Is quilt my best option

[littlebuf]

Just a few nights so far but no real test as to its capability's. I have several nights out planned for this fall if all goes well ill be sleeping in it for about three weeks straight. If it fails me I will be the first to give that review as of now my experience with it has been good

 

[Aron Snyder]

So if the guy is on a budget (and he is) and he can't afford to try a bunch of items out, what would you suggest? He's on the forum for help, and telling him to go try everything isn't much help. So what would you do?

Tell him to buy a good sleeping bag?

Tell him to buy a good quilt?

Again, he asked for help, but it seems like you jumped on this thread (again) to argue with whatever I suggest. I'm cool with that, but it seems like you're less worried about helping someone and more worried about arguing with me....?



Rambler and others had some great points and real world info.... GREAT INFO GUYS!

Not yet but you'll notice I'm not endorcing it either. I'm endorsing making up your own mind based on personal experience. Not Internet posts from guys you don't know that's all seems like a reasonable stance to me.....

 

[FrankieP1988]

Not yet but you'll notice I'm not endorcing it either. I'm endorsing making up your own mind based on personal experience. Not Internet posts from guys you don't know that's all seems like a reasonable stance to me.....

I would agree I will make my final decision based upon the experience I have with the bag or quilt i chose, but I think its helpful to learn from other's experiences as well, I dont think it matters if you personally know the person giving you the advice. I would say the vast majority of members here seem to be very credible and a lot are experienced in back country hunts. For me it helps to hear all input on the subject so I can then make a better educated decision instead of spending a few hundred bucks then regret the decision.

 

[Rizzy]

When it comes to warmth to weight ratio the sleeping bag is a better choice because you can seal yourself up in it, with no hassle, which retains your body heat. Your going to get more comfort out of a 20 d bag versus a 20 d quilt. And I'm referring to a single quilt, not the "whole quilt system" or extra clothes, beanie, and whatever else it takes to make it work, just the single piece of gear, one sleeping bag vs one quilt.

I would simply rather carry less gear. If I get cold with my bag I can put on my clothes, if I'm in a quilt and already wearing my clothes, then its going to be a long night. Trying to sleep while freezing your a$$ off is a one time lesson that I learned the hard way in the beginning. Yes this has made me gun shy, bias, and conservative, and a little close minded about the quilt systems. But I can say from first hand experience and time in the field that a 0 degree sleeping bag works during hunting season, and its as simple as blowing up the mattress and crawling in. If your new to backpack hunting, it will probably work for you too. Once you get time in the field you will find the threshold of both you and your gear. Then you can start experimenting with other options, but I warn you, if you constantly test the limits then you will reach them eventually and it sucks!

The temperature in the rocky mountains is really varied. It could be 30 d on a hillside, and a half mile lower in the bottom of the canyon it can be 20 d, there are tons of microclimates in the mountains, our weather stations and reports can't always keep up or be accurate. The animals know this and move accordingly, we don't usually have that knowledge til its too late so be prepared! The region your in also makes a difference, the Rockies are arid and cold, the Banana belt (WA, N Id) has milder temps and more rain. 30 degrees and above is forgiving, below 30 gets exponentially more critical.

I have seen youtube videos of Shug Emery sleeping in a quilt system in below 0 temps in a hammock, but this is only achieved with a whole quilt system. The system being a hammock, a quilt, an underquilt, and extra clothes. The underquilt is the key here, its uncompressed and offers a better warmth to weight ratio versus a sleeping pad, I think. But it takes 2 trees to hang a hammock and you can't run a stove

Rambler, I am interested in what your complete quilt sleep system consists of to get down to 0? How much does it weigh? I imagine a hammock and underquilt alone might be lighter than a sleeping pad.
Is the quilt ratings based on using it stand alone or with an underquilt?
Maybe the overall quilt system has a better warmth to weigh ratio than a bag and pad combo, I'm interested in hearing more about this system for cold weather hunts.

