Draft Dodger Quilt + Borah Bivy; My Thoughts

[HellsCanyon]

So I've got 10 nights on my sleep system so far and this last weekend was a real test for it. I'm using a Big Agnes Q-Core SL, Borah Gear M90 side zip bivy, and Seek Outside Draft Dodger Quilt (made by enlightened equipment). I've used this combo in temps ranging from 55* to a confirmed 21.8* and have been very impressed so far.

This last thursday I was wrangling for a local outfitter on a packtrip and took my setup. We were only at 5300' in elevation but the owner said that the meadow for some reason gets really cold. Being late July with no precipitation in the forecast I figured I wouldn't even setup my tarp shelter and just sleep under the stars in my bivy. Thursday night I went to bed wearing my firstlite merino LLano long sleep top and a pair of cotton boxer briefs. I had the quilt fully unzipped in "blanket" mode and went to bed about 9:30 PM. I woke up in the middle of the night a bit chilly so I put on my C4E element beanie, and closed up the footbox on the quilt and went back to bed and slept soundly till morning with the occasional tucking my head under my quilt (that C4E beanie isn't very warm).

Woke up the next morning and checked my new Brunton ADC pro that I'd calibrated a few days prior and was really surprised to see the temp had dropped down to 21.8*!


The next night I setup my Little Bugout shelter and wore a pair of wool socks, a neck gaitor, C4E hat, merino top and merino boxers and while it dipped again into the 20's I slept like a rock without waking up once. I didn't even pack the straps to keep my bivy tight into my sleeping pad and have found that the bivy does a good enough job that I doubt I'll ever use them. Had zero issues with drafts or the quilt pulling up on one side or the other and I toss n turn quite a bit in my sleep.

Morning frost



Shelter setup for 2nd/3rd nights. My stick I used was about 5" too tall which really dropped down the internal space. Though the bivy itselft laid out is nearly 7' long so there's more room there than it looks.



Overall I'm very very happy with the setup. Temp versatility is amazing, pad is rediculously comfortable, and with a warmer hat I could see me being comfortable into the high teens fairly easily, especially if I were to throw on my puffy jacket. I understand that quilts aren't for everyone, but this setup is working like a champ for me so far. I also leave my quilt/pad inside the bivy and just roll it up from the bottom to fit into a Kifaru Med 5 string stuff sack and it fits with ease. If my shelter didn't have it's own integrated pocket I could fit it in there as well. I also want to say that I'm not babying these pieces at all. They've been stepped on and crawled all over by an 85 lb dog, hug up on tree branches and I've used the quilt in early morning glassing sessions where I'm sitting on it on the ground and it shows no worse for the wear. I'm a fairly warm sleeper too which I think should be mentioned.

Mike

 

[aron]

Hey Mike, thanks for the review. What temp rating is your draft dodger quilt? I was looking at pulling the trigger on the 30deg Rev X through Enlightened Equipment.

 

[HellsCanyon]

I have the 20* quilt. It was crazy how just adding a neck gaitor, hat and wool socks really helped,my comfort zone. The quilt definitely does it's job but we still gotta be smart about complimenting it's design with a few things!

Mike

 

[Slim Jim]

Nice write up Mike. I used my Borah bug bivy last week while scouting and really liked it as well. Learned something really quick though. Don't use guy out cord to keep the screen off your face, use shock cord because I tore about a inch and a half hole at the loop moving around in it. Not a big deal I'll just sew it back up

 

[HellsCanyon]

Nice write up Mike. I used my Borah bug bivy last week while scouting and really liked it as well. Learned something really quick though. Don't use guy out cord to keep the screen off your face, use shock cord because I tore about a inch and a half hole at the loop moving around in it. Not a big deal I'll just sew it back up

I could definitely see that with the bug netting! The tie off on mine is above my net window on the m90 material and I've used a static line to tie it up and haven't had an issue.

Only thing I would like to change on the bivy is to have a dual zipper pull setup instead of the single! Small weight penalty for a much more comfortable design. It would allow me to open it up from any position or to leave it partially open which would be nice.

Mike

 

[Slim Jim]

I agree on the zipper Mike. It'd more convenient but not much different than a sleeping bag. No quick getaways

 

[HellsCanyon]

I agree on the zipper Mike. It'd more convenient but not much different than a sleeping bag. No quick getaways

What I don't like about it is that sometimes I may want to leave the area over my face open instead of closed and it doesn't allow that. I don't always like staring through the mesh window and if I leave it open across my chest it means that it is open at ground level where my pad and quilt meet. At least with a sleeping bag the zipper oftentimes is right near your neck while on the bivy it's clear under my right shoulder...

