"Best" quilts at the moment?

craige

craige

Thru Hiker
I've not really been keeping up lately so I'm not sure who the best regarded quilts are made by at the moment... I assume katabatic are still up there, but who else should I be looking at? Best warmth - weight ratio, bargains etc. I remember seeing a quilt comparison chart a while ago but apparently my Google fu is weak.

I'm looking to get a new quilt anyway, to replace my ~10 year old hammock gear burrow 20°. What would you go with?
 
The Yank

The Yank

Trail Blazer
In terms of warmth to weight ratio the optimum would of course be a 7D shell and 900 fill (or higher). Enlightened Equipment custom, or if you want the absolute lightest shell Loco Libre offers an Argon 49 option (inner and outer) which as its name indicates weighs .49 oz per square yard, even lighter than Membrane 56. Includes 900 fill down. Not the cheapest.

Yes, in Europe I'd think Cumulus would be hard to beat.
 
tom

tom

Thru Hiker
I like quilt designs with a zip for flexibility and draft free side sleeping which for me, narrows it down to Nunatek and zpacks. I missed the Nunatek ordering window last autumn and ended up getting another zpacks. Well designed with excellent workmanship and extremely comfy...
 
Calvin

Calvin

Trail Blazer
Nunatak and katabatic are the well known top tier quilts. Katabatic has just tweaked their designs for a wider fit.
Gryphon gear made some waves with their 80% overstuff but tend to be heavier for the rating.
Timmermade is making some interesting hybrids with false bottoms which reduce weight/ drafts.

Cumulus still have the edge for good value however with the added vat the hammock gear economy burrow is worth a look as they have deals on all the time.
Liteway probably have the cheapest synthetic quilts.

I have a katabatic palisade for 3 season which I'm happy with, I'd look at nunatak if I was buying new. Mostly as quilts are expensive and they have the best reputation. Some of the features I'm interested in are the vertical baffles, edge tension control, wpb footbox and head.

Here's the latest spreadsheet and source.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/r88t9m
 
craige

craige

Thru Hiker
So after looking at all the options suggested so far I'm down to either a enlightened equipment enigma (stock, because they are made in a factory now and I was unimpressed with their sewing previously) or Katabatic either alsek or palisade, loft wise they seem comparable to other companies quilts that are rated for cooler temps and I've never been cold in my underfiled hg 20°.
I've not checked specs for hammock gear and a few others yet so I'm still comparing.

@Dickybeau, I don't really fancy a vbl layer tbh, interesting design and very light for synthetic though.
 
D

Dickybeau

Trail Blazer
craige said:
So after looking at all the options suggested so far I'm down to either a enlightened equipment enigma (stock, because they are made in a factory now and I was unimpressed with their sewing previously) or Katabatic either alsek or palisade, loft wise they seem comparable to other companies quilts that are rated for cooler temps and I've never been cold in my underfiled hg 20°.
I've not checked specs for hammock gear and a few others yet so I'm still comparing.

@Dickybeau, I don't really fancy a vbl layer tbh, interesting design and very light for synthetic though.
Click to expand...
I need the synthetics because I walk with dogs that feel the cold so end up under a ‘wing’.
 
Daniel

Daniel

Thru Hiker
i have a liteway simple 100 quilt great for summer/autumn when temps dip a bit more i can team it with a cumulus magic, my other winter goto quilts is the custom cumulus taiga 250 and 360 both toray and 900fp (EU fill😉).
 
SteG

SteG

Thru Hiker
I would like a quilt designed with a reinforced clip or some form of attachment, but just in the middlle, which allowed for some sudden movement, with no risk of damage to quilt.
Straps don't quite work well for me, but clipping the middle does.
I only really feel drafts around my legs, upper is fine.
 
Mole

Mole

Thru Hiker
SteG said:
I would like a quilt designed with a reinforced clip or some form of attachment, but just in the middlle, which allowed for some sudden movement, with no risk of damage to quilt.
Straps don't quite work well for me, but clipping the middle does.
I only really feel drafts around my legs, upper is fine.
Click to expand...
I use 2mm shockcord with a mini cordlock. Cinch it up when it's cold, longish when warmer. Anything reinforced would pass the movement on to the fabric or seam, so prefer to absorb it with shockcord.
 
Arne L.

Arne L.

Thru Hiker
craige said:
So after looking at all the options suggested so far I'm down to either a enlightened equipment enigma (stock, because they are made in a factory now and I was unimpressed with their sewing previously) or Katabatic either alsek or palisade, loft wise they seem comparable to other companies quilts that are rated for cooler temps and I've never been cold in my underfiled hg 20°.
I've not checked specs for hammock gear and a few others yet so I'm still comparing.

@Dickybeau, I don't really fancy a vbl layer tbh, interesting design and very light for synthetic though.
Click to expand...
For ‘one quilt to rule them all’ I think the Alsek might work the best. I’m not sure the Palisade would have been warm enough on our CWT, but I tend to sleep on the cold side.
 
