Trek Guide
What sleeping bag do you need for a Nepal trek? A Pokhara guide's honest take on comfort ratings by trek and season, down vs synthetic, whether to…
By Travel Himalaya Nepal · May 21, 2026
Teahouse rooms are unheated and the blankets are thin — your sleeping bag is your only real source of warmth at night, and good sleep drives acclimatisation and energy . For most autumn or spring high treks ( EBC, ABC, Annapurna & Manaslu Circuits ) a bag…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
I have guided in Nepal since 1998, and the single thing first-timers get wrong is assuming the teahouse will keep them warm. It will not. Dining rooms have a stove that is lit in the evening and fed with dung or wood, but bedrooms are never heated . The walls…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The honest answer is less extreme than most gear-shop staff will tell you, because they are quoting you the limit rating and calling it comfort. For the main teahouse treks in the two normal seasons — roughly March—May and late September—November — a bag…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
For Nepal teahouse trekking I recommend down for almost everyone. Down is warmer for its weight, packs down far smaller in your duffel, and lasts for years. Its one real weakness is that it is useless when wet — but inside a teahouse room you are never rained…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
A silk or thermal liner is the cheapest upgrade you can make. It adds roughly five degrees of warmth, so it can turn a -5°C bag into something usable higher up. Just as importantly, it keeps the bag clean — which matters enormously with a rental that…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
This is the question people email me about most, so let me be direct. If you are trekking once, rent. A quality rated down bag rents for roughly US$1—2 a day in the gear shops of Thamel (Kathmandu) and Lakeside (Pokhara) — confirm the current rate locally, as…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
What most people should do
Four-season down bag (−15 °C), rented
A bag you would buy costs several hundred dollars and you need it for perhaps five cold nights. Kathmandu and Pokhara rent good ones for a couple of dollars a day, and we make nothing from…
↑ Swipe up
A bag you would buy costs several hundred dollars and you need it for perhaps five cold nights. Kathmandu and Pokhara rent good ones for a couple of dollars a day, and we make nothing from telling you that — take your own silk liner and the hygiene question answers itself.
Not for: People who camp at home, or anyone doing three Himalayan trips. Then buy once, properly.
Rental shops in Kathmandu and Pokhara carry this — about USD 1-2 per day in Thamel or Pokhara Lakeside. We take nothing from that.
Read the full reviewPeople agonise over the weight and bulk of a warm bag. On a supported teahouse trek you should not. During the day your sleeping bag rides in your duffel, carried by the porter — you walk with only a daypack holding water, a layer, and your camera. So a…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Buy this even if you rent
Sea to Summit Reactor Thermolite Liner
The one sleep item everyone should own: it solves the rented-bag hygiene question and turns a borderline bag into a warm one — the warmth claim is optimistic, so treat 8 °C as nearer 5 °C…
↑ Swipe up
The one sleep item everyone should own: it solves the rented-bag hygiene question and turns a borderline bag into a warm one — the warmth claim is optimistic, so treat 8 °C as nearer 5 °C in practice.
Not for: Nobody who is renting a bag. This is the item that makes renting work.
Check price on Amazon Read the full reviewIf you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.
The bag does most of the work, but these habits are what my clients thank me for. Change into clean, dry thermals and dry socks before bed — never the sweaty ones you trekked in, because damp fabric steals your heat all night. Wear a beanie ; a lot of warmth…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
For most autumn and spring high treks in Nepal, a down bag with a comfort rating around -10°C plus a liner keeps you warm from Namche to Base Camp. Buy on the comfort figure, ignore the "extreme" marketing, rent rather than buy for a one-off trip, and let…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Best bag to own
Marmot Trestles 15 Sleeping Bag
Synthetic keeps working when damp and costs a third of equivalent down — it is also twice the packed size, which on a porter-carried duffel matters less than the internet thinks.
↑ Swipe up
Synthetic keeps working when damp and costs a third of equivalent down — it is also twice the packed size, which on a porter-carried duffel matters less than the internet thinks.
Not for: A single Himalayan trip. Rent, unless this bag will see use at home.
Check price on Amazon Read the full reviewIf you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.
Plan your trek
NMA-certified guides · permits sorted · 5,000+ treks since 1998.
Free guide
Permits, costs, seasons and routes — the essentials we send every traveller, plus a free, no-obligation trip quote.
↑ Swipe up
Read the full report and grab the free Nepal Trek Insider Guide — or ask our Pokhara team for a tailored, no-obligation quote.
Read more & get the free guide Plan my trip — free quote