Mike

 

[Manosteel]

nice review, thanks for posting

 

[littlebuf]

i forgot to compare our two quilts when we were on our hiking trip. only difference is the draft collar but I wanted to see them side by side. glad its working out for you, ive found much of the same results, have about the same amount of time in mine but with a bit different set up. the versatility of the system is really awesome.

 

[luke moffat]

Great stuff HC....that little ADC is pretty handy for knowing exactly what the temps were overnight for true reports other than guessing. Nice report indeed. Thanks for sharing.

 

[fillthefreezer]

ive got a small piece of cord dangling over my face, hang the suunto from it, 1.so the alarm does not get ignored in the sleeping bag, 2.temp seems to be pretty accurate this way

 

[dreamingbig]

Now I want an ADC!

 

[Wrongside]

Thnx for the review HC. My setup is a LBO/TiGoat Raven/Neoair/MEC LW -10C bag. My bag is pretty light, but I've been thinking about trying one of those DD quilts to save some more.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Great stuff HC....that little ADC is pretty handy for knowing exactly what the temps were overnight for true reports other than guessing. Nice report indeed. Thanks for sharing.

It is indeed handy I'm really liking it!

Wrongside, as long as you have a decent R-value'd pad I would give the quilt a try. It's awesome in a bivy... Not sure how I'd fair in a floorless where you can get some drafts without a bivy is REAL cold weather.

Mike

 

[Wrongside]

Wrongside, as long as you have a decent R-value'd pad I would give the quilt a try. It's awesome in a bivy... Not sure how I'd fair in a floorless where you can get some drafts without a bivy is REAL cold weather.

Mike

Ya, I have a Downmat7 for the colder weather and would likely still switch back to a sleeping bag for the late season and winter stuff. Unless the quilt really blows me away with its performance... Thnx again for the info.

 

[dirtytough]

Nice review Mike

 

[HellsCanyon]

Bringing this back to the top with some more observations and nights in the back country.

This last weekend I spent 3 nights solo at ~6500' with nighttime temps in the high 30's low 40's. For one reason or another, I actually got a bit chilly at those temps!! I was getting plenty of quality food (about 2500 calories per day) and while I didn't get COLD, on two of the three nights I actually put an extra layer on in the middle of the night.

Here's what went different, and it has everything to do with how I pitched my Bugout shelter. Every night this week I pitched it with the rear open as well as the front and the two nights I got chilled I had a bit of a breeze blowing through my shelter. Probably averaged less than 5 mph but it was still a breeze. The Borah bivy with the M90 top material is far from windproof and this is what I attribute getting chilled to. The quilt didn't have any issues as far as getting pulled up on one side or another leaving me exposed. I can actually hold my quilt up to a light and see where there are some spots of down that are unevenly distributed and in other areas severely lacking. That's what I felt I was dealing with as I wasn't so much chilled all over but I definitely had a few 'cold spots' where I could definitely feel some heat loss occurring. I also think because my pad is 3.5" thick that the bivy might be restricting a bit of the loft in some spots. I could definitely tell when I slept on my side that my top should would get cold as the loft was compressing against the bivy.

I think in order to take this system later into the fall I'd like to either pick up the vestibule for the shelter cutting down on the wind, get a better more wind resistant/larger bivy, or switch to a tent. I'm also contemplating picking up the vestibule and running a ground sheet under my bivy and doing away with the bivy altogether. I think this is probably going to be my best bet. I do know that if I go into October, I'll likely switch back to my 20* Marmot Sawtooth Down bag. It's a LOT heavier but the last thing I want to do is be stuck in the back country with a sleep system that allows me to get cold.

Only more experience with this system and experimenting a bit is going to help me figure some things out and what works best later in the year. I really think the quilt is a quality piece of gear and I KNOW it works at very low temps from the first few cold nights I've spent in it, and I'd have no reservations about using it in a tent or in a shelter where I can keep the drafts at a minimum.

Anyways figured ya'll would like the update, even if it isn't 100% positive!

Mike

 

[MLHSN]

Interesting observations. I noticed the same light spots with my down bag. I laid my bag out for a few hours to completely expand and shook it around quite a bit. I made sure to jiggle the little individual pockets (Where I tend to grip the bag if I leave it unzipped) that were light on the down. That helped move it around and even out the down.

I also made the same observation on air flow with my tarp tent. I've been trying to put the windward side all the way down to the ground and lift the other side for venting.

 

[Brock A]

Same experience as you Mike, Pitched my Paratarp high this weekend. Wind kicked up and I froze my ass off in the borah. I lowered 1 side of the tarp to block the wind and it worked well. I am going to pick up a tent for any late season stuff.