New Company Manufacturing Down Quilts, Down Balaclavas and Ultralight Biyvs

Well Aaron, that stuff looks very nice…actually, it looks great. I've got my eye on that balaclava for sure.

Congrats.

Those look great! I have my eye on those quits.

Aaron, that is awesome! On the couple of quilts I've made I used thin strap and cut holes in my ridgerest so that the quilt would wrap well, stay under me, and not shift. The problem is that wrap was not very adjustable, it was a pain to adjust while laying down, and getting it undone involves threading the straps back out the holes. (not to mention it rules out many pads…anything inflatable). You've solved all those problems as far as I can tell while still eliminating the "under the pad" style straps. I love the simple design! They also look very well made, and nice website too. Good luck!

Thanks for letting us know Aaron. These quilts seem like they are made really well!

The attachment system you came up with is a really interesting idea. I don't own a quilt so I can't weigh in on if it is actually necessary, but it seems like a good idea in theory.

From the pictures on your site it is hard to tell how tall the footbox is. I am shopping (saving) for a quilt now and I would want it to have the ability to be as open as possible if I chose. It seems from the pictures that your quilts have a rather tall footbox that would prevent them from being used more like a blanket. How many inches is it from the bottom of the quilt to the opening?

Either way, I like your fabric choice, your innovation, and the your general attention to detail. I will definitely look at your getting one of your quilts when they come around!

Dang, I wish you had announced a couple of weeks ago. I just got a bivy with the features somewhere between your 2 models. i just took it out and discovered it is a bit narrow at the foot, but it definitely compresses the down on my Mont-bell #2 with a BA pad in there. Now I may have to gear swap it out and try one of yours. I may even be convinced to try a quilt.

Anyway to make a custom quilt? same as the ones you have, just 12.5 oz of down (half way between your 30 and 15 bags) I am a cold sleeper, but rarely have to sleep in 30 degree weather.

And what about length? For the ladies (and us short suckers) will there be a 5'6" option? a 5'6" bag with 12.50 oz Down sounds toasty warm.

Andrew, the foot box opens up 24" from the bottom of the bag. We have tried to strike a balance between versatility and efficiency (we don't want people to have cold feet using our bags). The bag can be used laid out flat in warmer weather. This works best in a bivy, the bivy will keep the lower portion of the bag located on top of you while you sleep.

Frank, we are not doing any custom work right now. One thing about down bags is the ability to move the down around in the baffles, you could buy the warmer bag, and shift some down to the bottom for warmer weather (of course this would be heaver though). We will be introducing the bags in the 6' length first, followed by 6'6", then 5'6".

I couldn't blame anyone for choosing not to do custom work.

Will your items be carried in stock, or will there be a multi-month wait? I choose not to buy things I have to wait for months to get.

Tom, our items will be carried in stock. However I expect there will be times when items are out of stock, until we get a good feel for the volume of business we will be doing.

I guess I can wait for the 5'6" bags. But 9.7 oz to 15 oz seems like a large jump. I am mostly concerned with the weight. looking for something reasonably priced (i.e. not Nunatak) that will be lighter than my Mont-Bell #2 (14 oz of Down, but sewn through and bottom Down pretty useless)and still keep me warm. Plus I like your strap concept.

I know custom can be a pain, I too own a small business that makes stereo cables (www.puresilversound.com) but was hoping that over-stuff would be a simple option (ala Western mounatineering and Nunatak)

Thanks

Tom, our items will be carried in stock. However I expect there will be times when items are out of stock, until we get a good feel for the volume of business we will be doing.

As others have said, quilts and balaclavas look pretty nice based on the specs and price points. I love my Nunatak quilt, and by all accounts Tim Marshall makes excellent custom quilts as well, but I think there's definitely an opening in the quilt marketplace for someone to sell high-end, 'in stock' quilts for those of us who lack the foresight to plan our gear decisions 6-8 weeks ahead of time. (No knock on Nunatak or Tim)

If I don't get my MYOG act together, that 15 degree model looks like a really nice option for my winter quilt. Love the 61" girth.

Good luck.

Frank, I misunderstood what you were asking. We can do overfills, however it may take extra time. If you are interested send me a PM or use the contact info on the website and we can discuss pricing and time required.

