After reading Trail Life: Ray Jardine’s Lightweight Backpacking, I have started to reconsider some of my gear choices. Because I have a great deal of respect for him, I am taking his recommendations very seriously. First up: Sleeping bags.
I currently use the REI Halo 25, and I love it for 3 reasons. 1) The down is very thick and comfortable and the insulated foot box keeps my toes warm. 2) It was on sale when I bought it, so it was fairly cheap. 3) We have emotionally bonded on a number of trips when I have been one of the only warm person in my group.
However, Trail Life has me thinking about using a quilt. The biggest payoff seems to come for couples sharing the quilt, but Erin and I are not that good of friends, so that option is out. (She will nod enthusiastically when she reads this.) But there do seem to be several benefits for the solo user as well.
Here they are:
1) Added ventilation
I have several times woken up in my sleeping bag covered in sweat from being too hot, but have never been able to comfortably sleep with it unzipped because the shape doesn’t work well for that. It seems like a quilt might offer more versatility in how you use it. (Although I’m not fully sold on this idea).
2) Freedom of movement
I sometimes get a little claustrophobic in my sleeping bag, particularly when I am half-awake, really have to pee, and can’t find the zipper. I can see how a quilt might help with this situation.
3) Lighter weight
Jardine writes, “Our quilt design eliminates the needless part of the sleeping bag flattened beneath the person, and therefore it saves unneccessary weight and bulk.” I have personally grown attached to the needless part of my sleeping bag flattened by my body weight, because it is comfy, but I might be able to give that up for the pack weight savings.
4) Customizable options
The last benefit I learned about sleeping systems has less to do with the actual quilt and more about my feeling empowered to make my own gear. I like that Jardine and his wife Jenny have created gear that works for them. For myself, I am a petite 5’4 female, and even women’s short bags (when they are available), end up having more space than I need. If I were to tailor make a quilt for myself using one of Jardine’s kits, I could shed a little more weight and add comfort.
Jardine uses synthetic filling for his quilts, and it will take a little convincing for me to go along with this. He claims that down bags lose their loft too quickly, but mine have held up pretty well in the past. I do like the idea that a synthetic sleeping bag might keep me warmer on a wet night and dry faster during the day. This is important because I live in Oregon, which has constant rain most of the year. But my down bag is so comfy that it may have to be yanked out of my freezing, wet hands before I give it up.
Since I’ve never used a sleeping quilt, I’d really like to try one out. If anyone out there has used a synthetic or down backpacking quilt, or has thoughts about them, I’d love to hear from you.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I found the Jardine quilt too cold so I tried a JRB Hudson River quilt. Still not warm enough so I’ve gone back to a bag: Feathered Friends Winter Wren and I have used the JRB quilt inside it on occasion but I do sleep very cold. If you move a lot in your sleep you spill your warm air very easily in a quilt.
Hello Addy:
My wife and I have used a Jardine “2P Deluxe Alpine ” for 3 years now and really like it. It unzips into two parts weighing about 1.5 pounds each, and keeps us warm down into the low thirties when we wear clothes under it, something I never felt comfortable doing in a mummy bag. We really like it for all the reasons you listed: not so confining, customizable (I made ours 2″ wider than standard), lighter weight for the filling type, and I’ve had the displeasure of spending the night in a wet down bag, and don’t ever want to do that again.
Tom
Hi Addy
Your Aunt Kay’s husband Mike sent me the link to your site. He and I work together at CFB Suffield. I just came back from a week in Banff National Park (4 nights out and 3 in a really, REALLY expensive cabin – but I’m worth it!) and was telling Mike about my move towards hyperlight backpacking gear. Someday I’ll have to do an inventory of gear I started with and what I have and don’t use and finally what I do use now – it would be pretty interesting.
As far as sleeping bags go, I am now using a Nunatuk Arc Ghost. It was expensive but I’ve always found with down you get what you pay for. At weight of just under 1 lb and minimal bulk it makes hyperlight packing a lot easier. Before this I was using any number of down bags from Integral Designs but I found I was using them unzipped and open on top of me so the move to the Arc was no problem for me, despite being a bit larger in girth than most of the two legged mountain goats that usually sport this gear.
My trip to Banff was along the Cascade River Trai, which is based on a disused fire road. The “trail” was better than some roads in Medicine Hat so on the second day I took off my Raichle Mammoth’s and put on my Crocs. I did a no trail hike into Big Horn Lake that was about 5km and about 600m elevation gain in my Crocs too, figuring if it got to be too tough I could switch to the boots. Never got that bad and I appreciated having less weight on my feet than I would have the extra traction and ankle support of the boots. In my experience, fatigue has more to do with injuries than what you are wearing on your feet…
Anyways, looking forward to exploring your site.
Best Regards
James