Quilt for the summer - Including portions of a thru hike

[Team Pancho]

So I'm looking at getting a quilt from EE to supplement my Marmot Helium 15 degree bag for my thru hike next year. I'm thinking the Helium will be pointless to carry, as it will be too hot to actually use at a certain point on the trail. I'm trying to decide if a 40 degree down quilt would fit the bill when summertime hits. Also I need a good summertime bag for home as well and I think that temperature range would work well. What do you all think? Anyone have any experience with a 40 degree Enlightened Equipment Revelation? Thanks! :)

[Studlintsean]

No experience yet but I do a lot of summer backpacking in the Virginia area on the AT in the summer. I have been using a Montbell Synthetic 40 deg bag the past few years and just recently ordered a 40 deg EE Revelation for this season. I run super warm and normally start the night on top of my sleeping bag and end up in it (but warm) at night. I am hoping the quit will provide the ventilation I am looking for in the summer and it will also be used in the spring and summer. Right now I normally bring my WM Alpinelite when temps will be below 60s in the valleys as it is just as light at the Montbell bag. The quilt should arrive in April and I will plan a trip as soon as I get it and can provide some feedback then if you can hold out that long. Others probably already have the experience you are looking for.

[drew_a_blank]

I've got a 40* Hammock Gear quilt I use in warm weather, it is a great piece of gear. I've taken it down to freezing, though it definitely got cold that night! It's comfortable to 40* though no problem. The quilts are great for warm weather, because you can open it up like a blanket to vent. I don't have experience with EE, but I've heard nothing but good things. I can also vouch for the HG quilts!

[MuddyWaters]

50F synthetic would be my choice for true summer.

[SteelCut]

I have a 40* EE Enigma. It's very similar to the Revelation. I've been comfortable in it down to about freezing by adding a hat and some light base layers. I'm very happy with my EE Enigma and I had great customer service from EE and they are a highly recommended cottage manufacturer.

[LoneStranger]

I've been using a Therm-a-Rest Ventra 40°f down quilt for years with great result. In full summer I sleep with it over my knees so I can pull it up later as it gets cool enough to want a cover. Sleeps pretty cozy down to near freezing with good sleep layers. In winter I cover it with an EE 20° Prodigy and go sub zero with extra sleep insulation.

I also will say nice things about the EE experience. They bumped my order up so I'd have my quilt in time for a winter Pemi trip and the quilt itself is very well put together.

[jupiterkn]

Have a 50deg EE Revelation ordered heard great things and plan on swapping to this in Bland or Pearisburg


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[Odd Man Out]

I've got a 40* Hammock Gear quilt I use in warm weather, it is a great piece of gear. I've taken it down to freezing, though it definitely got cold that night! It's comfortable to 40* though no problem. The quilts are great for warm weather, because you can open it up like a blanket to vent. I don't have experience with EE, but I've heard nothing but good things. I can also vouch for the HG quilts!

I have an Underground Quilt. It is a 40 deg rated, wide, long version (UG has tons of options and you can order it just the way you want it). Used in the VA last summer. Worked great.

[garlic08]

My EE RevX 30 worked perfectly for a spring/summer trip, including some 30 temps in blowing snow and 90+ temps at sunset later on. The quilt is the best gear purchase I've made in many years.

[swisscross]

The Sea to Summit Traveler looks interesting.

[JohnG10]

the local favorite in northern va seems to be the 55 degree rei down travel quilt.

I was in harpers ferry 2 weeks ago during the cold spell with a 40 degree bag and it was way to hot until about 2 am.

Currently, it's 95 degrees in northern va. So something like a fleece bag but much lighter would be best.

Jacks R Better makes a sown through Shenandoah quilt. I haven't tried it, but it looks like it would work well.

[cj2874]

I have a 30 deg Revelation. I just used it on a section in NC. Worked great! We had temps in the low 50's. Quilts are versatile due to the fact they are so easy to vent. One night I had the foot box closed due to being wet all day. Another night had it wide open to sleep cooler.

