Big Agnes Kings Canyon Quilt

[Dale Wambaugh]

I have 32f and 20f sleeping bags, but I wanted a light quilt for warm summer hikes and hammocking. I'd love to throw down a fee hundred bucks on a SUL quilt, but that's not in my budget. I surfed on an ad for a Big Agnes Kings Canyon quilt on sale at Campsaver for $127 and ordered one and it arrived today. It is a big synthetic fill model, 60" across the top, 80" long and 20" wide at the foot box which is 12" tall and has a 24" bottom panel. It has 8.5 oz of Primaloft Silver and weighs 16oz. It has loops down the sides and comes with a hank of light shock cord to zig zag under a pad.

I like it. It is rated at 40f and that isn't too far off. I could see using this all summer, supplementing with clothing layers as needed and I could use my bivy too (I'm a warm sleeper). It would be a good winter over-bag and hostel/hut travel bag.

Anybody use one? Thoughts?

[Monte Masterson]

I havn't used a Kings Canyon, but I've been looking at them hard on Backcountry.com for $135 (I think Campsaver is sold out). Have you weighed it? Do you find the weight to be what BA says it is?
Seems large, which is a good thing. I figure the Pertex shell must be the 35g/m type, so not the absolute lightest, but still pretty darn light.

[Dale Wambaugh]

It weighs 17oz on my scale with the stuff sack and shock cord, so BA is on the mark. Yeah, it is big and can tuck under as much as you like. It is long too, so I can pull it over my head. There are triangular pockets in the top corners too— I guess to hook on your pad, or perhaps grab with your hand?

[Chad B]

That looks pretty nice, not bad weight. How does it secure around your neck? I couldn't tell by the photos.

[Dale Wambaugh]

"How does it secure around your neck?"

There are three grosgrain loops down each side to attach shock cord. The lower one is a few inches up from the top of the footbox panel and they are 24" apart with the top on ending up about 4" below the top edge of the quilt.

The bottom side of the footbox is a simple ripstop panel, 24" long and wide enough for a 20" pad. The end of the footbox is 12" tall. I would be putting my pack or a sit pad in there to supplement a short pad.

The top corners have these triangular pockets that you could tuck your pad into to keep the quilt in place and there is a red grosgrain loop there for the shockcord. The top of the quilt is 60" wide, so there is plenty of material to tuck under you. In a bivy, there would be a lot of material to wrap around your head and shoulders. I'm thinking warm weather and hammock use, where a traditional draft collar wouldn't be necessary.

[Mark Parry]

I'm interested in this quilt, might try one if we don't make a climashield MYOG blanket soon.

This quilt is rated at 45 degrees (not 40F), a pretty minor discrepancy since the ratings don't seem to mean much.

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Specs/Bag
(search for Kings Canyon, apparent temp rating is in product name)

I currently have a USGI poncho liner (20oz?) and 55F rated rei sleep sack/liner (29oz), I bring one or the other, trying to get a lighter option.

Decided I love down recently while sleeping in a uniqlo ul down jacket, and mainly plan to summer camp, so I ordered a HG burrow 40 yesterday. Still need lighter gear for family members though, don't want to buy more down quilts if they will not take care of them, and it adds up (my burrow 40 order with extra fill and width was 260 including shipping). So EE prodigy (and wait 7 weeks) or this Big Agnes quilt maybe, or MYOG climashield blankets.

[Michael Febbo]

This looks like the kind of overbag I have been looking for to layer over my 15 degree down bag to make a winter combination. The added warmth and moving the dew point out of the down is my aim here…
Can you easily fit a thick pad and your 20 degree bag in the quilt without compressing the footbox?

Thanks!

[Dale Wambaugh]

The foot box is 20" wide and the end panel is 12" tall. A tapered pad would allow even more space. Nothing says that you must put the pad inside the bottom sleeve either.

[Dale Wambaugh]

I got a chance to try the quilt at 50f in a tent, with it loose on top of a thick pad and wearing a long sleeve base layer top, hiking shorts and barefoot. I was comfortable all night. With a pad captive in the foot box and warmer clothes I'm sure it woul be okay at 40f and even better in a bivy.

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