Jaco

Jaco

Ultralighter
Mole said:
I use 2mm shockcord with a mini cordlock. Cinch it up when it's cold, longish when warmer. Anything reinforced would pass the movement on to the fabric or seam, so prefer to absorb it with shockcord.
Click to expand...
That's a good idea. One night my quilt was clipped together and on waking with a start, I gave the quilt a minor tear.

Rather than clipping both sides directly to each other, I now use the strap in between, adjusted to minimal length; the straps are elasticated and this will hopefully stop the same thing happening again.
 
JimH

JimH

Section Hiker
Maybe I'm mis-reading it a bit, but that spreadsheet misses out a load of non-US quilt makers, As Tucas being the obvious one.

Have to say I'm not a fan of any cords/attachment on a quilt, if you do that why not sleep in a bag or get a wider quilt? Then again I like a closed footbox.
 
craige

craige

Thru Hiker
JimH said:
Maybe I'm mis-reading it a bit, but that spreadsheet misses out a load of non-US quilt makers, As Tucas being the obvious one.

Have to say I'm not a fan of any cords/attachment on a quilt, if you do that why not sleep in a bag or get a wider quilt? Then again I like a closed footbox.
Click to expand...

It's only down quilts in the list and astucas doesn't offer any.

I agree, I don't mind if it's a sewn footbox or zip and cinch so much, I can see the pros and cons of each. I'll probably go for sewn for simplicity and weight as I've only really wished for cinched when airing my current quilt. But I have no need for attachments that just add something to lose/damage and unnecessary weight and complications.
 
craige

craige

Thru Hiker
Still trying to decide between ee and katabatic. Both 850 fill and only 0.25oz difference in fill weight. Ee ~100g lighter.
Ee significantly cheaper and available in from valley and peak.
Is the katabatic worth an additional 100g and more than £100 plus dealing with import stuff for a differential, contoured cut and a draught collar?
 
Dr Zarkov

Dr Zarkov

Section Hiker
craige said:
Still trying to decide between ee and katabatic. Both 850 fill and only 0.25oz difference in fill weight. Ee ~100g lighter.
Ee significantly cheaper and available in from valley and peak.
Is the katabatic worth an additional 100g and more than £100 plus dealing with import stuff for a differential, contoured cut and a draught collar?
Click to expand...
If I was looking now I would pay the extra in time and money and go katabatic. Mainly for the horizontal baffles / cut. I have an EE enigma 0F (bought before they realised they were underfilling and then added a bit) and the bag is ok right up to the vertical chambers where the down thins out considerably.
 
P

pie

Ultralighter
craige said:
Still trying to decide between ee and katabatic. Both 850 fill and only 0.25oz difference in fill weight. Ee ~100g lighter.
Ee significantly cheaper and available in from valley and peak.
Is the katabatic worth an additional 100g and more than £100 plus dealing with import stuff for a differential, contoured cut and a draught collar?
Click to expand...

I'd choose the Enigma. The Alsek has what looks like a really small foot/leg box that's stitched pretty high up. Restrictive.
 
Padstowe

Padstowe

Thru Hiker
Katabatic Alsek is a good quit I got mine in 2011 which the only down side then was they didn't offer wide quilts, I believe they also offer an overfill now if you want, but to be honest out of my 4 down quilts it's the most stuffed without an overfill but don't know if this is still the norm.
The Nunatak Arc's are also very good, not as stuffed as the alsek but still pretty good and great build quality (as the alsek). Good lot of options to choose from, I have the Arc +5c and -7c quilts both wide with no straps as they have this edge tightener thing that work quite well and for the -7 arc I got a synthetic over quit from them for it which does have straps and works great together.
I also have a 2016 PHD summer collection quilt, my lightest but also the one I least like.
 
lets_camp

lets_camp

Trail Blazer
I think the western mountaineering astralite quilt is a pretty perfect 3 season quilt. Amazing build quality, realisitic rating imo, and a great weight. I had an EE 30F and unless they've changed, I don't trust their ratings much.
 
B

Bob-W

Trail Blazer
EE used to pitch their quilts at through hikers who were also carrying down jackets and pants as camp gear and so assumed that people would wear those with their quilts and thus rated the quilts accordingly. When other groups began using EE quilts they complained that they weren't up to spec partly because they didn't realise the need for extra clothing but also EE didn't state it anywhere. About four or five years ago (I think) they began adding extra filling so the ratings are more comparable to other manufacturers.

Cumulus do good quilts that perform close to spec - as usual it depends on you, how well fed you are, how physically tired you are, etc. they changed their design a couple of years ago and are now a bit wider, very similar to EE sizing. They've gone from a closed footbox to a zip up one if that's important to you..

There's another European manufacturer, Slovakian I think, wo have started up.. There's an initial look at one of there models over on Bearbones forums but can't remember the thread. Edit, it might be the Khibu mentioned earlier in the thread
 
gixer

gixer

Thru Hiker
Had a Katabatic Flex 30f for 6 years now
Not used anything else since i bought it

If it was stolen i'd order the exact same quilt
 
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