This post is inspired by my recent experiences with a Nunatak Arc Ghost, a very light bag with a solid 2″ of loft. When I slept in this bag at temperatures near its rating, I tucked the edges under my sides so no cold air could get in. Everything was fine until I turned. As soon as I did, the sides slipped out from under me and I felt cold air coming into the quilt. No problem, I got into the habit of tucking in the edges everytime I turned. This was OK until I found myself waking in the middle of the night with a cold side because I had turned in my sleep. How can you tuck in those edges when you are asleep? I am a side sleeper and turn about 2-5 times a night which I would have thought would be about average. Since a few of those turns resulted in cold air getting to me because I exposed the underside of the quilt, I started to wonder how a quilt could work for anyone?
Perhaps the only people who use quilts successfully are those that never turn? But even they must be at a disadvantage. Comparer these two bags for instance. The Nunatak Arc Alpinist with 2ox over overfills weighs 20 ounces and a Western Mountaineering Ultralight which weighs 26 ounces. These bags have identical loft so what do you get for those extra six ounces in the Ultralite? I can&’t say it’s the draft tube because we are comparing it with a completely still quilt sleeper who would never experience any drafts. So the only difference is the draft collar and the hood in the Ultralite. Is six ounces such a big price to pay for the collar and hood? An effective hood and draft collar are often cited as praiseworthy qualities of good fitting bags in many reviews such as this one from Climbing.com
Although the UltraLite’s generously insulated hood lacks an upper baffle, the bag features a down-stuffed neck collar with a separate drawcord that virtually eliminates heat loss out of the face opening. This simple addition noticeably increases the bag’s warmth with just a minimal increase in weight.
So that makes the weight trade off worth it, doesn’t it?
One of the often cited advantages of quilts is that you can layer clothing under them. A friend of mine sleeps with a Micro Puff in his Ultralite without compressing the down so I can’t really see a valid argument there.
I feel I must be missing something as so many ultralighters praise quilts over conventional bags and yet I can’t see why.
Any reader’s thoughts on this internal debate of mine would be most appreciated.