For you to successfully go down to 0 your probably using a hammock, underquilt, a quilt, and some extra clothes. Don't get me wrong this looks like a very comfortable and efficient system, but I think the problem arises when we try to combine the two systems in COLD weather. For instance like a quilt on top of a sleeping pad instead of on top of an underquilt in a hammock, or a sleeping pad on a hammock instead of an underquilt.

 

[1morehill]

Wow after reading the above I'm completely amazed at the lengths this thread has gone too. What it really comes down to is safety and reliability of the equipment you purchase. I think everyone on here can admit that at one point and time upon choosing your gear whether it be a purchase or a load out they've made a bad decision. So really If you choose to buy a quilt or bag it is one of your choice there isn't really a bad decision as long as you know the pro's and con's of your choice and are prepared to accept your decision and have the ability to cover you ass in your choice. So with that being said we will continue to shave our nuts slap the bug juice on and hunt in loin clothes just so we will save an extra 2lbs on our load out. All I'm saying is to keep it in perspective and choose your gear to be safe whichever way you go.

 

[7mag.]

I like the different opinions and experiences from you guys. I am trying to decide between an EE quilt and a Kifaru Slick bag, and this thread has a lot of interesting points.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Pretty sure the Donner party ran quilts.

Owned two quilts, they work 90% of the time just like Levi's, but their not the best overall option!

 

[cmeier117]

I like the different opinions and experiences from you guys. I am trying to decide between an EE quilt and a Kifaru Slick bag, and this thread has a lot of interesting points.

Those are on two complete different ends of the spectrum, so good luck deciding on that one.

 

[cmeier117]

I would agree I will make my final decision based upon the experience I have with the bag or quilt i chose, but I think its helpful to learn from other's experiences as well, I dont think it matters if you personally know the person giving you the advice. I would say the vast majority of members here seem to be very credible and a lot are experienced in back country hunts. For me it helps to hear all input on the subject so I can then make a better educated decision instead of spending a few hundred bucks then regret the decision.

what time of year will you do most of your hunting? Early bow season? Or will you have some later season hunts in there as well?

 

[Justin Crossley]

For what it's worth, I think a quilt system will be lighter for my use than a bag. I don't have near the experience in the mountains as Aron though and the Cascades are different than the Rockies by a huge margin.

Here is my reasoning. When I go hunting, I carry a bunch of different gear in my pack just like everyone else. I always try to make my gear serve multiple uses as do most guys. So, since I'm already carrying clothes and a beanie to stay warm up on a high windy ridge while I'm glassing all day, I figured I may as well also use that same gear to keep me warm at night. So I'm going to try a light weight quilt and my clothes together as a complete system. This should also give me the ability to comfortable at a wide range of temperatures.

This is my theory and I may be proven wrong at some point. I just know that I have carried a lot of clothes into the backcountry which I have sitting next to me when I sleep and I'm trying to get away from that.

We are really not talking about much difference at all between the weight of a quilt and a bag of the same rating anyway. Maybe 5 oz.? (both being the same quality)

If a friend told me that they wanted to buy one sleep bag/quilt to serve as many situations as possible, I would tell them to get a good quality, synthetic mummy bag.

 

[luke moffat]

so snowshoeing and -20 are out, how would you feel taking one sheep hunting?

Already took it out grizz hunting and doing it again for another grizz hunt starting tomorrow. Will be taking them on a fly out sheep hunt as well, that said the WM bags are going to live at the strip we get dropped off at "just in case". I think 1.5 pounds isn't too bad for a quilt. Honestly if I could only have one sleeping bag/quilt it'd be a WM versalite though. At 2 pounds even and 10 degree rating it is still pretty hard to beat.

 

[fillthefreezer]

Will be taking them on a fly out sheep hunt as well, that said the WM bags are going to live at the strip we get dropped off at "just in case".

just curious how your confidence level in the system was, and i feel thats as good an indication as any

 

[FrankieP1988]

thanks for all of the input guys, it is much appreciated, for my needs ive decided to go with the bag

 

[Rick Leathley]

For my money a quality 20 degree bag has the most versatility. I can unzip it in hotter weather. In colder weather I can use a bivy and clothes to take it down to 5 or 10 degrees .

