REASONS TO BUY
Very light
Packs down small
Finely crafted
REASONS TO AVOID
Too short
Hood and collar don’t seal well
Zipper comes undone by itself
Western Mountaineering HighLite Review
While this bag is one of the lightest in the review, its features and fit drag it down toward the bottom of the rankings
One of our complaints with this bag is that the hood didn't easily cover our entire head and forehead, and it wasn't easy to seal off the face enclosure to trap warm air inside.
By Andy Wellman ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ July 2, 2025
Contributions From: Justin Simoni
RELATED: The Best Ultralight Sleeping Bag
Our Verdict
The Western Mountaineering HighLite is a hooded mummy bag that is among the lightest in our review. It also packs down into a very small stuff sack, making it one of the best choices for those who need light and small. That said, it ranked near the bottom of our overall comparative rankings. We experienced issues with the fit, which was narrow and constricting, and slightly shorter than advertised. We also thought the features like the hood and half zipper performed pretty poorly compared to the many other bags we tested with the same feature set. While this was a bag we really wanted to like, at the end of the day, it is not one we would recommend over other products tested for this review.
Our Analysis and Test Results
In previous years, we have reviewed the Western Mountaineering SummerLite, a slightly heavier and mildly warmer mummy bag that has a full-length zipper. This year, in the interest of trying out an even lighter offering from Western Mountaineering, we tested their HighLite. We loved how little it weighed — at 15 ounces, it was the second lightest bag in our review and packed down into a very small stuff sack as well. Unfortunately, despite these awesome attributes, we found that there wasn't much else about this bag that we could praise. It used a relatively small amount of down in a sewn-through construction that wasn't super warm. We thought the bag was tight, especially in the foot and leg areas, and it was also a bit too short when the hood was over our heads. The hood and neck enclosure didn't do a good job of sealing out cold air, and the zipper also had issues. As such, this bag was ranked near the bottom of our comparative rankings.
We found this bag to be a bit short for people near its advertised length of 6'0", and thus it was more comfortable for people who were a bit shorter and smaller. Here on a simple overnight “Cowboy camping” in the San Juan Mountains.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Warmth
The HighLite is rated to 35°F, although we did not find it comfortable enough to sleep at that low temperature. It uses 8 ounces of 850-fill power down inside horizontal sewn-through baffles. The cut is designed to be low volume, so there is less space requiring heating. We agree that it did seem to warm up inside pretty quickly, but that the overall design didn't keep us very warm all night long.
For a hooded mummy bag, we were disappointed that the hood was so shallow and didn't cover our entire head very well. We also wish that the zipper had a draft tube or that there was a neck draft collar. The whole hood and neck ensemble didn't allow for a tight cinch and didn't fit very well to begin with, so we found that warm air easily leaked out, and cold air in. The tight fit also meant it was uncomfortable to wear extra layers on cold nights, and thus, we thought this bag wasn't very well suited to temperatures near its 35°F rating.
Here we put a completely frozen Nalgene bottle into the inside of the WM HighLite, then zipped it up tight and left it in the shade on a hot day for an hour, in order to compare the relative insulating properties of the various sleeping bags. We performed this test with all the sleeping bags in this review.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Weight
Our size 6'0" sleeping bag weighed 15 ounces on our independent scale, which is even an ounce lighter than advertised. The included stuff sack weighed an additional 1.5 ounces. This low weight is the shining bright spot for the HighLite.
This bag packs down into a super tiny included waterproof stuff sack, and it was also the second lightest bag in this test.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Comfort
Comfort is largely a product of how well the bag fits, and we thought that this one was perhaps the smallest and tightest fit compared to its advertised dimensions. Despite ordering the 6'0" size bag, our 5'11" tall head tester found the bag too short to be comfortable when the hood was pulled up over the head. It also felt narrow and tight in the feet and hips, although wide enough for comfort around the torso. The hood and neck of the HighLite did not close completely around the face. It also left a long cord dangling in front of and around the face and neck. Smaller than advertised, these design features were uncomfortable to the point that the bag could not be used properly on a cold night.
With the hood tightened up as it is here, this bag felt a bit too short for our head tester, who didn't find it comfortable to use with the hood pulled over his head.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Versatility
Its hooded mummy bag design with a short half zipper meant that the HighLite is certainly less versatile for warm weather use than a quilt. Conversely, we found that since it wasn't very effective at sealing in the trapped heat, this bag also wasn't particularly suitable for extremely cold temperatures. As such, we thought the range of comfortable usage for this bag was quite narrow, from approximately 40°F to 50°F. It certainly makes for a better summer bag than one that you'd use for heading into high altitudes. It also doesn't use treated down or advertise itself as having a DWR treatment applied to the face fabric, although we confess that it seemed to bead and shed water pretty well when we spilled our tea on it one evening.
Despite not having an advertised DWR coating on the shell fabric, we found that this bag did a good job of forcing the water we spilled on it to bead up and fall off without absorbing.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Features
Yet again, we found the features of this bag underperforming. We have already mentioned how the hood was shallow, didn't fit well, and how the drawcord at the face was not very effective in fully tightening up the opening around the face on cold nights. This bag also features a half-length side zipper, similar to the other mummy bags in this test. However, we found that this zipper seemed almost too slippery, as it would slide open of its own accord at night while we slept. Additionally, when opened all the way, which frequently happens with a half-zip, it would always come unthreaded, meaning we had to rethread it every time we zipped it. In short, we wish this bag had a different zipper.
The zipper had a tendency to simply unzip itself as we slept in the night, and every time we fully unzipped it, it would unthread itself, necessitating having to constantly re-thread it, as we are doing here.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Should You Buy the Western Mountaineering HighLite?
The Western Mountaineering HighLite is one of the lightest and smallest packing sleeping bags in this review. It is a hooded mummy bag that is best used during summertime temperatures, as we found it uncomfortable down to its recommended 35°F rating. Overall, it was one of the lowest performers we tested, and although we tried to like it, we didn't think it worked as well as its competitors.
This sleeping bag retails right around the average price for an ultralight sleeping bag. Since it ranks near the bottom of our comparative review, we would recommend spending that money on a different bag instead.
Testing out the HighLite (left) while camped out in the San Juan Mountains.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
What Other Ultralight Sleeping Bags Should You Consider?
The Therm-a-Rest Vesper 32 is a reasonably-performing quilt for fast-and-light missions that sleep a little warmer. For a mild condition quilt, consider the Sea to Summit Traveller 45, which is best suited for indoor use. For better cold-weather performance, look at Western Mountaineering's own Western SummerLite.
Setting up the tent for a night in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming on a warm early summer climbing trip to Ten Sleep.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Western Mountaineering HighLite versus top competing products:
—Andy Wellman and Justin Simoni
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