High Sierra Topix

My feet are usually the coldest so I'd always have the bottom buttoned up and cinched tight, definitely preferred Katabatic's design.

I have both: numerous bags and one quilt. I don't really look at as an A vs. B thing, just see them as different tools. My quilt is 18oz and designed for saving weight in the summer. It has a sewn footbox (no drawcord) and a simple snap at the top to keep it wrapped around my neck, face and shoulders. I made it myself just because it cost half as much as buying one and it wasn't really all that hard to do. It's nice and warm down to freezing at the least. Much below that temperature and I prefer being fully enclosed and so switch to using one of my bags instead. Some people use bigger quilts for winter. I like to be in a bag with a hood.

Based on this thread & a couple others, I purchased a WM Badger. I took it on a test run this weekend. The temps got down into the high teens/low twenties & the bag worked great. I didn't feel the cold temps at all. I was completely comfortable all night long. Plus the bag was roomy enough for my toss & turn sleep style. Thanks to everyone who recommended this bag

dsundrwd wrote: I purchased a WM Badger....into the high teens/low twenties & the bag worked great... completely comfortable all night long. Plus the bag was roomy enough for my toss & turn sleep style.

Good choice, (based solely on my 10 years with the same bag.) IMHO, The Badger is the best Sierra bag made for a larger backpacker. Un-mentioned but still pertinent, there exists that un-measurable feeling of immense pride (probably the elitist in me) that occurs every time I climb inside...warm, safe, and gear-proud .

Regarding buying a quilt, seems that for lower elevations/summer months especially, there would be advantages to losing that extra one pound of weight. However, as we all know, snow can happen anytime Sierra and some here get high often.
How does a Jack's quilt handle 15º? How confining is a draw-string toe-box? Would extra clothes be necessary?
Still pondering the quilt conundrum.
Mark

I've taken my 20 deg quilt down to 12 on a recent trip, I had a foam and air pad and slept in a bivy, no tent. I was very warm and could even see dropping a few more degs before feeling slightly uncomfortable.

markskor wrote:Un-mentioned but still pertinent, there exists that un-measurable feeling of immense pride (probably the elitist in me) that occurs every time I climb inside...warm, safe, and gear-proud .

Why pride? Did you design the Badger?

markskor wrote:Regarding buying a quilt, seems that for lower elevations/summer months especially, there would be advantages to losing that extra one pound of weight. However, as we all know, snow can happen anytime Sierra and some here get high often.
How does a Jack's quilt handle 15º? How confining is a draw-string toe-box? Would extra clothes be necessary?
Still pondering the quilt conundrum.

There are summer quilts and winter quilts just as there are summer bags and winter bags. So you match the bag or quilt to the expected conditions.

Why choose one over the other?

For me the quilt choice was largely because I wanted to save money and sewing a full sleeping bag is harder than sewing a quilt. It remains a question in my mind if a sleeping bag is warmer than a quilt of the same weight, same fabric, same quality of down. That quilt will have more down and a higher loft than that sleeping bag but will not be fully enclosed or have a hood. So which is warmer? I don't know, but sewing a quilt is easier so now I have a quilt. An equivalent weight and approximate temperature rating bag for my quilt would be the Western Mountaineering SummerLite. I've never slept in one of those and I wonder if it would be just as warm as my fluffy, toasty quilt. I do feel the extra warmth of pride when I sleep in my own creation though.

Longri wrote:
Why choose one over the other?

It seems this may have something to do with familiarity. Most folks know sleeping
bags and it is what they grew up knowing as kids. This may fuel some skepticism
as is the case with folks who grew up with tents and would not want to use a tarp.
This has changed some in the past years, as probably will the usage of quilts as time
goes on.

Jacks R Better Hudson River, rated to 20-25F.

Hung my hammock at Twin Lakes, 9,000 feet elevation, below Silliman Pass in mid-November of 2010. There was a hard freeze. The lake had half an inch of ice, the outlet stream that was flowing the day before was sheet ice on the granite, the trail was frozen and crunchy. It was 28F when we went to bed, thereabouts.

Had a Hudson River above and another below, added a poncho loosely draped over the under quilt and strung the tarp just in case of breezes (stray wind through the down of an under quilt can be chilly at these temps).

Shook ice flakes off the shell of the under quilt... the poncho had collected condensation in it as well. I was toasty and even sweating because in a panic not trusting the quilt that low, I put on in addition to my mid weight base layer a 200 wt fleece and balaclava. Silly me. I would have been fine.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, I had to go pee - the privy was icy, the woods were deadly still, quiet as only winter in the Sierra can be - not a breeze, not a thing stirring... when I crawled back in I went right back to toasty warm.

So I trust my quilts even though they are six years old and not the new 900 fp version. I wash them every year - year and a half, based on the number of nights out I've used them - I am using them 2 - 10 nights per month, depending, and sometimes also on my bed as happened early this year when the heater broke and it was below freezing each night. The cat really likes them now too. I use them in the tent, on the hammock, and interchangeably when using only one - they are exactly alike, with the end center draw cord mod for use as an under quilt and full length omni tape on one side so they can be fastened together to cover the queen sized bed.

markskor wrote: Good choice, (based solely on my 10 years with the same bag.) IMHO, The Badger is the best Sierra bag made for a larger backpacker.

You & Rlown had nothing but good things to say about them & I figured two HST regulars must know something more about bags than I do. Thanks again to both of you.

Mav might be onto something in his comment. I've never thought of using a quilt. I like the zipper concept. I once got trapped in a marine surplus mummy bag, and got an arm out and cut the stupid rope with a steak knife. Yes a little claustrophobic.

I have mostly camped in July/Sept and only on a tarp, cowboy style. just recently as I went up higher to needing the tent in case.

I can't see a quilt in my future. I have no hair and I do sometimes choke the badger down around my head. It's a nice feature.

As for a Cat touching my bag/quilt. um, no. That's a throwdown comforter for the cat. My dog doesn't even get to look at my bags.