Sleeping Bag v. Quilt
Any opinions? I will be hiking in the smokies. Pros v. Cons? Any articles you can point my way. I've been searching. Just struggling finding anything. Thanks.
First of all, don't take advice from anyone who hasn't tried both as they have no personal experience to base their opinion on. I was a sleeping bag user for most of my life. Still have 3 Marmot down bags: 15deg, 30deg, 40deg. I haven't used any of them since 2008 when I bought my current 20 deg quilt (though in all honesty, the amount of down loft is more like a 25-30deg bag).
Pros:
Quilts with the same insulation should be lighter, and stuff smaller as they lack the underside material. Crushed insulation under your body is useless as insulation so why have it? Afterall, that is the job of your sleepig pad. Though sleeping bags can be layed open like a quilt, they aren't as good at it as a quilt so I find a quilt more flexible overall. You can wrap it around yourself as tight or loose as you want. A lot of my body sweat is absorbed into my foam sleeping pad rather then a sleeping bag bottom so I don't have to launder my quilt as often.
Cons:
Quilts can be drafty as you toss and turn during the night and it comes untucked on the side. I have myself trained to retuck it when I flip over so it isn't a problem, but some people can't seem to do that and wake up cold.
I mainly stick with the quilt because of the small weight difference and because I can use the same bag more easily in a larger temperature range.
Quilts weigh less and pack smaller, all else equal. It tends to cost less. They usually take longer to arrive since they're usually made when you order. I would not suggest one if I expected many nights under 20°F. You could stay warm with the proper quilt at that temperature, even overheat, but whatever drafts you get will be hard to ignore. Some people use cords to secure their quilt around a pad. Some people use cords to hold the quilt tight around their body. Some people don't use cords at all. A strip of fabric is sometimes used instead of those cords. Some quilts have a zipper and drawcord that forms the footbox, but the footbox can be opened so that the quilt becomes a blanket/comforter. On cooler and cold nights, you will probably need separate head apparel to keep your head warm since quilts generally don't have a hood. One quilt maker has quilts that can be worn like a poncho.
I use "usually" and "probably" a lot because there are many variations in quilts.
Thanks! any recommendations for quilt?
Golite if you want a brand name. Nemo if you want a brand name and can wait a while. EnLIGHTened Equipment if you want one that opens as a blanket. Jacks R Better if you want one that you can wear like a hammock...you do use a cord to wrap it around your body to reduce drafts. MSR if you want...weird. I don't know what to make of their quilts. There a few other cottage quilt makers that are also well suited if you use a hammock. Hammock quilts can be narrower, but that would have more drafts if you sleep on the ground.
If you're going cheap, get one or more surplus poncho liners. I sleep under one every night when I'm at home and warmer nights when hiking. You could tie several together to make a thicker blanket with air pockets, though I'd suggest just bagging it once it gets really cold. Very cheap ($10-$15 each) if you buy from a local surplus store, probably $30-$40 if you buy online.
If you've got the skills, or the patience to learn them, Ray Jardine has a quilt kit that works well. It's synthetic instead of down, so it doesn't compress as much, but I've been happy with mine for a couple of years now.
I'm a restless sleeper. Lightweight down quilt in the warmer months when drafts aren't a big deal. Back to down mummy bags when it gets colder.
I would pay a lot of attention to the width.
Maybe you have a quilt at home? Notice the width you actually use. I did.
I thought I would make my own quilt, to start. I used a $5 Goodwill down quilt.
Next, I purchased a 20 F 900-fill Brooks Range down half bag on sale. Either one or both, cover about everything I experience hiking.
If I had the cash on hand,
1. I would purchase the Enlightened Equipment karo-construction quilt.
2. I would purchase an underquilt made for hammocking, ordering a drawstring footbox and use OMNI velcro product to enclose the sides of the footbox. I would try Tewa, Wilderness Logics, Hammockgear, Arrowhead Equipment, Underground Quilts, did I leave anyone out?
3. I would purchase a quilt made by Jacks R Better or Z-Packs.
and not necessarily in that order.
The fact is, I would love to have all of them.
If you are a DIY-guy, here is discussion and links for materials and supplies.
Last edited by Connie; 07-23-2012 at 08:07.
I don't wear my hammocks, but I do prefer my quilts for ease of entry and less confinement.Originally Posted by leaftye
Backpacking light, feels so right.
Haha... I meant overhead like poncho and wrapped like a jacket.
Hammock. I won't live that down!
Oh, I didn't write that. I need my coffee.
Last edited by Connie; 07-24-2012 at 13:51.
