Therm-a-Rest® Mira™ Women’s Sleeping Bag Wins Gear Institute Best in Class Award

Therm-a-Rest^® Mira™ Women’s Sleeping Bag Wins Gear Institute Best in Class AwardThe Women’s Mira bag proved to be one of the warmest, lightest bags in its class

SEATTLE, WA (January 22, 2014) —The Gear Institute has awarded Therm-a-Rest a 2014 Best in Class Award for the Women’s Mira sleeping bag. The Mira bag was recognized for its excellent warmth-to-weight ratio, impressive durability and for being the lightest sleeping bag in its class.

The Mira women’s down sleeping bag is Therm-a-Rest’s ultralight three-season sleeping bag designed to keep women warm on everything from low-elevation thru-hikes to high alpine traverses. The women’s-specific cut minimizes excess space and features like the Toe-asis™ Foot Warmer, 750+ fill goose down, reflective ThermaCapture™ lining and mattress integration allow women to stay warm and sleep better outdoors.

“The Mira kept even our coldest-sleeping tester warm and comfortable during a blustery night of snow flurries on Mount Rainier when temperatures bottomed out at 18⁰F,” said Dan Nelson, editor of GearInstitute.com. “The inclusion of an extra foot pocket… within the well-contoured toe box meant our chronically cold tester had happily warm toes throughout the night–something that’s usually impossible to achieve!”

Like all Therm-a-Rest sleeping bags, the Mira bag’s integrated Synergy-Link™ mattress connectors are key to securely aligning the bag with a sleeping pad to eliminate problems with sliding, twisting and cold spots. For 2015, the Mira and its male counterpart, the Antares, incorporate Nikwax® Hydrophobic Down, which retains loft up to 6x longer than untreated down and absorbs 40% less water than untreated down.

“The Therm-a-Rest Mira takes advantage of the fact that virtually every backpacker carries a sleeping pad as well as a bag. By relying on the pad’s insulation, Therm-a-Rest designers cut weight by eliminating most of the insulation in the bottom panel of the Mira,” explained Nelson. “The result is a somewhat roomy down bag that proved to be among the warmest we tested, while also being the lightest.”

The Best in Class Award is the Gear Institute’s premier award for excellence in outdoor gear design, recognizing the products that received the highest overall Gear Institute Rating in their class during 2014 field testing. All products were extensively field tested by experts against similar products, and evaluated objectively based on transparent criteria and without tester bias or advertising influence.

About Therm-a-Rest®

Seattle-based Therm-a-Rest® has been the market leader in premium outdoor comfort since its invention of the world’s first self-inflating mattress in 1972. A commitment to providing inventive, long-lasting and reliable products has driven the expansion of the line into closed-cell foam mattresses, air mattresses, sleeping bags, blankets, seating and hammocks that reinvent the way people sleep and relax outside. All Therm-a-Rest mattresses are made in the Seattle, WA and Cork, Ireland manufacturing facilities.

For more information, visit www.thermarest.com.

About GEAR INSTITUTE

Gearinstitute.com is a premier destination for outdoor gear and adventure content. Our mission is to revolutionize gear testing in the outdoor industry by working with the best testers in the industry. We are committed users of outdoor gear—professional guides, product engineers, specialty shop employees, athletes, writers, and everyday outdoor people. And we’re stoked about good gear. Our tests are driven by guides, veteran outdoor industry journalists, professional coaches and top-level outdoor athletes who put each product through extensive review, with an eye on every detail.
Above all, we strive to provide fair, objective, and credible product reviews to the buyers of outdoor gear. That means we cannot and will not be influenced in any way by advertisers, product representatives, or our own biases.

We aim to provide the most respected gear reviews and advice for mainstream gear buyers, through objective, head-to-head product testing of the most current, innovative outdoor gear on the market, and present the results in a compelling, easy-to-read format for the information-seeking customer. Unique aspects include: The Gear Institute Rating — based on 100-point field, the Verdict — our expert product summary, and the Good and the Bad — compared side-by-side. Our seasoned experts’ experience and credibility give each of our tests a level of depth and breadth that is unmatched.

By Kerri Dellisanti through press release ©