User Review: GoLite Ultra 20

GoLite Ultra 20
Above: The current Ultra 20, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed March 31, 2008 by Chris B

Rating:
Design: Quilt
Fill: 800 Down
Temperature Rating: 20
Weight: 1.3 lbs
Price Paid: $230

This quilt has not performed as well as I expected. I'm neither a hot nor cold sleeper.

Night 1: Contrail tarptent in ~36 degree weather with a 30-40 mph wind gusts. Capilene 3 pants and shirt Smartwool socks, beanie and neck gaiter. RidgeRest pad, trimmed to 2/3 length. Contrail was buckled down to windy storm conditions but there was a constant air flow through the tent. I cinched the bag down to fully seal the neck and sides. The bag was very cold & I barely slept. Was drafty & didn't have enough loft to do the job.

Night 2: Contrail tarptent ~38 degree weather with less than 5 mph winds. Capilene 3 pants and shirt, down vest, Smartwool socks, beanie and neck gaiter. POE Ether Thermo 6 pad. Knowing the bag was cold I planned accordingly by wearing the vest and upgrading the the Thermo 6 (this pad is also cold, I returned it for a BA Dual Core, I hope this helps). I woke up cold several times during the night but was better than night 1.

Overall, the bag doesn't come close to the 20 degree rating and needs some severe measures to be taken to augment its deficiencies. I have since purchased a Montbell drytech sleeping bag cover and the BA Dual Core to maximize what I can get out of this bag & hopefully bring it down to the 20 degree rating.

I don't think it is a total loss though. The Ultra 20 is very light & packs small, and if this final adjustment to the system fails, I plan on using it for a sleeping bag liner for a sub zero condition sleep system.