King Solomon

We used to have a Big Agnes King Solomon... Worked great. But we have individual top quilts now, and they work better. Either together or separate or as a blanket around camp...

Keep an eye on geartrade.com. My husband and I recently got a synthetic 2 person big Agnes Cabin Creek sleep system for $175! It was in excellent condition but an older model. For more money than your budget, try the down Big Agnes King Solomon (on mega sale like today!) For less money than that one, but more weight, try the synthetic Big Agnes Dream Island. There’s also the Zenbivy beds but they’re pretty expensive and a bit heavy.

Big Agnes king Solomon. Been using one for years. With 2 20” pads it makes a super tight fit. Warm, light and worth every cozy night. Backpacked 30 miles with it no problem.

We have a Big Agnes something or other 15 degree down bag we bought for around $300...10 years ago. It's great, although more like a 30 degree bag. Size / weight is about equal to two sleeping bags. We also tried out Feathered Friends' Spoonbill which is well out of your price range but might be interesting to look at to see how an actually warm two person bag looks.

 So the problem with any normal two-person sleeping bag is that there's an air gap between you if you don't sleep snuggled up.  The Big Agnes we have has a small flap that covers that up. We have also stuffed clothes in between us when it was colder. That works for 15 to 20°, but not colder. The reason I said the spoonbill was interesting is that it has individual draft hoods for each person so you share warmth but actually can't cuddle. 

Yep we have a Big Agnes double as well as two colder weather bags that zip together. Different tools for different applications. When it is super cold a single will be much warmer-especially if one of you sleeps hot and the other is always freezing. My hubby gets claustrophobic if he’s too warm at night so on more temperate trips the BA double allows him to unzip his side so he can ventilate without freezing me