What's the deal with quilts?

[Swiss Roll]

I am moving to ultralight gear and I see a lot about quilts, but I don't see a lot of discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of quilts. Is this mostly a hammock users thing? I am a tent sleeper and I was thinking of going with a Montbell SS bag. Should I consider a quilt? Why? Thanks for the input.

[troglobil]

Basically; with a bag, you are compressing what is underneath you so it provides no insulating value. Rather than pay for and carry non-insulating insulation, use a quilt.

[wakapak]

Wouldnt quilts be heavier than most bags though??

[taildragger]

Wouldnt quilts be heavier than most bags though??

Depends on you cut them. I don't use em' but I've considered making one for summer backpacking, I figure I can make it lighter and less expensive than most 40* bags.

[Two Speed]

Wouldnt quilts be heavier than most bags though??

I don't think so. Remember, you're loosing the zipper and all the seams, stitching, etc that goes with it. A friend on mine has just gotten one and says that it's a little hot. Roughly the same weight as the bag he was using recently, but all the weight is "invested" in the loft, not zippers, draw strings, etc.

It's a change I'm probably gonna make in the next coupla months, along with transitioning to a tarp.

[Marta]

Basically; with a bag, you are compressing what is underneath you so it provides no insulating value. Rather than pay for and carry non-insulating insulation, use a quilt.

This is the rationale for quilts. In fact, having used both, I can say that you do get some insulating value from the compressed material underneath you AND a zipped-up sleeping bag has a huge amount of draft-stopping power. When I have used quilts towards the bottom end of their temperature range, I spend a lot of time awake, trying to finagle the quilt to eliminate the drafts. At this point, I almost always carry a sleeping bag, but use it as a quilt, unless the weather is very cold. Then I zip it up.

[ScottP]

I love quilts. I can't see myself using a sleeping bag for anything above 10F or so.

[Allen66]

This is the rationale for quilts. In fact, having used both, I can say that you do get some insulating value from the compressed material underneath you AND a zipped-up sleeping bag has a huge amount of draft-stopping power. When I have used quilts towards the bottom end of their temperature range, I spend a lot of time awake, trying to finagle the quilt to eliminate the drafts. At this point, I almost always carry a sleeping bag, but use it as a quilt, unless the weather is very cold. Then I zip it up.

Seems as though you would have to be a motionless sleeper to avoid freezing your butt off.

[Swiss Roll]

ScottP, tell me why you like them better than a bag. What about drafts like Marta said? Do you use an inflatable pad, foam, etc.? How do you set it up at night- tuck it under the pad or what? Thanks.

[ScottP]

1. Quilts are significantly lighter
2. Quilts are generally cheaper
3. Quilts are often warmer (you can wrap them around yourself so they fit your body perfectly, whereas a sleeping bag will have more dead air space that costs warmth), 4. Quilts can be wrapped around you in camp to stay warm while sitting up, eliminating the need for a down jacket
5. Quilts are more comfortable at warmer temperatures (since you can use it like a blanket),
6. Quilts are more comfortable for side or stomach sleepers
7. Quilts are more comfortable if you toss and turn a lot.

I use a torso-length foam pad and a small groundcloth. I use my food bag as a pillow.

There aren't drafts once you get used to sleeping in one--it takes some practice, as silly as that sounds.

The key is to get 2-4 inch nylon flaps along the sides, and tuck those under your shoulders and knees at night. This will hold the insulation portion of the down in place. If it gets really cold then I curl up a little more and also wrap the quilt around my head and face, exposing just my mouth to breathe.

I have a nunatak arc alpinist, and I love it. I have around 3500 miles on it, and hope to add just as many to it this season.

[Swiss Roll]

Thanks for the response, Scott. Do you have any problems with foot drafts or does it close up at the bottom somehow?

[hopefulhiker]

I successfully used a quilt from Damascus to Kytadin....It was the Nunatak back country blanket.. It had some velcro on the edges and drawstrings on each end so you could use it like a sleeping bag. Also I took an inulated air mattress with me and silk liner... I was rarely cold and the comfort more than made up for it.. The thing was made out of 800 down and was rated to 20 degrees.. with the BA air mattress and silk liner it was good below that too..

The comfort of this system was great! It was like sleeping a home.. A big two inch mattress, with a silk sheet liner and then a blanket spread over the top! The blanet was wide enough to seal off the air around the mattress and make for a warm bed....

I liked it because it was lighter, more compact and more versatile than a sleeping bag. Plus you can use it as a comforter at home!

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

I use an Exped Wallcreeper. It is a very versatile piece of equipment. Like Marta, I generally use it as a quilt unless it's really nippy - then I zip it up and close up the foot area. It can be worn in camp which eliminates the need for a down jacket. Unlike the illustration on the website, I use the hood on my head when I use is as a quilt - toasty warm Dino neck and ears. I also use a cheap, light summer-weight rectangular bag as a quilt over both Dinos in cold weather - it extends the temp range of our bags about 20 degrees.

[wakapak]

I use an Exped Wallcreeper. It is a very versatile piece of equipment. Like Marta, I generally use it as a quilt unless it's really nippy - then I zip it up and close up the foot area. It can be worn in camp which eliminates the need for a down jacket. Unlike the illustration on the website, I use the hood on my head when I use is as a quilt - toasty warm Dino neck and ears. I also use a cheap, light summer-weight rectangular bag as a quilt over both Dinos in cold weather - it extends the temp range of our bags about 20 degrees.