Lots of vendors on HammockForums that sell quilts, Top and Bottom Quilts
Arrowhead, HammockGear, Warbonnet, Jacks R Better, Enlighten Equipment, Wilderness Logics, Leighs Quilts, Te Wa, Underground Quilts, Tree to Tree Gear and others
Hammock Hanger by choice
Warbonnet BlackBird 1.7 dbl
www.neusioktrail.org
Bears love people, they say we taste just like chicken.
I have a couple JRBs, shenandoah and hudson river, and they work good above 30.* I did sew wings on them to tuck them better and they did not work nearly as well without the tuckable wings. Once it starts getting cold tho, I think its the total button up of a bag that makes it better. I am heading out to the JMT/PCT in september. I'll be taking my WM ultralite or maybe the versalite. You gotta be able to sleep warm.
I'm much like Miner in that I own several high quality down sleeping bags from Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends and recently purchased a quilt and love it even more--for all the reasons stated above. I highly recommend Katabatic Gear quilts. The design of these quilts is top rate, as is the build quality. Check out the review of two of Katabatic's quits here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9hPKzf9D4o I own the summer weight Chisos quilt, for what it is worth. It kept me toasty warm in Maine well past the rated 40 degrees early this summer.
Have you considered a snuggie?
Abbrikka Cadabrikka
Be sure to look for a feature that some have; a snap at the top and a drawstring so you can put your head through an opening and cinch it down around your neck. This really helps with keeping the quilt tucked in around your shoulders.
Hammock Gear make their Burrow quilts like this. They make (2) type of footbox's; one with snaps and a drawstring that can be layed out flat if desired, the other is a sewn footbox which I prefer but those cost an extra $20.
Sorry to stay that you just missed the Black Friday sales with a number of the cottage vendors HG and a number of others had some killer deals.
David
It's even more important to use an adequate pad with a quilt. I've used my GoLite Ultra down to 22, and stayed toasty. Used straps under the pad to stop drafts. Only works if you have a big enough pad. Enlightened Equipment has a list of instock quilts on BPL, with an extra $10 off thru..........today.
Con men understand that their job is not to use facts to convince skeptics but to use words to help the gullible to believe what they want to believe - Thomas Sowell
I have myself trained to retuck it when I flip over so it isn't a problem, but some people can't seem to do that and wake up cold. - Miner
LOL. I'm almost there too Miner. Got a little more quilt training to do, I guess.
It's even more important to use an adequate pad with a quilt. -Skinewmexico
Yup! And, by that I think it also applies to shape and size of your pad. For example with my GoLite 20* down quilt that is sewn shut at the junction where it opens up near the footbox I prefer a pad that narrows down at the feet so that it fits inside my footbox and yet is still long enough to keep my shoulder and head on the pad.
I used a mummy bag for years and hated the confined feeling. In warmer weather, I loved my military poncho liners, but they aren't much good below 40°. Last year, I made myself a new poncho liner using 6oz Climashield Apex for insulation, for use in colder temps. The 6oz is rated for ~25°. The coldest I have tested it so far was 36°, and I was toasty warm. Drafts were not a problem when I rolled around, since I made my blanket in a large rectangular shape, and not tapered at the feet like some quilts I have seen. At 87" by 59", it weights 37.1 oz. Building it was pretty easy. I used 1.1oz uncoated nylon ripstop for the shell, and sewed it inside out, then flipped it and sewed it closed. I also added a perimeter stitch, and some lengths of gutted paracord and tac-toggles to tie it shut. Because Climashield Apex is a continous filiment insulation, minimal quilting is required to keep it in place. I simply sewed a large X across the blanket and called it good. Since I made this, my mummy bag has been retired. I love the versatility of a blanket over a sleeping bag, and this woobie rocks!I plan on using this when I do my thru-hike in a few years.
A good down sleeping bag acts as both a quilt and a bag, you just have to know when to keep it unzipped and used like a blanket and when to mummy up and get zipped in (for butt cold nights at 10F or below). A stand-alone quilt cannot deal with 10F or below but a sleeping bag can. A good down bag can pull a winter trip when one night gets to 40F (keep it open like a quilt) and another night a week later gets to 0F. It's more flexible, of course.
Plus, the notion that "crushed insulation under your body is useless" is wrong at least for me since I toss and turn thru the night and if I'm zipped up in my bag mummy style the bottom becomes the side (which will keep me warm) and then becomes the top and then turns around to become the bottom again, etc. Full enclosure is vital when it comes to cold weather camping and trying to keep your body rolled tight in a quilt is nearly impossible to do after a night of movement. Let a zippered mummy bag do this for you. And unzip it like a quilt on warmer nights.
BTW, if you use an Exped downmat you will have insulating and warm down under you the whole time and with 8R the downmats are fantastic for winter backpacking.
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