How much *fill weight* for PCT quilt?

In the past 5 months I have collaborated with a quilt/bag producer on two separate occasions. I designed a custom bag and quilt. What I'd recommend is that you take the dimensions/cut (width and length) of each manufacturer's quilt under careful consideration. You can then better compare the fill weights. Otherwise simply compare baffle height if those figures are available (sounds like you'll want about 1.75-2 inches). I found by doing that you can hone in your own personal preferences and then complement it with specific clothing items for a well rounded, secure system. I'll refrain from any PCT advice since I've never been on it.

I work for EE, and try not to jump in too much on comparisons between us and others, except to help with clarification on sizing or whatever. Sizing between us and Katabatic is pretty tricky, since they have use straight taper versus our half-taper, so comparing on the width will never be totally consistent. That said, I do think they're probably underrating somewhat. Comparing our Reg/Wide 850fp to theirs (which again, isn't a perfect comparison because of the taper), their fill weight for the 30° falls about halfway between our 30 and 20° fill weight. FWIW, our total weight still comes out lighter even for a 20° vs. their 30°, in large part because our fabric is quite a bit lighter.

I thru'd this year and saw nights in the 20's in the sierra and north cascades. My sleep setup was: microweight merino socks 200wt merino leggings Cap 4 hoody Uniqlo down hoody (read: light) fleece beanie EE Rev 30* reg/reg Xlite small This setup kept me warm. On the coldest nights I'd setup the solplex and toss on my windshirt and windpants. Note that I started on a Z-lite and was awake through a few nights shivering until I swapped for the xlite. Long story short: the bivy and hefty puffy provide you with some leeway. I doubt you'd be upset with yourself for the 3oz penalty on the 20*, but I think a 30* bag EE bag will work when combined with a comprehensive sleep system. I'll sing EE's praises from the rooftops and would take my 30* bag back out happily.

Hey, so firstly, reading back my first post – I culled some words as it was getting a bit long winded… and foolishly what I culled was the bit where I explained this quilt will definitely be from EE and will be replacing a 20f RevX as I find the shiftless baffles and sewn in footbox of the Accomplice I share with my girlfriend to be big improvements… I've also got a Prodigy I've mainly used as an over quilt but have also been very happy with… so yeah long time customer coming back for more :) Thanks to Peter for the insights on cut – that clarifies a bit… you guys don't seem to do overfill anymore? I wonder if that would be the simplest option… Also, any comment on the down fills, namely 800 vs 850 vs 900 for long term use? And W@B that is very promising – I'm also planning a cap4 hoody (well, new, lighter thermal hoody), some of the new cap2 leggings, possum down socks and my jacket from goosefeet will have at least 3oz of down, so it will be very warm… Makes me think that once I add a bivy to the mix it should work. Interesting note on the pads – I was planning a ridgerest for durability, but have been leaning back towards an xlite for comfort & warmth. The desert worries me though, and since I'm flying in from Australia I don't want to be swapping a bunch of gear back and forth…

For long term differences between fill powers, personally I don't think the difference is large enough to make that a big factor in what to choose, at least within the relatively narrow range we offer. We don't typically offer overfill anymore, though if you really wanted to you could order the next temperature up, but request we use the next smaller sized baffles (so you could order a 20° and get that much fill, but only have the 30° baffle height used). Personally I wouldn't bother but if you did want to go that way it's an option.

"We don't typically offer overfill anymore" does that mean you calculate the volume in cubic inches, divide by fill power, and use that many ounces of down? in my limited experience, baffles won't be filled fully in this case it would be better to use the European measure of fill power, which more closely matches reality, but even then better to add 20% or so to make up for differences in actual fill power, humidity or dirt/oil degradation of loft,…

Something else you may want to consider I thru-hiked the PCT in '14 (a very dry weather year) with a 20* bag until Tahoe, then swapped it out for a 30*. With this years coming El Niño, you may be hiking in rain for several days in a row at times with little to no chance to dry your gear, including your bag. Even if you do your best to keep it dry, you're still going to lose loft from condensation build up while sleeping during those nights. Plan ahead for a wetter than normal hike and it will be far easier to deal with while walking north.

"does that mean you calculate the volume in cubic inches, divide by fill power, and use that many ounces of down?" I should have clarified that by saying we don't typically sell additional overfill. We do modify our specs versus the simple fill-power for volume calculation, so it is overfilled versus that, but we don't typically take orders on an extra ounce or two of down over our calculations.

Hey guys, Thanks for the further info guys. I don't think a 30f with 20f down makes that much sense, but I do think that erring on the side of too much warmth will make sense next year… so I'm leaning towards the 20f at this point, but hoping the EE black friday sale makes it economic to buy 900fp :)). I'm getting a 'heavy' Katabatic Artemis pack based on similar "it's a better investment" logic, makes sense to also do that for one of the other main $ purchases.