I also don't think I would run a quilt unless I was 100% in a bivy or a hammock. I toss and turn a lot in my sleep especially backpacking.
I use a WM and never regretted that purchase.


Pretty much every purchase I made trying to save money by skimping on gear has cost me more later upgrading.


Every

 

[ridgefire]

I agree with what Rick posted.. You can always unzip a bag if needed but hard to zip up a quilt when needed. A high end bag is not a whole heck of lot heavier than a quilt and not much bigger either.

 

[TheRambler]

Aron, my normal setup is indeed in a hammock using an underquilt, but just as many times I also use a top quilt on the ground with just a sleeping pad.

To go to 0F I don't need anything special, just my 0F quilt and either my -10f underquilt if in my hammock or a prolite plus and a foam pad if on the ground. I don't carry or use any gear that I would not normally use anyway during cold weather. I wear a beanie, long johns , and a balaclava. If its far below 0f then I will also wear a down puffy and down pants.

I have been down to -26f in my hammock system and -30f using the same quilt on the ground. obviously while using extra clothes.

I use nothing extra when it's 0f, jut a beanie and or balaclava.

My 0f quilts weigh 26oz for the top quilt and 29oz for the under quilt(-10f). Top quilt has 16.5 oz of 900fp fill, under quilt has 19 oz of 900fp fill.

My 40f quilt weighs 15oz

If I had to guess I have about 100 nights in my winter quilt, and about 150 in my summer quilt.

 

[Aron Snyder]

Aron, my normal setup is indeed in a hammock using an underquilt, but just as many times I also use a top quilt on the ground with just a sleeping pad.

To go to 0F I don't need anything special, just my 0F quilt and either my -10f underquilt if in my hammock or a prolite plus and a foam pad if on the ground. I don't carry or use any gear that I would not normally use anyway during cold weather. I wear a beanie, long johns , and a balaclava. If its far below 0f then I will also wear a down puffy and down pants.

I have been down to -26f in my hammock system and -30f using the same quilt on the ground. obviously while using extra clothes.

I use nothing extra when it's 0f, jut a beanie and or balaclava.

My 0f quilts weigh 26oz for the top quilt and 29oz for the under quilt(-10f). Top quilt has 16.5 oz of 900fp fill, under quilt has 19 oz of 900fp fill.

My 40f quilt weighs 15oz

If I had to guess I have about 100 nights in my winter quilt, and about 150 in my summer quilt.

I think Rizzy was asking about your set up, but thanks for the explanation! I think you've got more time under a quilt than anyone, so it's valuable knowledge!

 

[Rizzy]

+1 on the explanation

I'm intrigued by the hammock setup. For summer scouting and early season, when I'm not using a stove it seems like a good option. Some of the ridges I like to glass from don't have flat ground.
I don't want to hijack the post any further with specifics about hammock camping so I think i will start a new thread on it

Frankie, I know a 0* slick bag will get you into November, but it's at the upper end of your price range. If you go with a down bag, you will want 850+ fill, and that's more expensive.

 

[TheRambler]

Haha, You are correct, it was Rizzy! Was typing that on my phone, so must have misread.

Forgot to mention that I also have a 20F 3/4 underquilt that i use with my hammock. I typically use the 20F underquilt and the 40F top quilt until temps are below freezing. And when the temps are 32F or below i typically switch to my winter quilts the 0F and -10F underquilt. During the transitional times of year i sometimes use the 20F underquilt with the 0F top quilt as long as I am relatively confident the lowest expected temp is above 20F or so.

All of my quilts are from www.hammockgear.com, despite the name they do not have to be used in a hammock. I have found they are very accurately and very conservatively rated. If I had to guess, i would say that they are easly an additional 5-10F warmer than their rating.

 

[trk3263]

thanks for all of the input guys, it is much appreciated, for my needs ive decided to go with the bag

I think you made a great choice Frankie. I like the fact that with a quilt you can use it down to its rating and lower with the right clothes and pad but yet you can also use it in the warmer weather by keeping the sides open or just pushing it off to the side. I am running my quilt with a TiGoat Raven bivy which has a lot of room so I can manipulate my Quilt any way needed.