Big Agnes Mirror Lake 22 Sleeping Bag Review

In the peak of winter, picking up camping gear may not be on your radar. Yet, getting an affordable, warm, and durable sleeping bag in the winter months can keep you prepared for an impromptu winter hut trip or road trip to the south when the snow starts to melt. Winter can also be a time to score a deal too!

Big Agnes, based in Steamboat Springs, CO, makes incredible sleeping bags and offers a large list of options to match you needs, and your budget. The Mirror Lake 22F Women’s sleeping bag, features quality construction, 600 fill down, and little extras for the reasonable price of $199 for the petite and $209 for the regular.

Big Agnes Mirror Lake 22 Features

The Big Agnes Mirror Lake 22 is a versatile mummy style sleeping bag with a rating of 22F, making it an excellent option for spring, summer, fall, and winter hut or yurt use. The warmth rating comes from the utilization of 600 fill DownTek, an eco friendly down that is water-repellant. Incorporating DownTek into a sleeping bag is a brilliant thing; how often have you experienced a leak in the tent, poor placement of your tent and experienced pooling underneath, forgotten the footprint, or rubbed the outside of the tent with the foot of your sleeping bag against the cold condensation. When traditional down gets wet, it stops performing. DownTek works as a water repellant version of down, by working to make moisture collect into a sphere, which allows the water to move away from the down, instead of saturating it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to really put this to the test due to dry camping conditions. I would like to see how this stacks up against other “water repellant” down fabrics in the industry.

Sleeping bags with 800 fill carry a higher price tag than a sleeping system with 600 fill down. I didn’t notice a significant difference in warmth between my 20F 800 fill and the Mirror Lake 22 sleeping bag. Big Agnes has incorporated Insotect Flow, a different baffle design that helps to distribute body heat. The sleeping bag also features Flow Gates, or vertical chambers, to eliminate large shifts in the down and keeping it within each zone. Rather than forming a basic side seam, Big Agnes has placed Flow Chamber at the hip area to keep heat from exiting along the zipper or the seam. In my 6 months of use, I have not noted any shifting of the down and I was warm when the temps dipped just below freezing.

Big Agnes Mirror Lake 22 Sizing and Specs

The Mirror Lake 22 sleeping bag is available in petite and regular; the petite fits up to 5’5″, while the regular up to 5’10”. I am 5’8″ and found the fit and length of the regular to be ideal for me. The waist, shoulder, and foot girth of the regular measure about 2″ wider than in the petite. If you are considering the petite, you may want to take more than length into consideration before purchasing, as you are losing more than just length. The women’s specific sizing is apparent in the shoulder area, where a male sleeping bag typically has a wider shoulder girth and similar waist/hip girth. Eliminating this extra fabric reduces bulk where you don’t need it and helps to keep the heat in with the tapering in towards the collar.

The Big Agnes Mirror Lake 22 features a no-draft collar, which allows you to zip out the cold air and lock in the heat. A little trick I like to do while car camping is slipping a square pillow within the no-draft collar; it adds a little comfort and the collar keeps the pillow from sliding all around. There is a bungee cord to cinch down with one hand.

Here are the specs on the two different sizes.

Petite                       Regular

 Big Agnes Mirror Lake 22 Extras

Some folks like to utilize sleeping bag liners. If I loan out a sleeping bag, which happens from time to time, I equip the user with a liner. Big Agnes has included three little loops along the collar of the bag, to help keep the liner from getting twisted or you from sliding around within the sleeping bag.

Getting a bag from Big Agnes also means that you get to decide right or left zip. For some, this isn’t a big deal, but for others they have a tough time getting used to right vs left or left vs right. Speaking of zippers, the zipper tract on the Mirror Lake 22 sleeping bag runs the near length of the bag and is easy to pull with or without a glove and with a single hand thanks to an extra wide tract that prevents fabric getting stuck in the zipper, inside and out. The zipper tract also has a zipper tube, aka a line of down that backs the zipper to prevent drafts from entering along the zipper. The zipper tube features a tough nylon fabric to prevent down entering the zipper and the cool or wet making it into the bag.  Another great feature, you can zip the sleeping bags together if your other half has the opposite zip.  In our household, this isn’t an option as the dogs are vying for the warm space between the two sleeping bags in the tent!

Okay, so women’s specific often means lots of pink and purple to let you know that its’ a women’s product. Thankfully, Big Agnes did more than just that, as mentioned above, and offers the Mirror Lake 22 sleeping bag in icy-glacial green and gray combo. The inside is purple, but I actually dig the hue and you honestly don’t look at it very much.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Mirror Lake 22 sleeping bag is warm, lightweight, and does not skip on features. Thankfully, you can add the Mirror Lake 22 sleeping bag to your camping gear without breaking the bank and save your money for your next adventure.