Kelty Galactic 30 Review

Kelty has been around since way back in 1952 and has developed a prestigious reputation around the globe for producing high-end outdoor gear. With teams comprised of outdoor enthusiasts and all products undergoing extensive testing before hitting the market, it’s really not surprising that Kelty’s products are so popular.

Although known primarily for its backpacks, Kelty also manufactures a range of other camping products, including tents and sleeping bags. Here, we’re going to review the Kelty Galactic 30, a sleeping bag that has taken the marketplace by storm.

We know that a good sleeping bag can make all the difference to a night under the stars, so we’ve taken a closer look at the Kelty Galactic 30 to see if it really is worth the hype. We’ve weighed up some key performance considerations as well as giving it an overall rating and verdict so you can decide if it’s the right bag for your next camping adventure.

Warmth

All good sleeping bags need to be able to keep you at the right temperature, whether that’s cool in the summer or warm in the winter. The Kelty Galactic 30 has a temperature rating of 30°F (-1°C), so it’s designed for 3-season use. But will this bag really keep you warm at such frosty temperatures? Let’s take a closer look.

Insulation

The first thing to understand is that this is a down-filled sleeping bag – 550 fill power gray duck down to be precise. But what does this actually mean? Well, down is typically considered the gold standard of insulation. It’s made from bird feathers and forms 3D clusters that expand into air pockets.

This funnels air from these pockets to a series of smaller pockets within the cluster, via a process known as ‘lofting’. This traps air within the down structure, so anybody heat trying to escape is held within the pockets, which is why it keeps you so warm.

But not all down is created equal. Different down products can trap different amounts of air, and the more they can trap the warmer they are. ‘Fill power’ is the term used to describe how well the down performs (the higher the better), and a fill power of 550 is plenty for a 3-season sleeping bag, so Kelty isn’t pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes on that front.

Although down is a fantastic insulator, it does have some disadvantages compared to synthetic insulation. For instance, it can’t be machine washed as this reduces its loft. The main drawback of down, however, is that it loses its heat-retaining properties when wet.

Water resistance

We were therefore very excited to see that Kelty has opted for a DriDown insulation that’s been treated with spray-on water-repellent to help overcome this problem. While it won’t entirely fix this inherent issue with down, it does mean that your bag won’t be useless if it does get a little damp in transit.

Mechanical Features

There are also baffles throughout the bag to stop the down from shifting and leaving any patches without insulation, eliminating cold patches. On top of that, there’s a draft tube running length of the zipper to stop any pesky drafts from working their way inside the bag. Plus, the drawstring opening means you can get a snug fit around your neck or shoulders, again stopping any unwanted airflow.

Overall, this is a well-thought-out bag with novel high-end insulation that will certainly keep you as warm as its advertised temperature rating – well done Kelty!

Comfort

So, we know that the Kelty Galactic 30 will keep you warm on a cool night, but will it keep you comfortable too? In summary yes – but you’ll need a pad.

In order to keep the weight down, this bag features a fairly thin layer of padding. The lofty down, however, is extremely comfortable, and you can get a great night’s kip in this bag as long as you’ve got a pad with you (which all but the most extreme campers usually do).

Although the bag isn’t as wide as a traditional rectangular sleeping bag, it offers far more room than a mummy-style bag would. With its drawstring hood and slim, box-like dimensions, the Galactic is essentially a hybrid between the two sleeping bag styles.

Overall, this bag takes the middle ground in terms of padding versus weight and of space versus packability, and we think Kelty gets the balance just right.

Portability

For a super warm, rectangular sleeping bag, the Kelty Galactic 30 exceeds is more than enough in terms of its portability.

The down filling, while being extremely warm, compresses like a charm (far better than a synthetic bag would), resulting in a tiny packed size of just 15 x 7.5 inches. The stuff sack is included and, while the bag doesn’t exactly glide inside it, it’s not too much of a struggle to get it in there.

Down also offers a fantastic warmth-to-weight ratio (again, far better than synthetic fillings) and all three sizes of this bag weigh under 3 lbs. This makes this bag decent in terms of weight. And the packed size is quite small for such an affordable sleeping bag.

And it’s not every day you come across a warm down-filled rectangular sleeping bag suitable for minimalistic packing. Even though it is a little larger than warmer backpacking bags like the Kelty Cosmic 20. So, it’s not for lightweight backpackers, but more of a summer sleeping bag for campers or weekend hikers.

Extra Touches

We’ve already mentioned the cinchable hood that tightens the top part of the bag, much like a mummy-style bag, while leaving space lower down for moving around, much like a rectangular bag – but is there anything else special about the Kelty Galactic 30?

Yepp, it features an anti-snag zipper that we love (there’s nothing worse than when the fabric keeps getting caught) and, the best part is, this zipper can link up with another Galactic 30 to form a double bag – perfect if you’re camping as a couple or just want to give yourself plenty of room.

One thing you often see in similar bags that’s lacking in this one is a stash pocket – but we guess you can’t have everything.

Value for Money

Okay, so we know that the Kelty Galactic 30 isn’t the cheapest bag around… in fact, you can get 30°F sleeping bags for considerably less… but we think that in this case, you really are getting what you pay for.

This versatile bag combines the best aspects of rectangular and mummy-style bags into one lovely down-filled and ultra-portable package. It’s actually rare to find a portable down-filled rectangular sleeping bag, as down is usually used to cut down weight and mummy bags are the lighter style.

For these reasons, as well as its high-end materials and general construction, we think this bag is worth every penny.

Rating

With an overall rating of 94, the Kelty Galactic 30 has performed exceptionally well against our rating system – in fact, it’s one of the best bags we’ve ever reviewed. A tad more padding, a stash pocket, and a slightly lower price tag would have resulted in top marks.

Verdict

So, all things considered, would we recommend the Kelty Galactic 30? Absolutely! If you’re after a warm bag that’s suited to backpacking adventures, yet leaves you more wiggle room than you would have thought possible, then this bag is a real winner.

On top of that, this down-filled bag won’t get completely ruined if it gets a bit damp, which gets it bonus points from us. Hats off to Kelty, they’ve one very well with this one.