Expanse Sleeping Bag

Your Expanse Sleeping Bag is a high performance piece of gear. It needs some extra attention to keep it performing at the highest level.

Please read through the care instructions below to ensure that you care for it properly:

Before Washing

• Always wash your down product completely alone to prevent down migration.
• Never wash your down product in a washing machine that has an agitator.
• If you cannot follow either of these prior instructions you should hand wash your sleeping bag using the detergent and drying process described below.

The Wash & Dry Process

1. Use a mild detergent like Dreft (for babies) or Nikwax (for technical gear).
2. Choose Low Spin or Delicate wash.
3. Choose Cold Wash & Cold Rinse.
4. Hang dry until the sleeping bag is completely dry.
5. Then loft and redistribute your down insulation in the dryer by running it for 10 minutes on low or no heat with 3 dryer balls.

Long Term Storage

• Do not store down products compressed long term. Long term compression weakens the insulation's ability to loft and therefore insulate.
• We recommend hanging it in your closet or putting it in a pillow case for storage between uses.​

For more information on caring for your gear please view our Full User Guide 

The Expanse is an ultralight hoodless down sleeping bag from Outdoor Vitals with elastic cinch cords inside that adjust the internal volume & thermal efficiency without compressing the insulation. It is cut roomy at 30 inches across the shoulders and 27.5 inches at the knee, and filled with 900 fill power ExpeDRY™ Muscovy down. It comes in 0F, 15F, and 30F comfort ratings, in Regular and Long.

Bag only, the Expanse weighs 1 lb 13 oz at 15F Regular. Long versions add 2 to 4 ounces depending on the rating. The included dry bag adds 1.5 oz and the long term storage bag adds 4 oz, and neither is counted in the bag weight.

The Expanse is offered in a 15F comfort rating, and every model has been tested comfortably at or below the rating it carries in field conditions. Outdoor Vitals publishes comfort ratings rather than limit or survival ratings, so the number is the temperature you should be able to sleep comfortably at. Loft measures 3 inches at 15F, measured on one side.

No. The Expanse is hoodless by design. Most backpackers already carry a hood on their jacket or sleep in a beanie or balaclava, so a second hood built into the bag adds weight for a job the layering system already covers. The bag seals heat at the shoulders instead, using a 23.5 inch cinchable draft collar. Plan on your jacket hood or a beanie for your head.

Elastic drawcords run inside the Expanse in adjustment zones, two in Regular and three in Long. Cinching a zone reduces the internal volume in that section, so there is less air for your body to heat. Because the cords sit inside the sleeping bag rather than wrapping around the outside, they reduce dead air space without compressing the down. The cords are elastic, so a cinched bag still moves with you.

Yes. The Expanse was designed for side sleepers and people who change position at night. It measures 30 inches across the shoulders, 27.5 inches at the knee, and a 13.5 inch minimum inside width at the footbox, so you can roll onto your side and draw your knees up without the bag restricting you. Down is distributed symmetrically, so warmth stays even as you move.

Choose the Expanse if you sleep on your side, move at night, find mummy cuts restrictive, or have tried a quilt and didn’t like the experience. Choose a quilt if the lowest weight in your sleep system is the priority. At 15F Regular the OV StormLoft TopQuilt is about 5 ounces lighter.

Regular measures 72 inches and Long measures 77 inches. Long also adds a third interior cinch zone where Regular has two, and carries 2 to 4 more ounces depending on the temperature rating. Choose based on your height, allowing room to move inside the bag rather than fitting it exactly to your length.

ExpeDRY™ is a treated down that uses gold nano particles to speed up evaporation, so the down dries faster and regains loft faster than untreated or DWR treated down. The Expanse uses 900 fill power ExpeDRY Muscovy down. It is not waterproof, but it recovers better from the condensation, humidity, and frost you run into on multi night backcountry trips.

Fill power measures how much loft one ounce of down produces, so 900 fill power down lofts higher per ounce than lower fill power down. In practice a higher fill power bag needs less down to reach the same temperature rating, which lowers the total weight. The Expanse uses 900 fill power ExpeDRY™ Muscovy down.

Store the Expanse uncompressed in the included long term storage bag. Down loses loft permanently if it is kept compressed for long periods, so the included roll top dry bag is for the trail and the storage bag is for home. Both come with the sleeping bag.

Outdoor Vitals accepts returns within 60 days on unused items, and the first exchange is free. Used gear cannot be returned, so it is worth confirming your temperature rating and size before your first trip. Defects in used gear are handled through the Outdoor Vitals Performance Promise, which is a separate warranty.

The Expanse Sleeping Bag is available in a 15F temperature rating. This is a comfort rating, and the bag has been tested extensively in the field at or below the listed rating in various locations across the Rocky Mountains. Testing has been conducted overnight at elevation every month of the year prior to launch. A 30F (in red) and 0F (in green) version will be released during 2027. To get more info about other temp ratings, sign up here.