Experiences with the 2013 Enlightened Equipment pad attachment system?

[Lachlan Fysh]

Hi,

Anybody used one of this year's Enlightened Equipment quilts with the new pad attachment system? Good / bad?

I'm in the market for a warmer quilt at the same time as a bunch of other items, and Tim's prices are appealing…

[Matthew Perry]

They're awesome. Just get one and you'll be very happy with it.

[Lachlan Fysh]

Pretty quick response haha… 2013 straps specifically are awesome or a 20f quilt for under $300 is awesome?

[James Cahill]

Just bought a 40 degree synthetic quilt from Tim. I love it so far, quality and craftsmanship are awesome, price was great, Tim is very helpful. I've had a chance to use the quilt with both the strap types, and strapless. The elastic straps can be used around you and your pad or just you, depending on your preference. If you roll a lot while you sleep, you might find it better to have the elastic straps under your pad because it will help keep the quilt on top of you. If you are better at adjusting in your sleep, having the elastic around you will provide better draft protection but if you squirm and roll you might find the quilt beneath you. The other strap system attaches to your pad and then the quilt, which for me has been best of both worlds. It keeps the quilt on top of me as I alligator roll throughout the night but I can adjust the attachment points to keep the edges of the quilt anywhere on the pad. I'm a squirmy sleeper (unless I'm drunk) and I've found the straps do a nice job of keeping everything in check. You can even mix the two types if you want (which I never thought of until now and will have to try out this week) and fiddle with those combos.

Overall I give it a thumbs up

eDiT: I spell like a dumb

[Nate Boyer]

I love EE quilts. I hate the old closure system.
I emailed Tim to request purchase of the new 2013 straps for my two EE quilts.
He said he doesn't have time to sell them to me. He said I'd have to buy a new quilt.
:(

[Corbin Camp]

I absolutely love my EE Rev 40. Perfect for where I am. The elastic straps work great. I only use them under by pad. Not sure what the older closure system was like, but what's there now is near perfect.

[Art Tyszka]

Go for the quilt, you'll love it with or w/o the straps. I have the new and old straps and frankly usually sleep w/o either of them, even in 20F temps. I found that just cinching the neck closure was enough to keep it all in place as a restless side sleeper. I have a Rev 10D/10D 40F and a Rev X 20F overstuff and absolutely look forward to crawling under them after a day on the trail.

[Jake D]

you could probably retrofit the old loops with new style straps. you just need those flat buckles and some gross grain. or set up the old cord versions so they work similarly.

[Gregory Allen]

It never was really clear to me how to use the old closure system…all those shock cords and cord locks. I have those things everywhere. There are plenty of old threads discussing various methods. I'm not even sure Tim was really sure of the best way. That may have been the impetus for the 2013 design change. I've used several different methods with the old system, some with cord locks, some without. Haven't found a totally satisfactory system yet.

I would be interested in more details on the new system. Can someone post a more specific description ans some close up photos? I see a MYOG mod in the near future. BTW, my wife and I both have 20* RevX which are AWESOME IMHO.

[Rocco Speranza]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj940ZNSSNU

I did a video review on the quilt if that will help you. I talked a little about the straps. Seemed to work well for me.

[James Cahill]

did my best to add contrast with the z-lite, all pics have the bottom strap buckled and the top unbuckled

w/ elastic straps around only you:

w/ elastic straps around pad:

w/ webbing straps around pad and attachment point set in from pad edge:

webbing strap detail:

[Gregory Allen]

Good video. Thanks for showing the strap system. Looks like a fairly straightforward mod. Props again to Tim at EE for excellent products and service.

Thx also to SoCal JC for pics.

[Lachlan Fysh]

Yeah ok, I'll buy one :)

Edit: Overstuff needed? I'm looking at a 20f model

[Jim H]

I went with 2oz overstuff on my 20 deg wide/long RevX. I've been very happy with it. There's room for much more overstuff, but I haven't been cold on the two nights I've used it around 20 degrees, and I'll likely buy a winter quilt if I end up getting more into winter camping (as opposed to the tip-of-the-shoulder season 20 degree nights I do now).

[Tim Marshall]

I am planning to offer an upgrade kit at some point for using the new straps on old quilts, also including the sacks for old quilts that shipped naked. We've just been so busy i haven't had production time to make them as it would take away from building quilts. I am working on a solution but like i told Nate it would be faster to buy a new quilt than to wait on me to figure it out. The curse of being busy is you cant do anything new, but if we had time to do new stuff we wouldn't be busy. Its a curse and a blessing

-Tim

[Matt Purnell]

Could someone make this crystal clear for me? Can the straps be placed around the sleeping pad, and then the quilt attached to those straps on top of the pad, so that, similar to the Katabatic setup, the edges of the quilt are on top of the mat? Or, do the edges of the quilt drape down the sides of the mat?

Rocco has the new attachment system, but in his video mentions a "few drafts" when turning over. How does one avoid them??

[Art Tyszka]

"Could someone make this crystal clear for me? Can the straps be placed around the sleeping pad, and then the quilt attached to those straps on top of the pad, so that, similar to the Katabatic setup, the edges of the quilt are on top of the mat? Or, do the edges of the quilt drape down the sides of the mat?"

Art – Yes

[Matt Purnell]

That's not clear! Which question are you answering yes to (there's an "or" in there)?

[Jim Milstein]

Actually, the yes answer was correct, though not totally transparent. The nylon web strap does attach the quilt any two places on the strap; whereas with the elastic strap, if it goes around the pad, that arrangement may be a bit draftier. If the elastic strap just goes around the sleeper, it depends on how the sleeper sleeps.

Having said that, my personal preference is not to use any of the straps. I have a 20ºF Rev, w/o overfill, and I've slept out in it in a homemade bivvy and under a TrailStar with a low temp of 8ºF and calm wind. My feet were getting a bit cold by morning, but otherwise I was comfortable. The pad was an Exped Synmat UL7.

[Matt Purnell]

Thanks James – got it now!

[J C]

"I have a 20ºF Rev, w/o overfill, and I've slept out in it in a homemade bivvy and under a TrailStar with a low temp of 8ºF and calm wind. My feet were getting a bit cold by morning, but otherwise I was comfortable. The pad was an Exped Synmat UL7."

Sorry — did you mean 18F? I'm amazed if you mean 8F with only a R3.1 mat to boot!

[Jim Milstein]

"Sorry — did you mean 18F?"

No. I was wearing clothing, including a lightweight hooded down jacket. It was eight degrees F at dawn and without wind. As I get older, it's easier for my feet to get cold when I'm inactive.

[J C]

Good to know… I am getting a Rev 20 and was hoping to push it down to maybe -10C. Still I think I would like a bit higher R value under me than the Synmat!

[Gregory Stein]

Hi guys,

I thought to use another method for attaching the quilt to the pad. It's better to illustrate it with some sketch:

Legend:
Red – quilt
Black – straps
Yellow – Sleeping pad

As you see, the straps make kinda "8". By tightening them the quilt will tuck under you. Even if you toss and turn a lot, the quilt will never go off of you. And it will be tucked under you. I think the only constraining factor is the quilt width. The more width it has, the more you get "bag" out of quilt.

Hope this makes sense.

Greg.

[Art Tyszka]

This is one of the ways you can use the new EE strap system, just without the figure-8.

[Author]

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