°F | 20, 30, 40°F | 0, 10, 20, 30, 40°F |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
In previous years we have reviewed the Western Mountaineering SummerLite, a slightly heavier and mildly warmer mummy bag that has a full-length zipper. This year, in the interest of trying out an even lighter offering from Western Mountaineering, we tested their HighLite. We loved how light it was — at 15 ounces it was the second lightest bag in our review and packed down into a very small stuff sack as well. Unfortunately, despite these awesome attributes, we found that there was not a whole lot else about this bag that we could give it props for. It used a relatively small amount of down in a sewn-through construction that wasn't super warm. We thought the bag was tight, especially in the feet and legs areas, and it was also a bit too short when the hood was over our head. The hood and neck enclosure didn't do a good job of sealing out cold air, and the zipper also had issues. As such, this bag was ranked near the bottom of our comparative rankings.
Performance Comparison
We found this bag to be a bit short for people near its advertised length of 6'0", and thus it was more comfortable for people who were a bit shorter and smaller. Here on a simple overnight "Cowboy camping" in the San Juan Mountains.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Warmth
The HighLite is rated to 35°F, although we did not feel like it was comfortable enough for us to sleep at that low temperature. It uses 8 ounces of 850 fill power down sewn into horizontal sewn-through baffles. The cut is designed to be low volume, so there is less space to heat up. We agree that it did seem to warm up inside pretty quickly, but that the overall design didn't keep us very warm all night long.
For a hooded mummy bag, we were disappointed that the hood was so shallow and didn't cover our entire head very well. We also wish that the zipper had a draft tube on it, or that there was a neck draft collar. The whole hood and neck ensemble didn't allow for a tight cinch and didn't fit very well to begin with, so we found that warm air easily leaked out, and cold air in. The tight fit also meant it was not comfortable to wear extra layers on cold nights, and thus we just thought this bag wasn't very well suited to temperatures near its 35°F rating.
Here we put a completely frozen Nalgene bottle into the inside of the WM HighLite, then zipped it up tight and left it in the shade on a hot day for an hour, in order to compare the relative insulating properties of the various sleeping bags. We performed this test with all the sleeping bags in this review.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Weight
Our size 6'0" sleeping bag weighed 15 ounces on our independent scale, which is even an ounce lighter than advertised. The included stuff sack weighed an additional 1.5 ounces. This low weight is the shining bright spot for the HighLite.
This bag packs down into a super tiny included waterproof stuff sack, and it was also the second lightest bag in this test.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Comfort
Comfort is largely a product of how well the bag fits, and we thought that this one was perhaps the smallest and tightest fit compared to its advertised dimensions. Despite ordering the 6'0" size bag, our 5'11" tall head tester found the bag too short to be comfortable when the hood was pulled up over the head. It also felt narrow and tight in the feet and hips, although wide enough for comfort around the torso. The hood and neck of the HighLite really wouldn't close up around the face all the way and left a long cord dangling in the face and around the neck. Because they were both smaller than advertised, to the point of not being comfortable to use properly on a cold night.
With the hood tightened up as it is here, this bag felt a bit too short for our head tester, who didn't find it comfortable to use with the hood pulled over his head.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Versatility
Its hooded mummy bag design with a short half zipper meant that the HighLite is certainly less versatile for warm weather use than a quilt. Conversely, we found that since it wasn't very good at sealing in the trapped heat, this bag also wasn't all that great for really cold temperatures. As such, we thought the range of comfortable usage for this bag was pretty small, from about 40°F — 50°F. It certainly makes for a better summer bag than one that you push the temperature range at high altitude for. It also doesn't use treated down, or advertise itself as having a DWR treatment applied to the face fabric, although we confess that it seemed to bead and shed water pretty well when we spilled our tea on it one evening.
Despite not having an advertised DWR coating on the ExtremeLite shell fabric, we found that it did a good job of forcing the water we spilled on it to bead up and fall off without absorbing.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Features
Yet again, we found the features of this bag underperforming. We have already mentioned how the hood was shallow, didn't fit well, and how the drawcord at the face was not very effective in fully tightening up the opening around the face on cold nights. This bag also comes with a half-length side zipper, much like the other mummy bags in this test. However, we found that this zipper seemed almost too slippery, as it would slide itself open at night as we slept. Additionally, when opened all the way, which frequently happens with a half zip, it would always come unthreaded, meaning we had to re-thread it every time we zipped it. In short, we wish this bag had a different zipper.
The zipper had a tendency to simply unzip itself as we slept in the night, and every time we fully unzipped it, it would unthread itself, necessitating having to constantly re-thread it, as we are doing here.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Value
This sleeping bag retails right around the average price for an ultralight sleeping bag. Since it ranks near the bottom of our comparative review, we would recommend spending that money on a different bag instead.
Testing out the HighLite (left) while camped out in the San Juan Mountains.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Conclusion
The Western Mountaineering HighLite is one of the lightest and smallest packing sleeping bags in this review. It is a hooded mummy bag that is best used during summertime temperatures, as we did not find it comfortable down to its recommended 35F rating. Overall it was one of the lowest performers that we tested, and while we tried to love it, we didn't think it worked as well as its competitors.
Setting up the tent for a night in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming on a warm early summer climbing trip to Ten Sleep.
Credit: Andy Wellman
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Andy Wellman
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