differences/opinions on Thermarest Ventra blanket and alpine blanket?

[map_guy]

Does anyone have an experience with the Thermarest Ventra down comforter and/or the Thermarest Down 35 blanket?

trying to figure out what the main differences are. One is rated for 40deg other other 35deg, but judging from some online reviews the down blanket is not as warm as it its rating.

i am looking to use it mostly for car camping and the occasional back packing trip in New England in the summer and fall. It may be connected to another when car camping. Not sure which would be the most durable and best band for the buck.

[ScottP]

I've never used those products. Here are a few other manufactures that make similar products"

Nunatak is probably the best. But you pay for it.
You could also buy a comforter from western mountaineering. I used the twin for my summer bag on the AT. 35-40 degree rating IMO.
There a few companies that make synthetic ones. Mountain Laurel Designs, I believe. And there's a Ray Jardine quilt kit--if you can sew that's probably thee cheapest.
Golite: I know nothing about their products. They had very low quality production for a few years. I've heard that they're better again, but I never re-gained faith in them.


I've used the ray way quilt, WM cloud 9 comforter, and nunatak arc alpinist. All great bags. And I highly prefer the quilt thing to the sleeping bag thing.

[map_guy]

Thanks for the reply, Ill look into those.

I originally I liked the idea of snaping the blanket to the Thremarest fitted sheet or matress. being able to combine two blankets together seems like a good feature also. Anyone comment on the thermarest system as a whole ie snapping the blankets to the fitted sheets/matress, or linking them together?

[moongoddess]

Several other companies making excellent quilts you might want to consider:

EnLightened Equipment: http://enlightenedequipment.com/quilts.html (probably the best cost to quality ratio on the market today)
Jacks R Better: http://www.jacksrbetter.com/ (they make extra-wide two-person quilts as well as regular width quilts; you might like the two-person models for your car camping)
Katabaric Gear: http://katabaticgear.com/design/

I can vouch for the quality of the EnLightened Equipment and Jacks R Better quilts, as I own both.

I don't know anything about the Thermarest products, but there are three user reviews of the Ventra comforter on Backpack Gear Test which you might find helpful: http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Sleep%20Gear/Quilts%20and%20Blankets/Therm-A-Rest%20Ventra%20Down%20Comforter/

[gwb]

I have a Golite synthetic 40 degree quilt. Used it for about 2 1/2 years. Temps. ranging from muggy summer nights in the 70s' down to the high 30s' (i sleep very warm and dont mind wearing some clothes). It has held up well, shows no signs of wear. Light enough for me about a pound and a half. I toss and turn a lot so I like it for that reason too... The quilt has been discontinued, if you search you still might find one for very cheap. A friend of mine bought one last year after seeing mine and paid less than $100.00.

[map_guy]

Thanks for all the replies. I finally got a fairly good idea of the various Thermarest Blankets and thought I would recap for anyone looking up this thread in the future. It took me buying one of each and sending one back, but in the end I ended up with what I needed.

Thermarest Tech Blanket
Light summer weight blanket, runs small and probably only warm enough for the warmest summer nights. Relatively inexpensive and runs very small, size up. I can see how it would be great for summer camping/backpacking/bike touring if you have a Thermarest mattress and matching fitted sheet. Just size up!

Thermarest Ventra Down Comforter (40deg)
Was orginally released with the Thermal Blanket a few years ago and has more insulation. It has a generous cut and will cover the whole thermarest mattress it is sized for. When online reviewers complain about the thermarest tech blanket being thin, they were probably expecting the Ventra Down comforter. This is an awesome summer car camping blanket.

Thermarest Apline Down Comforter (35deg)
This is the newest of the three blankets. Thermarest seems to have improved the Ventra Down with better down and a more compact design. The cut is much narrower. The Apline blacket is the one for backpacking and light weight touring. If you want a wide/roomy fit the Ventra Down Comforter is better for you, the Alpine blanket is more performace orientated. If you are larger, make sure you size up, the Alpine blanket runs tight.

Design Flaws
The two major design flaws with the Therarest Blankets are that only three snaps on each side may not be enough to keep the blanket attached to the matress. Also in a perfect world the blankets ends could be snapped together for a roomy sleeping bag, unfortunatley Therarest skimped on the material and you cannt do that unles you are very skinny.

Hope this helps, I bought all three on sale and returned the Ventra Comforter. The Tech and Alpine Blankets should cover me for this summers adventures. My girl friend does not like the thermarest system and prefers a regular sleeping so I will probably be selling the unused Alpine blanket I got for her. I love my large and will be keeping it.

Hope this helps someone else decide on the Thermarest Blanket System....

My next holly grail will be go through the suggested blanket links and look into a down blanket for car camping that is big enough to go from a wide roomy rectangular sleeping bad to a large blanket. Every good quality down bag I have seen so far is mummy shaped....

[hunter121]

I agree with the author's point of view! I learned a lot. Thank you!
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