How Sustainable is Big Agnes?
Average Sustainability Score
Good
Based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Big Agnes is best known for its tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads. The independently owned brand practices sustainability through its use of recycled and responsibly sourced materials and PFAS-free, non-toxic chemistries. It also shines for its robust repair services and 2nd Routt recycling program, through which customers can repurpose or retire their gear. However, Big Agnes has room to improve its impact reporting and greenhouse gas emissions tracking.
This sustainability analysis evaluates both product- and brand-level initiatives to capture the full scope of Big Agnes’ efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Our research draws from the brand’s published sustainability data, third-party certifications (a cornerstone of our process), and correspondence with brand representatives. We have independently researched 18 Big Agnes products to date, giving us a broad understanding of the brand’s use of low-impact materials, chemistry, and manufacturing practices.
You can explore our analyses of other outdoor brands, or use our advanced search to find products that align with your sustainability values.
Big Agnes receives a “Good” transparency rating. The company tracks its greenhouse gas emissions, but it doesn’t disclose its emissions data or reduction targets publicly. While it doesn’t publish an annual impact report, it maintains a sustainability page on its website that details the materials it sources, its circularity efforts, its renewable energy offsets, and more. Big Agnes also shares resources on its repair and recycling programs, as well as at-home repair instructions on its website, which we appreciate. Lastly, the brand provides relevant sustainability information about low-impact materials and PFAS on its individual product pages.
Big Agnes integrates various recycled materials, such as post-consumer polyester and nylon, across its products. While the brand doesn’t report the total amount of recycled materials it uses, we’ve seen them in nearly three-quarters of the Big Agnes products we’ve evaluated. These materials have smaller carbon footprints than their virgin counterparts, which are derived from fossil fuels, and outdoor brands are increasing their use of recycled textiles to reduce their environmental impact.
The company’s synthetic sleeping bags contain 50% to 100% recycled insulation, and many feature recycled shell and lining fabrics. Big Agnes also uses recycled fabrics in its Zoom UL Insulated and Divide Insulated sleeping pads, while the Circle Back sleeping pad is recyclable at the end of its usable life. Additionally, some of the brand’s tent poles are recyclable and made from post-industrial aluminum.
In 2025, Big Agnes began sourcing NetPlus and Regen Ocean Robic Nylon, which are made from discarded fishing nets. NetPlus nylon (featured in the Fly Creek UL sleeping bag and quilt) produces 20% less emissions and requires nearly 70% less water and energy than conventional nylon. Similarly, the brand estimates it saved about 3,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent by using Ocean Robic Nylon in its 2025 Sweetwater UL backpacks.
Unlike other outdoor brands such as Nemo Equipment and REI Co-op, Big Agnes isn’t a Bluesign System Partner, and we haven’t come across Bluesign-approved materials in its products. However, the down insulation in all its sleeping bags is treated with DownTek, a Bluesign-approved, PFAS-free water repellent.
Bluesign-approved materials meet strict standards for chemical and environmental management throughout the production process, while Bluesign System Partnership assesses brands’ supply chains and requires commitment to improving sustainability across their organizations. Partners also adhere to Bluesign’s chemical reference lists. While Big Agnes maintains its own restricted substance list that limits harmful chemicals, the list is a step below Bluesign’s, and Big Agnes doesn’t audit its suppliers.
Since 2025, Big Agnes has produced all its products without PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). PFAS is a group of chemicals that have historically been used to repel water and oil from outdoor gear. However, they have been associated with adverse health effects and are dubbed “forever chemicals” for their persistence in the environment. California and New York banned the use of PFAS in textiles in 2025, prompting action in the outdoor industry.
Big Agnes began phasing out PFAS in 2019 by transitioning to non-fluorinated water-repellent treatments on its down products. Recently, it introduced its HyperBead tent fabric, which is PFAS free and, according to the brand, 25% more waterproof than traditional tent fabrics. All of Big Agnes’ tent fabrics are also free of fire retardants (which are linked to immune and endocrine system disruption and other risks), and it seals these fabrics’ seams without solvents containing toxic chemicals like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The down insulation in all Big Agnes sleeping bags and apparel is certified to the Responsible Down Standard. This third-party certification ensures that down and feathers are sourced from animals that haven’t been subjected to excessive harm, including practices like live plucking and force feeding. It also promotes traceability across supply chains.
The brand doesn’t use other animal fibers (such as wool or leather) in its products, but it makes its TwisterCane sit and sleeping pads with EVA foam that contains at least 60% sugarcane. This bio-based material is a renewable alternative to fossil-fuel-based foam, and Big Agnes states the sugarcane it sources is grown and harvested in a “sustainable manner” and audited by a third party. However, the brand doesn’t provide information on where the material is sourced from or what the third party is.
In 2021, Big Agnes introduced its first tents with solution-dyed fabrics, which use less water and energy than conventionally dyed fabrics. The tents were among the first items of outdoor gear to incorporate solution-dyed textiles, according to Big Agnes, and the company continues to offer these low-impact materials in its VST, Copper Spur, Fly Creek, and Tiger Wall collections. Its tent poles are also anodized using a less resource-intensive process that eliminates more than 130 tons of phosphoric, nitric, and sulfuric acid waste per year.
