converting from sleeping bag to quilt

[neo]

how many people would consider switching from sleeping bag to quilt
advantages are
1.lighter
2.more comfortable
3.less exspensive.
4.easier to make
5. more compact
6.easy to use in a hammock.
7.they are sexier

[Heater]

how many people would consider switching from sleeping bag to quilt
advantages are
1.lighter
2.more comfortable
3.less exspensive.
4.easier to make
5. more compact
6.easy to use in a hammock.
7.they are sexier

I am going to try one of these. I'll have to get someone to make me one from the kit because I have never sewn a thing, in my life except a few buttons, and I did a poor job at that.

I have also thought about the Western Mounatineering POD 15. It is a 15 degree bag but it unzips all the way down. It is a bag with very little fill on the back but incorporates a pad right into it. Thas Kinda likea quilt.

If I dont like the self-inflating pad I could easily cut a foam pad to fit.

[Colter]

I know I wish I had a quilt during the warmest parts of the AT. Then, a quilt would have been warm enough and would have had most of the advantages listed.

However, in colder weather a sleeping bag kicks butt over a quilt. And keeping you warm is what a sleeping bag or quilt is all about!

[neo]

here are a couple links if ya want a down quilt jackrbetter
if ya want synthetic try fanatic fringe
if ya wanna make your own ray way quilt kit neo


http://www.jacksrbetter.com/index_fi...ng%20Quilt.htm

http://www.fanaticfringe.com/page6.html

http://www.ray-way.com/quilt/index.shtml

[Tha Wookie]

I switched a while ago. Made mine, and it holds two -snug.

Never a problem staying warm. 'cept when I'm all alone.

Does anybody hear that country music?

[neo]

I know I wish I had a quilt during the warmest parts of the AT. Then, a quilt would have been warm enough and would have had most of the advantages listed.

However, in colder weather a sleeping bag kicks butt over a quilt. And keeping you warm is what a sleeping bag or quilt is all about!

not really quilts and sleeping bags are rated by loft,loft traps air
that where the r value comes in,i sleep in a hammock in the 20,s
never got cold yet neo

[Colter]

not really quilts and sleeping bags are rated by loft,loft traps air
that where the r value comes in,i sleep in a hammock in the 20,s
never got cold yet neo

What I'm saying is that it depends on the temperature more than anything. Polar explorers or people climbing cold mountains carry sleeping bags, because they offer more warmth for the weight. A sleeping bag will be warmer than a quilt of the same loft, because with a quilt you tend to lose lots of warmth around the edges.

Maybe quilts work well in a hammock where you're "cocooned" a little more. I know they're not as warm in a tent or under the stars.

Regardless of theory, if it works well for you, that's all that matters.

[neo]

What I'm saying is that it depends on the temperature more than anything. Polar explorers or people climbing cold mountains carry sleeping bags, because they offer more warmth for the weight. A sleeping bag will be warmer than a quilt of the same loft, because with a quilt you tend to lose lots of warmth around the edges.

Maybe quilts work well in a hammock where you're "cocooned" a little more. I know they're not as warm in a tent or under the stars.

Regardless of theory, if it works well for you, that's all that matters.

i understand what you are saying,but to help remedy the loss of r value/heat loss i added a couple elastic straps that snugg the quilt around my bodi,yes on an artic expedition or mountaineering expedtion extreme down bag for extreme weather fits the bills,but for what i do,he quilt works just fine. neo

[peter_pan]

Switched to a quilt 3 years ago....best move ever....yea it leaks air on the ground when one tosses and turns....but in a hammock this is never a problem...and, since I've not gone to ground in over two years, it is never a problem....quilts and underquilts are the way to go in hammocks...But then I'm biased.

Pan

[Hammock Hanger]

It is probably my next progression. I basically sleep with my sleeping bag over me and not in it anyway. Sue/HH

[littlelaurel59]

Has anyone used the combination of a quilt over a bag in cold weather?

I have a Kelty 30* Light Year bag I have used comfortably down into the 20s. I was thinking about a quilt for summertime use, and putting it over the above bag for winter use. It would be a lot cheaper than buying a winter bag for only occasional use.

Any experience? Thoughts?

