Quilts

Featured review by Shane

The EE Revelation Apex synthetic quilt is an excellent part of my UL sleeping kit. It is warm, comfortable, and performs well even in damp climates. This quilt also compresses quite well so it doesn't take up tons of room in my pack. Furthermore, it is only 20 ounces (the long/wide version).

After quite a few years of backpacking with a down quilt, I recently decided to get an ultralight synthetic quilt for those outings in damp or humid conditions. I heard good things about Enlightened Equipment's quilts, so I got the Revelation Apex quilt when it was on sale last year. The quilt came packaged nicely with a stuff sack and a larger storage bag. I could tell right away from handling this quilt that it is well-made. A picture of the underside of the quilt. Because I'm just over 6' tall, I purchased the long/wide version of the Revelation quilt.

Read more: Enlightened Equipment Revelation APEX reviews (2)

Featured review by Winter Woodsman

A great quilt with top notch materials. It is a bit higher price point than its competitors. The issue many people have is correct sizing. The quilt seems to run a little small unless you are a dead still back sleeper. Size up!!

Really nice quilt. Warm, light, durable, and well designed. The price point was a bit higher than competitors at the time of my purchase and I think that has been the primary drawback of this product for me. I have seen other online reviews, in particular Outdoor Gear Lab, that complain about the fit and warmth leakage and other "average" features of this quilt.  I bought mine from the manufacturer over the phone and they made it clear to me that unless I am a very still back-sleeper, I will need to size up.

Read more: Katabatic Gear Palisade 30° Quilt reviews (5)

Featured review by CT1964Hiker

Own both the Katabatic Flex 40 and Flex 22—each 900 fill. They are just fantastic, and fit all my needs. Mostly it is warm enough with the Flex 40, but with the Flex 22 you cannot go wrong.

I am 6 foot 3 / 193cm / 95kg, so here are my 5 cents, my history of sleeping bags compared: old Finmark/ Ajungilak officially 3 Celsius Comfort—too narrow, in reality Comfort more like 10-12 Celsius: SOLD NOW extra wide Yeti Sunrise Comfort 800  XL, egg form XL, roomy but at 1400g much too heavy for UL trekking, comfort max 3 Celsius (even if specs said -2).....SOLD NOW   Yeti was extra wide and heavy, but I still find my quilts more comfortable.  Zpacks 5 Full Zip in Long Wide: very warm, like -5 Celsius, but due too mummy cut I found it too narrow and mostly too warm.

Read more: Katabatic Gear Flex 22°F Quilt reviews (2)

Featured review by BigRed

An ultralight and ultracomfy sleeping solution for two, with top-quality treated down fill, silk-like shell fabric and thoughtful details. Save weight, sleep with a friend!

For years we have used an opened-up TNF rectangular bag, now probably 25 years-old, as a summer sleeping quilt for the two of us. In winter, we zip it together with its twin for more airtight warmth down into the teens if not single digits. But as of 25 years ago, 700 or maybe 750 fill down was the good stuff, and shell materials have gotten lighter too, so each bag weighs in at 1388 g (about 3 lbs), not too bad when sharing a bag but on the heavy side when carrying both. A lighter double quilt has been on our shopping list for a few years now, but for cash flow reasons didn’t make it to the top until last spring, in the final stages of our gear-shopping frenzy while we spent a year in the US.

Read more: Enlightened Equipment Accomplice 2-Person reviews (4)

Reviewed by BigRed

A lightweight synthetic fill blanket big enough to cover two intimate sleepers on summer nights. Could be improved with a foot pocket to keep bare tootsies from escaping.

  The Tomato We call it The Tomato, and we bought it to address a specific problem that we anticipated during our 25-day hike of the Kungsleden in northern Sweden: About 2/3 of the trail is above the arctic circle and much of it is also treeless, raising the possibility that late night or wee-hours sun might warm up our tent and render sleeping conditions uncomfortably warm if we used our 5˚C/40˚F Enlightened Equipment Accomplice double quilt. So we needed something lightweight and compact that would keep us not-too-warm on those arctic summer nights.

Read more: Therm-a-Rest Argo Blanket review (1)

Featured review by John Galt

A high quality, well engineered, lightweight, reasonably priced solution for keeping warm and cozy during cool nights in a hammock. Highly recommended for backpackers, cyclists, and rowers desiring a warm and comfortable multi-season hammock sleep experience.

