MLD Spirit quilt: opinions?

Hi Richard, I also read that review (by John Abela), and while I have never used a Spirit quilt I have been extremely happy with my EE Prodigy (40°F rated) with practically the exact same materials (10D shell, lining and Apex Climashield) and similar foot box concept. The weights of the reg/reg size are also very similar, ~17oz… The sleep pad attachment description for the Spirit sounds similar (and appears to be identical in MLD website photos) to that of the Prodigy, which I find to be absolutely perfect. As far as those temperature ratings, I'm guessing that's more of a little promotional device to distinguish MLD from the others. Whenever I see the 28-38-48 numbers I think immediately of MLD, so the trick works on me! :^) I'm a big fan of MLD, as well as EE and Zpacks and most other cottage operations. I'm sure I could be pretty happy with a Spirit, but to say there is nothing else like it is IMO a stretch!

I have both the 28 and 38 in large sizes. They get used often my 28 is my go to quilt and the black material is killer for drying out it dries up real quick

I have the 28 and it is pretty close to the advertised temperature rating. I will say that for whatever reason, it is warmer than the EE Prodigy I had. It may be the cut or the superior outer fabric but it tends to be less affected by convective heat loss from the wind. The price is right as well. (I love EE so don't take this the wrong way)

One difference between the EE and the MLD is the number of pad-attachment points. The EE offers two, the MLD only one. Owning the MLD, I struggled at first to get a draft-free fit – I toss and turn a lot, though. A modification finally made it work, but two sets of attachement points and straps would've been the cleaner solution. Also, the EE is more generously sized. The MLD's XLarge roughly corresponds to EE's regular width quilt. And last but not least, the MLD is more elaborately tapered than the EE.

Thanks for the info… those are quite noteworthy differences.

…All of these factors really had me doing zero research into other synthetic quilts that might have been on the market. It was a simple decision. Sounds like they didn't look at the competition.

I love MLD products and would have ordered 28 Spirit had I known at the time that it existed. As others say MLD is very similar on specs, except that Spirit is tapered at the neck allowing more comfortable fit that people prefer.

I have a custom sized Spirit 48 that I use for warm conditions and as an overbag in cold conditions. It is well designed and very well made. However I have found EE to be much more willing to do custom tweaks. Since buying my Spirit 48 I've asked Ron to make a Spirit 28 with custom dimensions but he won't do it. I'm sure it's because he's busy, not out of spite, but it has prevented me from buying another quilt from MLD. So if you need something special, you'll probably get further with EE.

Strange. I have a custom Spirit quilt circa 2015. Albeit only widened a smidge.