[Jaybird]

how many people would consider switching from sleeping bag to quilt
advantages are
1.lighter
2.more comfortable
3.less exspensive.
4.easier to make
5. more compact
6.easy to use in a hammock.
7.they are sexier

HAMMOCK....SCHMAMMOCK!
QUILT.........SCHMILT!

Give me a sleeping bag any day...& with the DOWN bags approaching the SUB-POUND weight area....

i like my mummy bag!

[Seeker]

i've already got a virtual quilt with my WM Caribou, at 20oz... i'm a hammocker, and seldom sleep in the bag, but drape it over me.

[Just Jeff]

Jaybird Schmaybird...the Anti-Hammock Crusader!! MUAHAHAHA!!

I like quilts in the hammock. A wide enough one seems like a lighter way to sleep on the ground, too...but I haven't tried to figure out how wide makes me comfortable. That would mean sleeping on the uncomfortable ground. And, well, it's just not worth it to me to do that...

[neo]

HAMMOCK....SCHMAMMOCK!
QUILT.........SCHMILT!

Give me a sleeping bag any day...& with the DOWN bags approaching the SUB-POUND weight area....

i like my mummy bag!

hammock hanging is the only way to fly neo

[Roland]

hammock hanging is the only way to fly neo

Some of us are better grounded than others.

[wyclif]

HAMMOCK....SCHMAMMOCK!
QUILT.........SCHMILT!

Give me a sleeping bag any day...& with the DOWN bags approaching the SUB-POUND weight area....

i like my mummy bag!

Yup, I'm in total agreement here. Quilts are fine if you happen to be in a hammock or something, where gusts of cold air won't go under the edge of the quilt, but if you're a tent or tarp camper you are going to want that pure down warmth up on Springer in March and April!

[peter_pan]

Has anyone used the combination of a quilt over a bag in cold weather?

I have a Kelty 30* Light Year bag I have used comfortably down into the 20s. I was thinking about a quilt for summertime use, and putting it over the above bag for winter use. It would be a lot cheaper than buying a winter bag for only occasional use.

Any experience? Thoughts?

Stu Bilby, sleeping bag editor at BPL, used a No Sniveller over a thirty degree bag on his Napal Trip... Think they were out something like seven weeks unsupported... He has reports at yahoo groups, Backpackinglight and on the BPL site ( picture there also).... He alternated between using it as an over quilt and a quilt liner...both worked....What he reports really liking was using it as camp wear, convenient, warm and enabled him to eliminate an insulated top.

Pan

[Youngblood]

What I'm saying is that it depends on the temperature more than anything. Polar explorers or people climbing cold mountains carry sleeping bags, because they offer more warmth for the weight. A sleeping bag will be warmer than a quilt of the same loft, because with a quilt you tend to lose lots of warmth around the edges.

Maybe quilts work well in a hammock where you're "cocooned" a little more. I know they're not as warm in a tent or under the stars.

Regardless of theory, if it works well for you, that's all that matters.

My experience has been the same as yours when I have used a sleeping bag as a quilt and it works that way in a hammock as well. A hammock does tend to wrap around you but you still have to try to keep ever thing tucked and any movement causes air leaks somewhere. The hood, foot pocket, draft tubes and drawstrings for the chest/neck and hood work wonders in a well designed sleeping bag.

I use my sleeping bags basically the same way in a hammock as I did when I slept on the ground, use it as a quilt until I need more warmth and then I get in it and use it as a sleeping bag. It is more difficult to get in a sleeping bag in a hammock and quilt style is not as restrictive, so a quilt or using your sleeping bag as a quilt is the way to go in a hammock as long as you are warm enough.

I've always thought the primary tradeoff was comfort versus warmth, but that is when that is all you are using. A quilt sounds like a great way to extend the temperature rating of a sleeping bag, but it needs to be the right size to do that as its girth requirements are different if it goes on top of a sleeping bag versus inside a sleeping bag and likewise the girth requirements of a sleeping bag will be different if you are using a quilt inside it. If you sleep with a warm jacket with an effective hood, then a wide enough quilt will likely work as well as a good mummy bag. There are lots of ways to do the same things but you need to pay attention to some of the details to make sure your system does every thing you need it to do.

[neo]

conventional sleeping bags suck,quilts rule neo

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/...p?i=6063&c=577