View Full Version : Quilt vs Sleeping bag
guavaguy
02-08-2009, 10:32
I am curious as to everyone's opinion (experience) on using a quilt vs a sleeping bag.
I like the weight advantages and roominess of a quilt but I worry that it may not be as warm as a bag.
I have a 20deg 550 down bag and was looking at making a quilt from Ray Jardine's site. It would be synthetic fill with about a 2.5 inch loft and silnylon shell.
Thanks for any and all opinions.
SGT Rock
02-08-2009, 11:38
My experience...
I had a down mummy bag I used on many trips - I almost never zipped it up. Even during a winter trip on the Pinhoti where we were in the single digits. When I started going lighter I switched to a quilt. That was in about 2000. I've never used a bag since - even during my thru attempt last year in single digit weather. I love quilts.
take-a-knee
02-08-2009, 11:55
Quilts rule in a hammock, you can tuck the sides in and keep out drafts. Sleeping on the ground they don't work as well for me, YMMV. If you toss and turn a lot (and who doesn't sleeping on the ground) you get a lot of drafts, at least I do anyway. Also, with a quilt you forgo a mummy sleeping bags' extensive head insulation so that makes it a lot harder to stay warm unless you get something like this:
http://www.jacksrbetter.com/Hood.htm
One of these hoods lowers the comfort rating on my quilt almost ten degrees over just a fabric balaclava, well worth it's cost/weight. When you order it they will include velcro you can sew to the standup collar of your vest/jacket so it'll do double duty.
A good sleeping bag, like a Western Mountaineering or a Feathered Friends, weighs the same as a quilt practically. And as someone once told me, you can turn a sleeping bag into a quilt, but you can't turn a quilt into a sleeping bag.
In the summer I use my bag as a quilt, and in the spring/fall, I use it as a bag.
SGT Rock
02-08-2009, 12:17
A good sleeping bag, like a Western Mountaineering or a Feathered Friends, weighs the same as a quilt practically. And as someone once told me, you can turn a sleeping bag into a quilt, but you can't turn a quilt into a sleeping bag.
In the summer I use my bag as a quilt, and in the spring/fall, I use it as a bag.
I don't know - I've got both. I've turned my Nunatak BCB into a bag - but determined it to be no advantage at all in doing that.
take-a-knee
02-08-2009, 12:30
A good sleeping bag, like a Western Mountaineering or a Feathered Friends, weighs the same as a quilt practically. And as someone once told me, you can turn a sleeping bag into a quilt, but you can't turn a quilt into a sleeping bag.
In the summer I use my bag as a quilt, and in the spring/fall, I use it as a bag.
Can't turn a quilt into a bag?
http://www.jacksrbetter.com/DTEPC.htm
How can a piece of down filled fabric 60in wide with a zipper be as light as 48in of fabric minus a zipper, granted we aren't talking pounds here but it does add up.
It would be synthetic fill with about a 2.5 inch loft and silnylon shell.I thought that using a waterproof shell was not good. Doesn't it need to breathe? I also like to use synthetics as a backcountry clothes dryer with your body heat when you have a rainy day so it would really need to breathe for that situation.
take-a-knee
02-08-2009, 12:54
I thought that using a waterproof shell was not good. Doesn't it need to breathe? I also like to use synthetics as a backcountry clothes dryer with your body heat when you have a rainy day so it would really need to breathe for that situation.
Yes, you want DWR (durable, water-repellant) fabric, not silnylon for a quilt shell.
hopefulhiker
02-08-2009, 13:31
I started out with a WM Ponderosa because I was fat. In Hot Springs I switched to a quilt, used with a silk liner and a BA insulated air core mummy. I used it all the way through Maine till almost the end of October. It was a lot more comfortable.. I was cold a couple of times with it. There was an unusual blizzard the first of April near Hot Springs.. I got caught in that an had to zero in the shelter. It was cold. Again, towards the end of October, I had flip flopped and was headed back to Gorham, I spent a night in a shelter a few miles out. Another snow storm came through filling up the shelter with snow. I was pretty cold then too. But for the hundreds of nights that I used this combination it was just fine.. Especially in the hot summer, I just used the silk liner and the quilt as a big down pillow.. Also I used a tarp tent..
I also use a Nunatak BCB which can be used either way but have use it primarily as a quilt because I toss and turn a lot in my sleep.
guavaguy
02-08-2009, 20:10
Thanks to everyone for the input. I am going to go with the quilt but make sure it is a breathable fabric.
Thanks again.