With an average weight and compressed volume for a 30°F mummy bag, Mountain Hardwear’s Lamina 30 has all the makings of a great budget backpacking sleeping bag. It has a decent warmth-to-weight ratio, and while it can’t compete with a genuine ultralight backpacking sleeping bag, the fact is that it’s not trying to. For only $170, there’s a lot of value in the Lamina 30, and those hikers who aren’t trying to shed every possible ounce will find this to be an excellent addition to their next overnight trip.

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Founded in 1993, Mountain Hardwear has started to make a name for itself in recent years with a varied product line that includes apparel, tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks. With an average weight and compressed volume for a 30°F mummy bag, Mountain Hardwear’s Lamina 30 has all the makings of a great budget backpacking sleeping bag. We should note that the Lamina 30 retails for $170, but we were able to find some online stores charging as little as $119.

Warmth

The Lamina 30 uses Mountain Hardwear’s proprietary Thermal.Q synthetic insulation to achieve its 30°F (-1°C) temperature rating. The tested lower limit is 27°F (-3°C) while the comfort rating is 37°F (3°C), and the extreme rating is -2°F (-19°C). Mountain Hardwear uses what they call Lamina™ construction to maximize the loft of the insulation and ensure that there’s extra warmth in the spots more prone to cold. They’ve also included a shaped draft collar and tailored hood to block drafts and trap in heat. While we would have preferred a few extra degrees of insulation to optimize our comfort on chilly nights—and were certainly unlikely to test out the extreme rating in the field—as a 30° bag, it operates efficiently and as advertised.

Comfort

The high loft of the Thermal.Q polyester insulation provides a respectable degree of cushion, and the 40D polyester lining is soft on the skin. This sleeping bag is decently roomy as far as mummy bags go; the regular size accommodates folks up to 6’ tall with a shoulder girth of 60” and a hip girth of 55”, while the long first those as tall as 6’6”, with a 62” shoulder girth and 58” hip girth. There was no footbox girth listed for this bag, but it tapers less dramatically once it reaches the knees, leaving it reasonably roomy around the toes.

Weight & Packed Size

The Lamina 30 was the second lightest sleeping bag on our list behind the 1.9lb Klymit KSB 35, so it’s approaching the limits of lightness as far as bags at this price point. However, at 2.17lb for the regular and 2.28lb for the long, it’s unlikely to be confused for a high-end ultralight sleeping bag.

We were surprised to find that it came with its own nylon compression sack, which is highly durable but a bit bulky. The highly compressible nylon ripstop shell helps this bag achieve an 8.6L compressed volume, which isn’t quite as impressive as the 7L Klymit but still in the top half of the six mummy bags in our 2021 review.

Features

The environmentally conscious hiker will be happy to discover that the Thermal.Q insulation is made of 80% recycled materials; in addition, the 30D ripstop nylon shell is bluesign-approved—and has a DWR (durable water repellent) finish. The two-way zipper can open at the feet for ventilation and sports a glow-in-the-dark, reflective zipper pull to make it easy to spot at night. There’s also a mesh storage sack along with the compression sack. The only missing features we would have liked to see are a stash pocket for cell-phone storage and a neck baffle to better trap heat.

The Bottom Line

The Lamina 30 has a decent warmth-to-weight ratio, coming in almost a full pound lighter than our other 30°F mummy bag, the Marmot Trestles 30. While it can’t compete with a true ultralight backpacking sleeping bag, the fact is that it’s not trying to. For only $170, there’s a lot of value in the Lamina 30, and those hikers who aren’t trying to shed every possible ounce will find this to be an excellent inclusion to their next overnight trip.

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