Aaron,

Thanks for sharing your hard work and putting yourself out there. I must say, your website is top notch! Your gear is displayed beautifully. Just browsing over the pages made me want to buy something I don't need…well I could use a down balaclava. Soon… Best of luck!

Eugene

Compliments on the gear and website. Very professional, well thought out and executed. I might just sell a couple of bags and go quilt. Keep BPL posted. Do you guys have a blog or mailing list? I could use a heads up.

How about a pic of the bags in a stuff sack?

Aaron,

That is a fine, clean looking site (the gear is not looking to shabby, either) and congratulations on the launch – I wish you the best of successes with this endeavor! Thanks for sharing.

All I get is:

This Page Cannot Be Displayed

It's too bad you can't see the site because it really is a well done.

Aaron, your business has professional written all over it. It gives an immediate sense of the company being able to craft something while paying attention to details. I hope you keep us updated on when you get your quilts in and maybe throw in a special promotion with early access and discount?!?! ;-)

I'm a sucker for lofty down and those quilts look fantastic!

You have an impressive product line and a very well done website. Good job!

-Sid

Awesome looking stuff! Make sure that the shipped product is fatly stuffed with down like the photos and you'll have a successful company on your hands. Good luck!

Congrats on the new company! If you ever need a sales/marketing/purchasing guy, give me a shout!

Best of Luck!

Very nice looking stuff, but essentially zero options. I went to order the zip bivy which comes in 2 sizes, so I chose the large since I'm 6'6", so far so good. Then I looked for the left zip choice but couldn't find anywhere to select that, so I went back and looked at the photos and the bivy shown is a right zip…uh oh. A quick call confirmed right zip only, which is a deal killer for me since I own no less than half a dozen left zip bags. Bummer, I really liked the product so much that I was just about to pull the trigger and order a bivy. No custom work is one thing, but no basic choice like right or left zip is another thing that basically makes the option very unappealing to those folks who already own left zip bags.

I've always owned left zip bags going all the way back almost 40 years to my first North Face Superlight bag. I'm now curious, what do most other people who use more conventional bags use, right or left zip?

Left zip here

The designs are definitely quilt-oriented. If you're right handed, left-zip bags are easier to use, since you're just zipping straight up and down. But, if you're using a quilt, a right zip makes sense–you begin unzipping by reaching across your chest (easy if right-handed) and you finish by reaching way down on the right side. Zipping up reverses the process.

James, I partly agree with you that if you're right handed, a left zip is easier to use since you reach across your chest with your favored hand to zip or unzip, rather than using your less coordinated hand. And of course in a tight fitting mummy, it's nearly impossible to use the same had that's on the zip side since you don't have enough room to move your arm up and down. But on the second part of what you said, it shouldn't make any difference whether you use a quilt since quilts don't have zippers. Now if you meant using a quilt in a bivy, well then I still don't see how it differs from using a mummy bag. The majority of the zip is on the opposite side and only the final closing comes across the face closest to the hand your using to zip and unzip. I would think that if you're right handed, you'd still want to unzip across your face with your right hand moving the zipper away from your right side, then down the side opposite your right hand, the same rational for using a left zip mummy bag if you're right handed. Anyway, that's my thinking, quilt or no quilt.

The other reason in the old days that I recall left zip sleeping bags were more popular (aside from the fact that they're easier to use if you're right handed and the majority of people are right handed) was that they used to make bags to pair or zip together. The left zip bag had the draft tube on the top of the zipper and the right zip bag had the draft tube on the bottom of the zipper so that when you zipped 2 together, there was a draft tube covering both zips (hope that makes sense). So the theory was that for everyday single use, if you had a draft tube on the bottom of the zip, it would have more of a tendency to fall away from the zipper thus creating a cold spot. But, if you had the draft tube on the top, it would naturally hang down and cover the zipper area. All the major bag makers of the day (30 to 40 years ago) used to make bags this way. Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter. Thanks for your input!

My guess is that someone at Katabatic gear is left handed, probably Aaron. Notice in his picture he appears to be using his left hand to take the photo. He probably always used right zip bags and never thought about why. When making the decision to only offer one sided zip on the bivy, it was probably natural to just choose what you use. Just my theory on the matter.