Are quilts for side sleepers?

Andy –

I have used a GoLite Ultra 20 quilt for about a year and I really like it. You and I are about the same size and I also sleep on my side and sometimes my stomach.

I tend to "coil up" when I sleep and sometimes my butt will stick out from underneath the quilt. If it gets chilled, I just tuck it back in (The quilt, not my butt).

That minor inconvenience is more than offset by the reduced weight, no more fighting with zippers, it's easy to throw off and on, etc. Quilts are also comfortable if you move around a lot when you sleep. The quilt tends to stay put while you spin under it.

I put the pad under.

I had my quilt out in the snow last night and was comfortable even though I brought the wrong pad combination.

As always, YMMV.

Quilts are excellent for side/stomach/tosser/turners. More width is always better in my book, like a 55" wide Nunatak, but you can also do well with a 50" wide quilt that both Jacks R better and Katabatic gear both offer.
I'd go with a long in a JRB, and a 6ft Katabatic Gear, or a size M/L in Nunatak, both the Arc specialist and Arc alpinist are 55" wide, and provide maximum side coverage. I own both the Arc specialist and Katabatic Sawatch. I did have a older model JRB Hudson river quilt which was 48" wide, but they now offer some of their models at 50" wide, which in my book is better.(50" or more)

Andy,

Yes, definitely, unless you somehow find side-sleeping in a mummy bag comfortable (I don't), then stick with what works.

48" would be pushing it with a normal straight or half taper design, 50" atleast. The variable taper style quilt I make is more like 54-55" wide in the chest area, but much narrower above the shoulders. The idea is to off-set the weight in areas where you don't need it, like in the top of the quilt that you're just going to narrow up with draw-string anyway.

As to the last question, the answer is no. Although I'm about to personally start offering a new option in my quilts for torso pad users that also carry a sit-pad with them as a pack pad, to add a third use (well, to bolster the third use for those that are already hip to this).

Yes, that's a pocket for the sit pad in the bottom of the footbox. The quilt pictured is my personal 30deg quilt that weighs in at 13.5oz and is very warm.

Andy,

I'm a restless side sleeper and both my quilts work well for me. I use an Arc Ghost down to about freezing, and because the straps keep my pad under me I've had only a few occasions of exposed backside. To cure that I had Nunatak sew in wool flaps across the arc, and that solved the problem completely. For summertime temperatures or fall/winter camping I use a Back Country Blanket that has six ounces of overfill. I'm also claustrophobic and greatly dislike mummies, so a quilt is a lightweight alternative to a semi-rectangular bag.

Richard

I'm another restless side sleeper. I'm very good at keeping my quilt opening at the bottom, but even so, with a narrow (light) quilt it was difficult to get a "seal" along my backside.

So I added some loops and 1/8" shockcord, plus a mini-toggle at each end. When lying on my side, I can "push" the side I'm facing "away" which sucks the backside in tight. I then pull the facing edge back for a snug fit on my front. The shockcord then keeps everything tight. The colder it gets, the more I snug the shockcord.

But, I still had gaps. So I added a "draft tube" to each side. And now when the backside edge gets pulled in the draft tube leads the way, fills every gap, and stays there.

The draft tubes and shock cord added .86 ounces. I'll go out on a limb, and predict this will become common. It is to effective to ignore.

For warmer weather I extend or remove the shockcord, and use the quilt in "flat mode".

Looks like you did your mod on a Katabatic gear quilt. I believe they have considered making a wider quilt as an option for bigger folks or for those that prefer a wider quilt, like me/us.
I have considered adding a different bottom strap closure system to my Katabatic quilt as well. Not sure yet if I'm 100% sold on the line clip system. One nice feature with the clips, is when you need to exit,and reenter the quilt you can just un-clip one side of the quilt only. (1-2 clips on the side you exit from)

Greg
Those draft tubes are made of what? Do you fill them with anything?

Just another +1 on quilts for side sleeping… Works for me! I only recently got my first quilt, a GoLite Ultralight 3-season/20F. I'm a big guy and a side sleeper. I use the quilt around me- I'm too big for the quilt to wrap around the sides of the pad very well with me inside of it. It does keep a good seal even so.

That said, mummy bags generally have worked fine for me, as long as the shoulder girth is generous enough to accommodate my arms folded across my chest inside the bag. I hop into my bag, zip it all up, and roll over, rotating the bag with me so that the hood is still aligned. Montbell bags work well for me in this respect. I have a much harder time with rectangular bags, with all that extra material. I end up getting the bag twisted up, zipper under my rear when I'm trying to get out of the bag, etc. Not used a rectangular bag in a while, but they drive me nuts.

Once asleep, I don't really change position, and when I do change position I am conscious.

Quilts aren't for me, although as you've already seen lots of people like them. I do think you are much more likely to hear from quilt fans than sleeping bag fans in a thread like this.

Here's why I prefer a mummy sleeping bag: I am a side sleeper and flip back and forth frequently. Reducing drafts is a key to sleeping warm. It's all about dead air space. The best way to reduce drafts for me is to be in a mummy bag. The first thing I do if I'm getting cold in a bag is to zip it up. If it's really cold in a mummy bag I'll have the hood up, and in a sleeping bag I can roll from side to side and the hood will stay with me and no drafts will be created. For me, the penalty I'm paying by using a sleeping bag vs a quilt is the compression of the down beneath me. If I compress perhaps 10% of the down, and the fill weight is 11 ounces, I'm only wasting about 1 oz. of insulation. One advantage I see with quilts that seal reasonably well with the sleeping pad is their ability to capitalize more efficiently on the pad insulation. It's all about trade-offs and for me a sleeping bag is a better compromise.

There are plenty of salty old veterans on this thread for whom quilts work well. I like quilts for warm weather, but for me and lots of other experienced backpackers, the colder it is the more I want a sleeping bag. I'm not saying either choice is the right choice, but I am saying the right choice depends on the individual.

Warren,
They are Momentum filled with 850 down at 110% of theoretical (overstuffed a bit).

They are attached at the edge of the quilt, as are the shock cord loops, so they get pushed into place ahead of the edge.

I think the key thing here is to make sure you get a quilt wide enough for you. I would start off with a fairly wide quilt and then using that will give you an idea if you can successfully go narrower in the future. I'm virtually the same physical dimensions as the OP and I have been quite happy with my GoLite Ultra 20. I sleep in all positions but usually a flip from one side, to the other side, to my back through the night and keep cycling through that order.

Right now you can get a GoLite quilt for 40% off and with free shipping, so it's a fabulous deal (see Gear Deals section).

Regarding the Sawatch 15° Quilt –

Mine has draft tubes and a 5-leg shock cord cinch, which was slack all night, except for "snugging" to the back. There is a photo a similarly modified Palisade a couple of posts above.

7600', on rock, stars all night, no wind.
Cap 1 bottoms, MEC R1 knockoff top, fleece hat.
A 2nd-hand KookaBay rectangular down mat. R=??
Temps, °F , recorded with a Brunton Wind Pro.

23 @ midnight
23 @ 1
22 @ 2
19 @ 3
16 @ 4
16 @ 5
14 @ 6
13 @ 7

Awoke once or twice, wondering if I was cold, couldn't feel any cold spots, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Got up at 7:30, comfortably.

I'm a restless side sleeper. I typically sleep cold. This is a toasty quilt.