Big Agnes maintains a supplier code of conduct that includes policies on wages, work hours, workplace safety, and more. The company reserves the right to have its employees and designated third parties monitor its suppliers for compliance with these policies, but it doesn’t disclose who these third parties are, how frequently it audits its suppliers, or the results of those audits. While its code of conduct is a step in the right direction, Big Agnes doesn’t meet our responsible manufacturing standards, which require brands to participate in a third-party program that provides certification and/or regular audits to ensure safe working conditions, fair wages, and reduced environmental impact. This puts the brand behind its competitors, such as Therm-a-Rest, which makes its goods in the U.S. and Ireland and adheres to the strict labor and environmental regulations there.
While packaging typically contributes little to brands’ carbon footprints, it generates significant waste. Big Agnes reduced its packaging waste in 2021 by removing plastic poly bags from most of its tent poles and all its camp furniture frames. The poly bags it does use are recycled, and it transitioned its sleeping pad packaging from corrugated boxes to paperboard wraps, minimizing materials. Additionally, the company’s paper packaging is recycled and Forest Stewardship Council certified, ensuring that wood and paper products are sourced from responsibly managed forests that preserve ecosystems, mitigate climate impacts, minimize chemical use, and protect workers' and Indigenous rights.
Repair services can help you keep your gear on the trail and out of the landfill, and Big Agnes’ offerings are among the most comprehensive we’ve seen. It operates a warranty and repair center at its headquarters in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, serving over 6,000 customers and providing 1,500 parts for in-field repairs in 2022 (the only year for which it discloses data). It also sells some replacement parts on its website, including tent stakes, guylines, and patches, and includes replacement valves and repair patches with its inflatable sleeping pads.
Repairs are free under the brand’s limited lifetime warranty against material and manufacturing defects, while out-of-warranty repairs cost about $20 to $50 per issue. Its repair center and team can address many issues, except damaged or missing zipper teeth, UV damage, burn damage, large tears, numerous small holes, and abrasions. Additionally, customers can access instructions for at-home gear repair and care on the Big Agnes website.
Like repair services, resale and recycling services provide opportunities for customers to keep their gear out of landfills and in circulation. Big Agnes supports circularity through its 2nd Routt program, which has operated since 2007. The program accepts past-repair products in exchange for credit and either recycles them, disassembles them for parts for future repairs, or donates them to charitable organizations.
In 2024, Big Agnes introduced its first circular product, the Circle Back sleeping pad. Customers can return their Circle Back pad to 2nd Routt at the end of its usable life, and the brand will recycle it into materials for new products. Big Agnes also sells demo and open-box products on its website, but it doesn’t accept used gear for resale (unlike competitors such as Sea to Summit).
Big Agnes tracks its carbon footprint as a member of the Outdoor Industry Association’s Climate Action Corps, a group that supports brands in measuring and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. The company uses Change Climate’s Business Emissions Evaluator tool to measure its direct (Scope 1 and 2) and indirect (Scope 3) emissions, but we’re unsure how long it has been doing so since it doesn’t publish year-over-year data. It only shares measurements of its 2024 Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, offering little insight into its impact over time.
The brand doesn’t disclose its emissions-reduction targets, either, but it has absolute goals to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 footprint and an intensity goal to address its Scope 3 footprint, which decouples emissions from economic growth. The Science Based Targets Initiative (an organization that ensures alignment with Paris Agreement temperature thresholds) hasn’t verified Big Agnes’ goals, but the brand says it’s considering verification.
Finally, Big Agnes minimizes the impact of its three U.S. facilities by purchasing 100% renewable energy through offset programs. Its warranty and repair center in Steamboat Springs has been powered by renewable energy offsets since 2006. Its headquarters transitioned to renewable energy in 2020, as did its Salt Lake City, Utah, distribution center in 2021.
Annual impact reports provide details on companies’ sustainability initiatives, such as material and chemical use, manufacturing practices, waste-reduction strategies, greenhouse gas emissions, and more. Unfortunately, Big Agnes doesn’t publish an impact report, so we lack data about much of its environmental efforts and progress. We appreciate that the brand shares a thorough sustainability page on its website, though, which features information on its renewable energy offsets, material innovations, and packaging. The brand also shares resources on its circularity programs and blog posts on its low-impact materials. Still, these resources are less thorough and offer less transparency than the impact reports we’ve seen from competing brands.
Big Agnes funds the Bob Swanson Memorial Grant, which supports several outdoor enthusiasts in tackling their endeavors every year. The grant honors Bob Swanson, who worked with Big Agnes and other outdoor brands on tent design, and was established in 2016 following his passing. The brand has also donated portions of its sales to organizations committed to environmental education and conservation, including the Yampa River Fund, Yampatika, Protect Our Winters, the National Forest Foundation, and the Continental Divide Trail Coalition.
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Our Sustainability Ratings Explained
These products are among the most sustainable on the market and earn our Better Trail Certified distinction. They often meet 80% or more of our sustainability criteria for their category.
These products are solid, middle-of-the-pack options for sustainability. In general, they meet at least half of our sustainability criteria for their category.
These products are among the least sustainable in their product category and have significant room for improvement. Most meet about 25% or less of our sustainability criteria.
Better Trail Certified Process
The world of sustainability can be murky, but Better Trail is here to help bring clarity. We’ve exhaustively researched thousands of outdoor gear products, communicated with brands, and created a detailed and rigorous ratings system to bring it all together for you. At the pinnacle is Better Trail Certified.
Better Trail Certified products score 4 out of 5 or higher in our sustainability ratings and generally meet around 80% or more of our criteria. While it’s true that no product is 100% sustainable—all take resources to create and arrive at your doorstep—these products are industry leaders and among the most sustainable on the market.
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