[Dogwood]

See if this helps. Here's what I'd be doing. Perhaps, consider your long term sleeping bag/quilt line up, where you may expand your hikes to(sleeping bags and quilts when taken decent care of will last many yrs and many hikes so it's not just about gear for a AT thru, you're already noticing that), and things like how you gear up ie; shelter for example (in enclosed tent, hammock, cowboy, bivy, in trail shelters(AT lean-tos), etc, it affects things like how warm you'll sleep ), etc. IMO a 15* Marmot Helium(I extensively used my 2005 model in a great variety of conditions and set-ups until it was stolen, loved it, still was in near new condition when we departed company in 2012) and a 40*quilt(synthetic or hydrophobic down) offer a great variety of set ups and addressing conditions. Don't forget you can sometimes layer the quilt over the Helium taking you down to a lower temp rating and tweaking other characteristics of your sleep system. I did this for awhile until I realized I would be doing more winter weather backpacking/camping and could afford a pricey dedicated SUL down winter model. I chose a 40* EE Rev Elite quilt in 900 DownTek because 1) I gram weenied this piece wanting something uber light but uber versatile 2) it had more moisture/wetness resistance and most of all 3) opening up to lay fully flat it doubles as an UQ in my hammock set-ups on those occasions I choose to sleep/shelter this way so I got away without having to purchase a dedicated UQ for hammocking which I thought I wouldn't be employing often anyhow. And, it fit into my hikes and current bag/quilt line up without too much redundancy.

If you think you can manage the temp discrepancy/range between a 15* conventional Helium and 50* quilt Great. I tend to micro manage my temp ratings of my sleeping bag/quilt line up these days though preferring not to have anything more than a 15* separation between them. Then again sleeping bags and quilts I'm willing to spend more do re mi on than many other pieces of gear to gain a good nights
sleep, address the widest range of conditions and uses for my hikes, and save wt and volume.

[kayak karl]

Jacks R Better 40 degree Stealth Wearable quilt. Cuts out the puff jacket or whatever else you carry for night camp.

[Just Bill]

My personal belief is for the money it's worth having a decent summer quilt and rarely is it an unused piece of gear. A decent 20's quilt can be your "one" but so many of us own a set eventually for good reason.

Again, personal preference, but I find a down quilt a bit much at the lower temps. Either the down is spread too thin, the cost is too high, or the weight/compression advantage is minimal. Around 30* or so is the tipping point in my opinion on switching to down. I think that pulling the trigger on a 150-200 synthetic summer bag is a much easier choice than a 200-300 down piece. Generally if the synthetic is a good one- you're talking an ounce or so.

Even if you compare EE bags- you'll see the difference isn't huge.
40* REG/REG Revelation- 14.15 oz, $215 or 40* REG/REG prodigy-19.72 oz $160.

A bit premature, but as you said it's for next season...
I will have quilts for sale this fall. Primaloft Gold (synthetic). Don't mean to hijack your post with an ad, but I'm making these quilts specifically because of this kind of question I see often and it's driving me insane not to say anything :D
Apex is the synthetic almost everyone else uses in sleeping gear. I found a way to make Primaloft Gold work well.
Apex is good stuff, durable, and the second highest warmth to weight synthetic. It doesn't pack very small though- it's only real ding.
Primaloft Gold is what is typically used in clothing like the Patagonia Nano Puff- packs much smaller and has a higher warmth to weight ratio. But is hard to work with (more labor), a hair more expensive and hard to stabilize in a large item like a quilt. That's why most use it only in clothing.
Primaloft Gold is about the same as 600-650 down, about as close as synthetic gets. But since it doesn't need baffles like down it can compete in weight in lighter down bags where the shell and baffles combined weigh about the same or more than the difference in fill weight.

Anywho... May change a bit still, but my first run is going into production and the samples all came back within a few percent on weights. Unfortunately no product until fall...



Just A Quilt- 0.1

Fall 2015 pricing










Model
Temp
Ounces
Grams
Retail
20% off Sale!


SUL
45
13.59
387.25
$ 181.53
$ 145.22


Regular
45
14.93
425.64
$ 187.94
$ 150.35


Big Guy
45
18.32
522.23
$ 203.76
$ 163.01










SUL
25
23.17
660.27
$ 217.16
$ 173.73


Regular
25
25.39
723.49
$ 225.07
$ 180.06


Big Guy
25
31.20
889.21
$ 244.89
$ 195.91










Sizes-
Sewn
Insulated area-
Total
Wingspan TM



Foot Box
Head
Foot
Length
(Widest point)


SUL
27
40
36
78
60


Regular
29
42
42
80
62


Big Guy
31
48
48
85
72










Suggested-
Cool
Average
Warm
Extreme
R-value-Pad


CLO 2.76
53
43
38
33
2.4288










Suggested-
Cool
Average
Warm
Extreme
R-value-Pad


CLO 5.52
36
26
21
16
4.8576










Typical base layer and light hat will buy you .5 CLO, or about 3.5 degrees

[mak1277]

If you're talking summer in the mid-atlantic (i.e., lows that don't get below 50*, and typically not below 60*), then I'd strongly consider an army poncho liner. I've used mine down to about 50* without being cold. It's not as light as a 50* down quilt (mine is ~22 oz.), but it will only cost you about $25.