down quilts?

[APE]

Anyone have experience cold-weather (single digits F or less) camping with a down quilt? Specifically I'm curious about Nunatuk quilts.

 

I've been thinking about this a fair bit. Some thoughts/questions:

* I imagine they're easier to layer than bags if you ever face desperately cold conditions

* can the head be kept warm enough?

* without a closed design, what about drafts?

* much lighter per degree of warmth rating than sleeping bags, since bottom-side down is useless anyway

[genepires]

I have a down bag liner that has only a sleeve for a pad on the bottom. it has worked very well for summer and sometimes in winter when weight is key. (add a bivy and down jacket for winter) Not sure if this quilt thing is a just a sleeping bag without down on the bottom or a down blanket.

[RaisedByPikas]

backpackinglight.com has a lot of down quilt fans but they seem to be mostly good weather, low elevation gram counters. For me I cant see how they are worth the few ounces of weight savings, everytime i roll over i would get a big draft. I roll over a lot when camping on snow...

[APE]

My understanding is that it has straps to keep it in place over a pad. I guess the idea is similar to the Big Agnes bags that have no down on the bottom, since bottom-down is just about useless anyway.

 

The weight savings are pretty good. Seems you can save at least 1 lb for a cold setup (-10 or 0 F or so) over high fill count bags.

[layton]

no down on the bottom is not useless unless your pad is really thick. no insulation on the bottom bags suck ballz

[tvashtarkatena]

If you're going out in -F temps with a quilt, better be riding a tuan tuan. That's insane. About 2 am you'll be wishing you'd carried an anvil's equivalent of down.

 

50 degree night temps with a blankie, maybe.

[matt_warfield]

Tvash, It's no wonder you can't stay warm because it is taun taun.

 

In my opinion, down was once disregarded and is now respected again. But as a sleeping bag and not a base. I prefer Thermarest but have dealt with thinner in certain situations, including spooning when necessary.

 

 

[Water]

no down on the bottom is not useless unless your pad is really thick. no insulation on the bottom bags suck ballz

 

the insulation on the bottom of a sleeping bag does very very very little compared to the sides and top. I don't know what the R value is but for the reason down is lauded for its weight&compression to warmth ratio makes it that much less useful when it is actually compressed. As a stomach sleeper in a down bag I compress a ton of the down under there and those spots offer probably less insulation to my pad than synthetic bag would. That said there are definitely small areas, pockets [like vert or horiz indentations of the sleep pad) where you are not compressing it that puff out and certainly helps.

 

What I have found when one doesn't have down on the bottom of a mummy bag, actually means that it isn't at the sides really either--just kind of on the top draped over but not tucked in like a quilt. then it certainly feels colder.

[Fromage]

If you're going out in -F temps with a quilt, better be riding a tuan tuan.

 

And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!

 

 

[layton]

What I have found when one doesn't have down on the bottom of a mummy bag, actually means that it isn't at the sides really either--just kind of on the top draped over but not tucked in like a quilt. then it certainly feels colder.

 

Exactly. A quilt you can at least wrap up in

[Luzak00]

Yeah, I do this. Gotten down to the minus teens Fahrenheit. My winter quilt weighs 28 oz - 20oz of that is down. It is warmer than I've ever needed, while being lighter than many 20º bags.

[genepires]

if a quilt is better than a sleeping bag, then why are sleeping bags so prevalent?

because sleeping bags are better. evolution .

Edited January 19, 2013 by genepires

[matt_warfield]

I agree with Gene. Sleeping bags are the bomb. Why wouldn't you want something enclosed? When you are camping out at -25 or so the hardest part is bodily functions and putting up with your tentmate for endless nighttime hours from inside your nice bag which has been the norm for decades.