Question for Quilt Users

[Luke Schmidt]

I have a quick question for all you quilt users out there. I have not been able to afford a good down quilt but my awesome family all chipped in to get me a heavily dicounted golite ultra 20. The only problem is its a short. I fit in okay but there is not a lot of extra room.
My question is has anyone had experience with a quilt that is just big enough? I want to keep it but I was wondering if anyone with more experience would expect problems(I'm not clastraphobic by the way).

[CW]

Unlike a bag a quilt should generally only come up to around your chin. It basically cinches around the neck and you depend on a separate hood worn by itself or as part of a jacket/parka.

[Jeff Patrick]

How short is it? So when you lay in it how far does it come up your body without having to stretch it?
You want it to come up to at least above your shoulders so that you can seal out drafts when its cold using the cinch cord. Even then you definitely need some head insulation.

You'll probably be fine if its just a little short, but most likely it will raise the temp of how low you can take it. You'll probably need to suppliment it with a jacket anyways so you might just want to do a beefier one if you decide to keep it.

[Luke Schmidt]

I can cinch it up over my shoulders and stretch my legs out. It might compress the down at the bottom at bit so I would bring an extra pair of socks. I tried it with a down ski jacket and there seems to be room for that without compressing the down. It seems to be almost exactly big enough bit with no extra wiggle room. Golite seems to be shutting down production because shorts are about all thats out there (for the sale price).

[Jeff Patrick]

seems like you should be ok. Worst scenario is it works, just not to as cold a temperature as you want it to.
And since it already doesn't go down to 20 thats not too big of an issue.

[Luke Schmidt]

Thanks for the input guys I think I'll keep it. Worst case scenerio I could probably get someone like Tim Marshall to add an extra baffle to the top or do it myself.

[BlackHatGuy]

I think you'll be fine Luke. As others have said, you'll want to wear a jacket with it anyway if you're really going to try to go as low as 20 degrees. I've had various quilts down under 30 and still haven't used the cinch cord around the neck area (haven't even hooked it together). I find I usually only have to tuck it around me and it does fine.

[Luke Schmidt]

Thanks Doug, I have used a quilt before (BPL UL60) but it was plenty roomy. I was hoping no one would tell me that a down quilt needs lots of extra room or it will compress from the inside etc. Since no one has a horror story about that, I won't worry. This is exciting because until now my choice was the UL60 or a 2 pound sleeping bag. One time in CO I did a crazy amount of layering to try and make that quilt work down to 35 degrees. With the Ultra I can drop a pound of bag and us a smaller and ligher pack.
Have a great Christmas.

[BlackHatGuy]

Also remember, Luke, that if you're not sure, and you still have the BPL UL60, at 11 oz. or so you can always carry it as well and layer it over the Ultra 20, instead of carrying a lot of extra clothes to layer instead. I'll bet the two together would keep you toasty down to 20 degrees and then some!

[Luke Schmidt]

Good idea Doug although I have a tendancy to squeeze the most possible out of my UL gear. I took the UL60 down into the 30s once although that was pushing things. I'll have to get out sometime soon and see how the Ultra works out.

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