NEMO Banshee 20 Quilt Sleeping Bag Review

The NEMO Banshee 20 is a quilt sleeping bag with a full-length zipper, drawstring collar, and drawstring foot box. Weighing 27 oz, the Banshee 20 is best thought of as a hoodless sleeping bag rather than a backpacking quilt because it doesn’t have an open back and doesn’t require the use of sleeping pad straps to use. Hoodless sleeping bags are a great alternative to quilts because you can close them up completely to eliminate drafts, something that’s a real plus when temperatures drop to 20 degrees. Since the Banshee lacks a hood, you’ll sleep warmer if you wear a fleece cap or down hood when sleeping with one, in addition to an appropriately rated sleeping pad.

Specs at a Glance

• Gender: Unisex
• Insulation: 850 fill power, duck down
• Weight: 27 oz
• Fill weight: 13 oz
• Zipper: Full length, center
• Footbox vent: Yes
• Draft collar: Yes
• Length (fits up to): 72″
• Shoulder Girth / Hip / Knee: 60″ / 56″ / 45″
• Shell Fabric: 10D Nylon Ripstop w/ DWR
• Lining Fabric: 20D Nylon Taffeta w/ DWR

The Nemo Banshee 20 has a center zip, which makes it equally easy to get out on the right or left side of your sleeping bag at night or to vent it in warm weather without a huge effort. It’s a full-length zipper so you can also unzip it completely and use the Banshee as a blanket in warm weather.

The center zip is insulated with two down-filled draft tubes that converge underneath it to prevent drafts when the zipper is closed, and there is a zipper garage at the top end near your neck so the zipper doesn’t get caught on your beard or clothing. However, the liner fabric along the sides of the zipper is not protected by a reinforced tape stiffener so it catches on the soft adjacent fabric nearly every time you try to zip it closed. The interior fabric is slippery enough that you can pull it out of the zipper with careful pressure,  but it’s an annoyance that could have been prevented with a more robust design.

Drawstring Neck

The top of the Banshee can be tightened around your neck using two drawstrings located on the left and right-hand side of the bag. The tension of the cord locks holding the drawstrings closed is tight enough that they won’t loosen at night if you roll around in the bag but relaxed enough that you can simply push open the sides to get out at night. The bag’s 60″ shoulder girth is also large enough that you can move your arms and hands to reach the drawcords while lying in the bag. You can also roll onto your side or stomach without difficulty.

While the Banshee 20 doesn’t have a draft collar, the drawstring neck acts very much like one, pulling them down in the top of the bag around your upper shoulders and neck so heat doesn’t escape when you move around inside. I was surprised at how effective it was compared to draft collars found on other hoodless sleeping bags.

Drawstring Footbox

The Banshee 20 has a vent at the foot box end of the bag that you leave partway open to cool your feet at night or pull close with a drawstring keep your feet warm.  The drawstring is tensioned with a cord lock but has a tendency to loosen because the cord is too thin to be held securely in place. You can prevent this by tying a slip knot in the drawstring so it can’t be pulled through the cord lock, but a more reliable closure would be preferable at the foot end.

Note: NEMO is aware of the drawstring slippage and fixing this issue. 

When the Banshee is completely opened like a blanket, there is a small pocket on the outside of the foot box where you can stash the cord and cord lock to keep them out of the way.

.Comparable Hoodless (Quilt) Sleeping bags

Assessment

While the NEMO Banshee 20 looks great on paper, with a center zipper, drawstring collar, and drawstring foot box, it falls short on execution. The snagging center zipper and loose drawstring controlling the foot box are irritating to deal with on cold nights and in the dark. It’s too bad because the Banshee is otherwise quite a warm and comfortable sleeping bag, but these flaws make it difficult to appreciate its potential versatility.

Disclosure: The author received a sleeping bag for this review.