The Coleman Pilbara C-5 is a big, rectangular sleeping bag made for cold nights: it has a comfort rating of -5°C, a cotton shell, a soft flannel lining and a fleece liner you can zip in or leave out. We paid about $130 for ours.
It’s a car camping bag through and through. It weighs about 3.3 kg and takes up real room in the back, so the question is whether the warmth and comfort are worth the space.
What You’re Getting
A Big & Tall sleeping bag of 200 × 100 cm with a removable fleece liner, packed in a compression sack with four straps.
What we like
- Rated to -5°C
- Big and roomy: 200 × 100 cm
- Soft cotton flannel lining
- Removable fleece liner included
- Snag-free ZipPlow zip
- Machine washable
What we don’t
- Heavy: about 3.3 kg
- Bulky even in its compression sack
- For the car only, not for carrying
Quick Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | Coleman |
| Weight | 3.34 kgabout 3.3 kg |
| Size | 200 × 100 cm |
| Packed size | 46 × 30 × 30 cm |
| Comfort rating | -5°C |
| Shell | Cotton |
| Lining | Cotton flannelPlus a removable fleece liner |
| Fill | 250 g/m² hollow fibre |
Warmth and the fleece liner
The Pilbara C-5 has a comfort rating of -5°C. The fill is 250 g/m² of hollow fibre, and a draft tube runs along the zip to stop cold air coming in through it.
On top of that you get a grey fleece liner that zips into the bag. That gives you two set-ups in one: with the liner in for the coldest nights, and without it when it’s milder. The foot end is lined with fleece as well, which Coleman calls CozyFoot, and there’s a zip at the foot so you can let some air in when you get too warm.
Comfort and size
At 200 × 100 cm this is a roomy bag. It’s a rectangle, not a tapered mummy shape, so there’s space to roll over and bend your knees.
The lining is a blue check cotton flannel, which is soft against the skin and doesn’t have the slippery feel of a nylon bag. The top edge has a padded flannel cuff, the ComfortCuff, that sits around your face and shoulders. Just inside the opening there’s a small pocket that closes with velcro, handy for a phone or a head torch.
Zip and packing up
The zip has Coleman’s ZipPlow, a red guide on the slider that pushes the fabric out of the way so the zip doesn’t snag.
For packing up, the Roll Control clips keep the bag straight while you roll it, and the compression sack has four straps to pull it down. Even then it stays a big package: about 46 × 30 × 30 cm. Next to our Sea to Summit Boab in its sack, the Pilbara is clearly the bigger of the two.
Weight and care
The tag lists the bag at 3.34 kg, and ours came to about 3.3 kg on the scale in its compression sack. That rules it out for anything you carry further than from the car to the tent.
The cotton shell and flannel lining are machine washable. The label recommends a large front-loading machine on a gentle cycle. Coleman gives it a 1-year warranty.
Conclusion: Coleman Pilbara C-5 Sleeping BagConclusion
The Coleman Pilbara C-5 is a big, warm sleeping bag for cold nights. It’s rated to -5°C, measures a roomy 200 × 100 cm, has a soft flannel lining and comes with a fleece liner you can zip in or leave out. The zip doesn’t snag and the whole bag is machine washable. It’s heavy at about 3.3 kg and bulky even in its compression sack, so it only makes sense when the car carries it. I paid about $130 for it. For winter camping in a swag, tent or rooftop tent, it’s a very good choice.
A roomy 200 × 100 cm cotton sleeping bag rated to -5°C, with a soft flannel lining and a removable fleece liner.
It weighs about 3.3 kg and stays bulky in its compression sack. It suits winter camping from the car, in a swag, tent or rooftop tent.
- Car campers
- 4WD tourers
- Rooftop tents
Yes, if you camp in the cold and have the room. About $130 buys a -5°C bag with a flannel lining, a fleece liner and a compression sack. If space in the car is tight, look at something smaller.
