Big Agnes - Echo Park 20°

Okay, let's talk car camping comfort for side sleepers like me! The Exped MegaMat is like, the Cadillac of camping mattresses. People swear by it. The regular one is a solid 4 inches thick, which is already pretty plush. But then they have the MegaMat Max, which is a whopping 6 inches thick! It's definitely pricey, but I figure it like this: First, a good night's sleep is priceless. Second, think of it as an investment. A nice mattress costs about the same as a few nights in a hotel. But with the mattress, you own it forever! Hotel rooms are just gone. Now, I'm a big fan of sleeping bags or quilts that attach directly to the mattress. It's a game-changer for comfort. Here's why: regular sleeping bags have insulation on the bottom, but that's basically useless. Insulation works by trapping air – your body heats the air, and the insulation keeps it there. But when you lie on it, you squish the air out of the insulation, so it doesn't do much. You're basically just relying on your mattress for warmth underneath you. So, these bags that attach to the mattress with something more like a sheet tend to feel more like your bed at home. Especially the ones with a hood or extra loft at the top that keeps your pillow in place and keeps your head warm. The key thing is making sure your bag and mattress are compatible. For example, the Big Agnes Echo Park 20 Long Wide is super roomy – 80 inches around the shoulders and 74 around the hips. It says it fits mattresses up to 78 inches long and 25-30 inches wide. But here's the catch: it doesn't say anything about thickness. So, if you have a MegaMat Max Long X-Wide—which is 77.5 x 30.5 x 6 inches thick—the sheet part of the Big Agnes bag might not stretch over the corners of that thick mattress. You'd have a tight fit, and it might not work. [https://www.rei.com/product/168194/big-agnes-echo-park-20-sleeping-bag](https://www.rei.com/product/168194/big-agnes-echo-park-20-sleeping-bag) [https://www.rei.com/product/245980/big-agnes-echo-park-20-sleeping-bag](https://www.rei.com/product/245980/big-agnes-echo-park-20-sleeping-bag) [https://www.rei.com/product/244272/exped-megamat-max-sleeping-pad-long-x-wide](https://www.rei.com/product/244272/exped-megamat-max-sleeping-pad-long-x-wide)

I ended up with the Big Agnes Echo Park 20. That one is plenty big!

We use a Redverz Attacama tent. [https://redverz.com/](https://redverz.com/) It is three person tent, with plenty of room for gear. It is absolutely waterproof. Assembly is not especially fast, but is uncomplicated. Having two people helps. It is tall enough to stand in and the vestibule/garage in enormous. While the "garage" is marketed and completely capable of holding a motorcycle, I never seen anyone actually put their motorcycle in it. It packs into a 50 liter dry bag with some room to spare and weighs 14 pounds. I carry it on my passenger seat. [https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PLNrsMx/0/XL/i-PLNrsMx-XL.jpg](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PLNrsMx/0/XL/i-PLNrsMx-XL.jpg) It fits all of your criteria except "compact". For sleeping, I'm all in on Big Agnes system. The Big Agnes "system" uses a sleeping bag with a pocket in the bottom to hold an insulated, inflatable sleeping pad. There is no insulation in the bottom of the bag, that pad is the insulations. It is a great system and you can never roll of your pad. Get the "pump house" to inflate the pad.

I highly recommend a big agnes echo park(synthetic) or diamond park(down). They are extremely roomy and comfortable. My husband and I both love them.

Big agnes Echo park or Big agnes Diamond Park it's basically a sheet and quilt system. It's more comfortable than my bed at home. I toss and turn and am predominantly a stomach sleeper.

I just think $400 per item is a solid budget for really nice, comfy, quality stuff and people are recommending you essentially raid the camping aisle at Walmart. I’d check out Big Agnes Spicer 4 or 6 for a tent. I love the 6 but it can be a little large depending on where you’re putting it. I’d check out Hest for sleeping pads. That’s what I’d have if they were in my budget. So comfortable! I also love the Nemo roamer XL and some exped pads too. I’d stay away from air mattresses (cold, bulky, less comfortable) and backpacking pads (thinner, sometimes noisier, less comfy) too. For sleeping bags I’d consider going back to big Agnes. I don’t think you need to spend the $400 per item here since it’s just car camping but I honestly love my big Agnes echo park sleeping bag and use it a ton car camping. I can’t stand mummy bags so that’s a backpacking only thing for me. North face makes some other good options and so does Kelty in terms of car camping. I’d probably recommend a cotton liner so it’s really easy to take out and wash. These can be bought seperate from the sleeping bag. If I had a $400 budget to cook I’d totally get some sort of nice flat grill, probably a blackstone. Something that disassembles well and fits in the car would be sweet. I’ve also seen a couple of recommendations for jackery and that’s another good example of a budget brand where you probably don’t need to be buying the budget brand. Anker is far superior in quality and there are plenty of batter options in your budget. I’ve had TONS of camp chairs and really can’t find a better chair than the Kelty lowdown. Kelty isn’t necessarily known for their quality but they’ve got chairs figured out. I’ve had good luck with quite a few lanterns so it might be worth shopping around for features you like, but I liked the black diamond Apollo probably the best of any I’ve had.

Huge fan of the Big Agnes "park" series, Diamond Park is the down version, Echo Park is the Synthetic one. They are quilt like systems that attach to a warm pad with a thin "sheet" on the bottom that has the hood attached to it and nice fluffy top with a foot box. The whole system is great for tall broad men and women. that want to be able to move around a little. It's awesome. It will convert to a bag with a special zipper in material sold separatelyx but really the key thing is the top quilt to bottom pad combo check it out, they sell them at REI.

I use the Big Agnes Echo Park bags as a side sleeper. They are probably what you're looking for. Lots of room to move around, switch sides, etc.; you can even unzip the top off and use it as a quilt. I also agree that side sleeping is rough just on pads. I try to sleep on my back when camping but just end up sore and tossing around from side to side. A nice cot may be what you need. 

Buy a thick 30” wide mattress, and a big Agnes echo park bag to attach it to. It’s very comfortable and not tight fitting like a mummy bag. Pick the temperature you want and supplement with blankets as needed. Can put the whole setup on a nice cot if needed. Bonus points for putting some memory foam in between the mat and bag.

you're the perfect candidate for a sleep system. changed my life in the back country. I have a Big Agnes bag with a full length pad sleeve. find a pad that fits the sleeve and be amazed. the only downside is these bags don't have any insulation on the bottom, but not a big deal. I just unzip the bag and use it as a blanket when I don't need the full setup.

We have Teton cots + Teton pads. Total game changer for me. Backpacking I use an insulated inflatable Big Agnes pad. Their Park series bags are square and very roomy.

Big Agnes Europe is having a sale atm. I just used their 20F down sleeping bag last week in -2C and I was steamy, had to keep the zipper open. I did pair it with a R4.8 pad.

Have a Big Agnes 20 and a Magma 20. Both down both compress well. A few years ago, I switched to those liners in the summer and love them. Warm enough in July. Pack extremely small.