That wallcreeper looks pretty cool FD!!! Thanks for sharing...i think some mornings i wouldnt want to get outta it!!

[Dirtygaiters]

1. Quilts are significantly lighter
2. Quilts are generally cheaper
3. Quilts are often warmer (you can wrap them around yourself so they fit your body perfectly, whereas a sleeping bag will have more dead air space that costs warmth), 4. Quilts can be wrapped around you in camp to stay warm while sitting up, eliminating the need for a down jacket
5. Quilts are more comfortable at warmer temperatures (since you can use it like a blanket),
6. Quilts are more comfortable for side or stomach sleepers
7. Quilts are more comfortable if you toss and turn a lot.

To each his own and I'm sure you do prefer quilts to bags. However, I think all those points (except the one about quilts being cheaper) can be made of a good mummy bag with a full zipper. To be fair, the quilts with a head hole in the middle which can be worn as a poncho are really cool, but there are sleeping bags that can be worn around camp and it's just a matter of time (or if you make your own gear it's just a matter of imagination) before more wearable sleeping bags are available.

Let me explain...
1. Quilts are significantly lighter - This is a misconception. Compare apples to apples. Or compare a standard 30*F bag to a standard 30*F quilt.
2. Quilts are generally cheaper - True if you make your own (sleeping bags also can be fairly cheap if you make your own), although Jacks R Better and Nunatak both have some pretty STEEP prices on their quilts if you're buying them pre-made.
3. Quilts are often warmer (you can wrap them around yourself so they fit your body perfectly, whereas a sleeping bag will have more dead air space that costs warmth) - Warmer is subjective and objective. Subjectively, yes, you can certainly "bundle up" with a quilt. However, if you unzip a sleeping bag, you can do the same with a bag... Objectively, I really don't think quilts are warmer than bags. With a bag you have both a hood and the ability to completely seal them up to stop drafts. There are comparable systems with quilts, but they are not as heat-efficient as the bag design.
4. Quilts can be wrapped around you in camp to stay warm while sitting up, eliminating the need for a down jacket - Very true, especially some of the JRB quilts with that essential head hole feature. However there are some sleeping bag designs that allow this. The Nunatak Raku and the Exped Wallcreeper come to mind. It would also be a rather simple matter to install a head slit in a sleeping bag...
5. Quilts are more comfortable at warmer temperatures (since you can use it like a blanket), - Very true. Although there are many sleeping bags with full zippers which convert into essentially "quilts". Quilts are generally more weight-efficient in the wamer temperatures when drafts are not a concern, though. I've got to admit that.
6. Quilts are more comfortable for side or stomach sleepers - As a side sleeper who has used quilts and bags, I've got to say that this is not true at all! As soon as a side sleeper switches from one side to the other, the quilt potentially comes un-tucked and nighttime acrobatics must be used to reposition it without waking up too much more from the effort (I've already been woken up by the cold draft on my back...
7. Quilts are more comfortable if you toss and turn a lot. - It sounds like you don't toss and turn very much if you say this...


I don't mean to say quilts aren't good or that I will never again use a quilt. To each his own to be sure! I even prefer a small 2/3-quilt in the summertime to my bag because I don't need a whole lot of insulation at night in summer. I'm just saying, there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding quilts, and a good mummy bag with a full zipper is really hard to beat in terms of any of the things that quilt users typically claim, except perhaps that in the summer a full sleeping bag (even a too-warm quilt) can be overkill, depending on what part of the country you are in.

[Marta]

Thanks, Dirtygaiters, for making all the points I wanted to make, except that I hate to start arguing with someone who has found a piece of gear that works incredibly well for him/her, even if that thing doesn't work well at all for me.

The thing that tipped me from quilts back to sleeping bags was that if I cut down the width of the quilt in order to get the promised weight savings, I had big problems with drafts. In order to make a quilt that didn't have draft problems, I had to make the thing big enough to pretty much tuck all the way underneath me--in other words, it was as big as a sleeping bag, minus the zipper. So I happily went back to sleeping bags, and stopped fighting the drafts.

BTW, I'm a cold sleeper and usually a light sleeper. The draft thing really becomes an issue for me when the temperatures drop below about 40. Quilts are definitely a summer thing for me.

[take-a-knee]

Quilts rule in a hammock but a Wallcreeper/Rock Wren works just as well. If I'm forced to sleep on the ground I'll carry a bag.

[take-a-knee]

The biggest downside of a quilt is keeping your head covered, once it gets below freezing, it doesn't matter how thick that quilt is, you WILL be cold if your head is even partially uncovered.

[Tinker]

The above point isn't totally accurate. You can wear a hat in your sleeping bag to keep your head warm. You can also use the hood from a down jacket or a JRB down hood for the same purpose.
Since I sleep on my side in the fetal position often (yes, in my hammock ), I doubt that a quilt would work for me. It would have to be very wide for good coverage.
I have used, for some time, my summer bag as a quilt, leaving the full zipper unzipped in warm weather, and have also used it to cover my toddler son (just turned 23) and I when I was saving some weight.

[ScottP]

Get out there and find out what works best for you. If you don't want a huge investment and want to try a quilt, there are some cheap synthetic ones from fanatic fringe. The Ray Way kits are great as well.