The family has been car camping for almost 15 years. Our two children are 14 and 11. While I have upgraded the tents and other gear, the sleeping gear have not been. We are summer campers and spend the majority of our camping in places like Glacier, Yellowstone or Rocky Mountain National Parks. The temperature has been known to dip to freezing (32ºF or 0ºC) and even a little lower on occasion, but mostly it is in the high 30's to low 40's. What is the best sleeping bag filling for most of these conditions? We have not done any backpacking to date but might like to do so for several days to a week in the future.

Gearing up on the sleeping bags, eh?

I've previously posted an answer to a similar question about the pros and cons of each insulation type. Check it out. Remember too that down will cost about twice that of a comparable Hollofil sleeping bag. And for the kids, buy them quality adult bags now; they'll grow into them and the bags will last many years. My choice would likely be a hollofil mummy bag by a reputable manufacturer.

So, check the pros and cons above for some more facts about materials, then do some window shopping at online gear stores like Campmor, REI, etc. to get some ideas of what's available and how much you can expect to spend. Be sure to shop around, there's lots of differences in prices for the same merchandise at different stores.

If you'd like to read some opinions from other sleeping bag owners before you buy, check out these camping gear reviews.

Happy shopping!