Riff Women's Endless Promise Down Sleeping Bag 30

As you've already alluded to, there's a difference between sleeping bag comfort and survival ratings. The Nemo Riff 30F is limit rated to 29F but comfort rated to 39F, which means you'll likely get a bit cold but remain safe if temps drop into the mid 30s. Whereas the Riff 15F is comfort rated to 28F. If you expect temps to regularly drop into the mid 30s, I would go with the 15F version. You can always open the "gills" or unzip the bag on warm nights, or even use the bag more like a quilt.

Cheap, warm, or light and packable - you can only have two, you’re never going to get all three. You’ll also be colder in a bag for two. The more air space in the bag, the harder it is for your body to warm all that space. So the colder it is, the less comfortable that will become. Mummy bags are designed to be conforming to your body for that reason. They are not meant to be zipped together. So a pair of rectangular bags will fit together but be bulkier and harder to be warm in. Nemo Forte, Disco and Riff bags will zip together and be warmer- but they will also not be cheap enough for you unless you get the heaviest versions. Synthetic also breaks down faster than down. They are a compromise between mummy and rectangular. Then there is the pad issue. Two single pads tied together will have a cold gap in the middle. A two person pad weighs a lot and takes up more space in a pack. Two rectangular pads will do better than two tapered pads, same trade offs. Everyone has a different equation for what is important. But it’s hard to sell the gear you no longer want unless it’s of sufficient quality to be desirable. Higher end sleeping gear includes Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends and the top tier versions of Marmot bags. if your boyfriend is already backpacking, he has cheap stuff. You say that he doesn’t have good stuff. I highly recommend that you start with moderate quality gear like Marmot or REI brands and get separate bags because you don’t even know how much you will want to backpack. He already backpacks and will want lighter and warmer. Get couples gear when you are sure you will want to go often with him.

I have the Nemo Riff 30, which is a little step up from the Disco with higher FP down so it's a little lighter and packs down a little smaller, but is otherwise very similar. The Riff/Disco are some of the only very lightweight backpacking bags that aren't mummy shaped. I think you'll like them. Also I personally went with the 30 since the vast majority of my camping is in the summer with warm weather. I'd die in a 15 degree bag on a 65 degree night. You can always add a sleeping bag liner on those rare nights where it's too chilly.

I don't have the 15, so I can't directly compare, but yeah I have no trouble getting the 30 into an 8L bag. There's not much room leftover, but it fits. I also have a Riff 30 and it fits as well.

The Tempo is a larger bag than the Disco or Riff. According the specs at REI, it weighs almost a full pound more and has a compressed volume of over 8L. I'm not a guy that can ever get anything packed away nicely or back in the box it came in, but even I had no trouble just cramming either the Riff or Disco into the 8L compression sack. They're currently on sale at REI thru next week.... 😈

I bought one Riff for myself and ended up giving it to my son and I bought another one for me. I also got both of mine for around $200 each brand new. I really like the spoon shape.

I live in Montana. I have a set of gear for each season, which are winter and not-winter. For car camping I have a 4 person alps engineering tent, a nice adjustable Cot, and a stupid big n' thick sleeping bag rated to -15 (don't recall the brand). (Note: the rating is a joke, below 15F I double up with my summer bag inside my winter bag .. coldest we've camped was -11F). Backpacking is a Nemo Dragonfly Tent, Nemo Riff Sleeping bag, Nemo Tensor air pad and a Nemo Deluxe pillow. Note: I'm really not a nemo fanboy .. it just slowly happened over time as I've been upgrading gear over the years. If I had to pick the best peice of gear, it would be the COT by far.

The Western Mountaineering bags look the best to me in terms of quality and specs, but I haven’t tried one. Have a Nemo Riff 30 which isn’t the lightest for its warmth rating, but it’s good quality down, I got a great deal on it and it’s roomy for side sleeping.

Fellow rotisserie here. I probably move in my sleep more than anyone on the planet. My ex said I do cricket jumps in my sleep. So I think there are kind of 2 philosophies. Either you get a quilt, which sort of naturally solves the issue by not restricting you, or you ironically get a mummy bag and perhaps being so restricted will inhibit you from moving as you normally would and sort of force you to chill out. It’s going to vary by person. Third option for people who have problems with quilt cold drafts due to their movement - wide bags. The problem with wide bags is they’re going to be harder to warm at a given weight or heavier to loft at a given warmth, they’re basically inefficient thermally. That said, Western Mountaineering makes some high quality ones like the TerraLite. I personally use a Nemo Riff. It’s what they call their Ultralight Spoon shape. Wider at elbows/knees than a mummy, but narrower than their Relaxed Spoon shape of like the Disco and cheaper models. I got really lucky on it for $200. Outside of a backpacking context or if weight doesn’t matter, just go with a rectangular bag.

So the Bantamweight is not a wide bag at all, it’s a mummy bag. I have a Nemo Riff that I really like, they call it a spoon shape iirc, wider at knees and shoulders for easier tossing and turning. I got mine at a really killer deal for $200. The Disco is an even wider cut that's a bit cheaper and uses lesser fill power down. Wider bags do sacrifice warmth:weight ratio, no getting around that. Have you considered quilts?