I am new to hammock camping after vowing to no longer crawl around on the ground and suffer the slings and arrows of rocks, twigs, bumps, lumps, uneven terrain, sore backs, and floods intruding on my former ground sleeping experience. Hammock camping offers most people a totally new type of outdoor sleep experience that offers comfort and expanded options in selecting a non-traditional campsite location not requiring a perfectly flat, level, and dry location. OK, that is the good news. There is a potential downside to hammock camping that is however easily remedied.

Read more: Eagles Nest Outfitters Ember 2 reviews (5)

Reviewed by Twig

The Therm-A-Rest Vesper 32 Quilt is a good ultralight quilt...if judged on its Comfort temperature rating and not its Lower Limit. As such, it should really be titled the Vesper 41F Quilt. It sports high quality materials and is extremely comfortable in temperate conditions. Breaching the lower 40's, I struggled to keep drafts out, mainly because of the design of the quilt opening and inability to close it sufficiently. The quilt could be improved with some simple modifications of the footbox length/width, shape of the opening, and better pad attachments/closure methods. It serves well as an ultralight and compact summer sleep system for fast packing.

Manufacturer Specs for Regular (Long): Fits a user's height up to: 72 in / 183 cm (78 in /198 cm) Weight 15 oz / 0.44 kg (1 lbs 1 oz / 0.49 kg) Fill weight / Material: 8.5 oz (9.5 oz)* / 900 Fill Goose NHD/RDS (Responsible Down Standard-ensures that down-supply waterfowl are treated humanely) Width: 58 in / 147 cm (61 in / 155 cm) Length: 75 in / 191 cm (79 in / 201 cm) Girth, Shoulder: 58 in / 147 cm (61 in / 155 cm) Girth, Hip: 51 in / 130 cm (54 in /137 cm) Girth, Foot box: 37 in / 94 cm (40 in / 102 cm) Packed dimensions: 5 x 6 in / 13 x 15 cm Shell fabric:10D Nylon RipStop w/ DWR Liner fabric: 10D Nylon RipStop **w/ ThermaCapture Lining Made in China Storage sack and compression stuff sack included *As a result of eliminating the ThermaCapture...

Read more: Therm-a-Rest Vesper 32F/0C Quilt review (1)

Reviewed by Joe

I bought one based on reviews. I had some issues but the company stepped up and fixed the issue. I am very happy with the new one.

I bought one based on the reviews. I really like the design.  I had a minor issue on delivery. I contacted the company and their response was slow but they took care of me. They gave me a return number and offered to replace it. The new one is perfect.

Read more: Sierra Designs Nitro Quilt 800 / 20 Degree review (1)

Reviewed by LoneStranger

Nothing like the quilts grandma used to put on her bed, the Firebelly uses modern materials and design to pack a lot of comfort into a light, small package. On the ground or in a hammock this quilt is great for those looking to reduce their three-season load in style.

Low thirties and raining on a fall trip to N.H. Perfect weather for testing hydrophobic down. Kammok is an interesting company that seems to be balanced between being true gearheads and being more of what I’d call a lifestyle brand. Their website is full of information about their philosophies, but their gear is innovative in terms of materials and design. I’ll leave it to them to tell the rest of their story on their site, but it is worth checking out if you have a few minutes. For now lets focus on their Firebelly Trail Quilt.

Read more: Kammok Firebelly Down 30° review (1)

Featured review by Twig

The Katabatic Gear Alsek is the most comfortable and functional quilt that I have used. It is well-designed, durable, and conservative in its temperature rating, such that it really stands out amongst the competition. It has exceeded my expectations for warmth, comfort, and reliability.

*I listed the origin of my quilt as a Pro and the expense as a Con, understanding that they are directly related. When I purchased my quilt in May 2016, all production was done in the USA. Katabatic Gear now offers quilts at lower price-points, particularly the Flex Series, in part because they have directed certain aspects of their production outside of the USA. It's the classic tale of staying competitive and meeting customer demand, all while balancing quality and sourcing. A similar quilt costs about $45 less today than what I paid.

Read more: Katabatic Gear Alsek reviews (2)