Traditional sleeping bag vs quilts.

TRAUMAhead · Post by **TRAUMAhead** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 1:12 am

longri wrote: The question, still unanswered for me, is whether a bag or quilt of same total weight and same type of fabric and insulation is warmer than the other. It may be one of those "it depends" kind of questions.

For the same weight, the quilt would have more down to be equal weight and more down on top of you, so it should be warmer.

wanderin.jack · Post by **wanderin.jack** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:13 am

My wife and I have been using a Jardine kit quilt for years and love it. The instructions were terrible but she figured it out.

Wanderin' Jack

cloudlesssky · Post by **cloudlesssky** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:41 pm

longri wrote:Is this -- the constraints of mummy, hood and zipper -- the main reason quilts are popular?
Or is it mainly a question of fashion?
Or could there be a weight advantage?

I switched to a quilt this past season (Enlightened Equipment) for two main reasons: 1) I found that I opened up my traditional 20 deg mummy and used it like a quilt anyhow (I sleep warm); and 2) the weight savings. After one season I really like the quilt.

As an unplanned bonus, I went on a Nov hike in the Sierras and took both. I used the quilt over the mummy and stayed toasty warm for just over a pound beyond the weight of the mummy. Plus I had a quilt to wrap up in while sipping Fireball and looking at the stars with my buds!

Bluewater · Post by **Bluewater** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:25 am

"For the same weight, the quilt would have more down to be equal weight and more down on top of you, so it should be warmer"

My experience has been that a quilt is much warmer for the weight. I use a winter quilt that weighs 22.5 ozs, with 16.5 ozs of 900 fp down, and have slept warm in 10 degrees. Most mummy bags with a similar temp rating would weigh twice as much. I bring a down beanie anyway so I don't have to bring anything extra for my head.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

longri · Post by **longri** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:22 am

Bluewater wrote:My experience has been that a quilt is much warmer for the weight. I use a winter quilt that weighs 22.5 ozs, with 16.5 ozs of 900 fp down, and have slept warm in 10 degrees. Most mummy bags with a similar temp rating would weigh twice as much. I bring a down beanie anyway so I don't have to bring anything extra for my head.

You're not making a fair comparison since a bag's rating isn't necessarily the same as the temperature at which you would have "slept warm".

And comparing your ultralight fabric / 900 fill quilt with "most mummy bags" (i.e. heavier fabric and lower fill down) is disingenuous. There are heavier quilts too. It's not difficult to find ultralight 10°F mummy bags that weigh 32 oz with 20 oz of down.

Wandering Daisy · Post by **Wandering Daisy** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 1:11 pm

I think the choice has more to do with your sleeping habits than warmth for weight. I can shift the down in my bag so that more is on the top. I am a VERY restless sleeper (even in my own bed) and I doubt I could keep a quilt tucked in. I also am the world's coldest sleeper. It is like my circulation system stops when I lay down. I zip up my 10-degree bag completely even if it is 45 degrees! I rarely over heat at night. I do not see how a quilt could really cinch up as a hood - when very cold you need to only have your nose sticking out. If you have to add a insulating hat in order to use the quilt the hat is part of your "sleep system". But if you seldom zip up or can cinch the hood in your bag, because of claustrophobia or whatever, then that feature does you little good. I would also think you need a really good sleeping pad for a quilt. Right now I use an 8-oz. x-small prolite 3/4 pad. I do not think a 3/4 pad would work as well for a quilt.

You have to compare the weight and warmth rating of the two different entire "sleep systems". If comparing apples to apples, I think they would come out pretty equal. I say more power to you for those who can sleep as warm in a quilt. To each his own.

longri · Post by **longri** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:31 pm

Wandering Daisy wrote:I think the choice has more to do with your sleeping habits than warmth for weight.... I am a VERY restless sleeper (even in my own bed) and I doubt I could keep a quilt tucked in.

That's interesting that you cite restlessness as a reason for not choosing a quilt whereas many people cite this as a reason they prefer a quilt.

Wandering Daisy wrote:I would also think you need a really good sleeping pad for a quilt. Right now I use an 8-oz. x-small prolite 3/4 pad. I do not think a 3/4 pad would work as well for a quilt.

I use a 3/4 pad with my quilt. If a sleeping bag makes a small thin pad feel any warmer or larger this fact has escaped my detection.

oldranger · Post by **oldranger** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 5:43 pm

Daisy has it exactly right from my experience. Maybe it is because we are both bonified senior citizens.
I toss and turn and need a pretty wide body bag (for my size) to be comfortable. The least little breeze when I turn over just wakes me up. Hence on any night less than 50° a quilt won't work. I wish it would. My wife on the other hand, sleeps much warmer than me and does use a quilt often, and her Western Mountaineering Bag zips all the way around the foot so it can be used as a quilt and still weighs less than 2 lbs as does my WM 20° that just zips to the foot. We both use Exped LW down mats, guess we aren't as tough as Daisy, but I already knew that.

Mike

longri · Post by **longri** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:03 pm

Mike, at what age do you become bonified?

Rockchucker · Post by **Rockchucker** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:18 pm

I'm quite the gymnastic sleeper and found quilts much better to sleep in compared to bags. It's been about 21/2 years since I bought my first quilt and since then I haven't used my mummy bag. Primarily using my 20* wide, this year I'm using a 30* regular and hope this will too work for me. I've had a few nights in the regular and so far I'm excited that it's going to work.

High Sierra Topix