Sleeping Bag AND Quilt together?

It's a fairly common practice, and it can work.
The negative side is that it weighs more to carry 2 fabric carcasses, than it would weigh carry one fabric carcass that had enough down to suit the conditions.
So, there's a weight penalty involved, which can vary depending on the materials that your stuff is made out of.

If that weight penalty is not too important, and the versatility is more important to you, then you can do it.

Hi,

You will have to make sure you use sufficient head insulation also, a down balaclava would bring perfect.

Cheers,

In Michigan mid-winter trips I have done this numerous times into the single digits. As was mentioned by others, also add head insulation layers. I use a thin fleece Sirrus baclava (as a mask) and then a wool hat over it. I drape over my bag (a 20 degree bag) and often a partner's bag a down quilt. With a partner, this combination is actually lighter than most 4 season's bag. If it's real cold than tuck the sides of the quilt under the pad. It may be a good idea (I haven't yet) to make straps to keep it tucked under the pads for extra warmth and to seal out drafts.

Thanks so much for your replies. I am excited this will work as I thought it would.

Which are the best in the $200 to $300 range with a rating of of 20F and wide enough tot do the job.

Thanks again
Derrick

Enlightened equipment makes great quilts that are well priced. They offer a ton of options (length, width, fabric, overfill, etc) that let you dial in a purchase. A 6 foot (or longer maybe) wide would probably drape very well.

Their 20F 6' wide bag comes with 13oz of 850fp down, and with a 30% overfill (recommended in my opinion to ensure lifespan and ease of use) that's just over 15.5oz. So for reference the WM Ultralite 6' comes with 16oz of down, the WM Lynx comes in with 32oz of down and is rated for -10F (similar girth to the Ultralite). The Lynx weighs 3lb 2oz and your quilt system would be roughly 3lbs 5oz with an equivalent amount of down but the added versatility of two bags. If you went with the optional (but free) 10D fabric for both inside and outside color, which saves you 3oz, the quilt-bag system would weigh the same as a full blown winter bag.

Looking at loft specs, with WM UL and an EE Quilt you'd have 2.5" of compressed down below you and 5.25" above you. WIth the Lynx you'd have 4.25 above and below (below also compressed by body weight). You have an exped mat that provides (based on the specs) a solid 2.8" of down below you. Say with compression by body weight you'll probably still average at least 1" of down below you, in addition to whatever your bag provides. This sounds pretty darn, and equivalently if not bag/quilt favoring, warm to me.

Granted to hit -10F you'll probably want to add a down balaclava for a few more ounces, but that balaclava you can wear alone while in camp for extra warmth, or pair with a hoodless down jacket to save weight. More pieces sure, but roughly same warmth.

Going with a 30F quilt would get you somewhere down to the 0-5F range in a similar fashion.

This doesn't really take into account wearing all your dead of winter gear insulation to sleep either….this is a pretty toasty system with a lot of versatility and value built in. Even if you assume some major efficiency losses, your winter puffy clothes that will be with you already should compensate in a worst case scenario. In best case you could go below -10F safely with "comfort" depending on how warm/cold you sleep.

On long trips where moisture accumulation in the bag (assuming no VBL is used which I'd advise against) having two thinner sleep garments would be easier to dry out than a single thick item.

Either way this little analysis has shown me that the advances in fabrics used by the quilt manufacturers negates the weight savings of a cold weather bag from manufacturers using heavier (and more durable) fabrics. You actually gain some minor thermal efficiency by trapping a thin layer of air between the quilt and bag, but all of this is on paper and probably overly indepth.

For your purposes, as long as you have equivalent amounts of down to a cold weather bag, extra head warmth to compensate for quilt, and a very good insulating pad…you should expect similar performance. I wouldn't start off with trying to "push" the system colder though, like many people will do with a quilt or bag by factoring in their clothing as warmth. You may get surprised with extra warmth (experience will determine) and if not as well performing you'll have your day clothes to throw on and keep you safe. In time you'll be able to learn if you can "push" the system colder.

EDIT: Link to Enlightened Equipment's Revelation Quilt:

http://enlightenedequipment.com/revelation.html

My wife and I have used our summer light-weight quilts in the snow in mid-winter, by putting a custom MYOG double-width quilt over the top. That way we shared a lot of warmth as well. It worked well.

Cheers

Dustin,

Excellent analysis. Thank you. Just before seeing your reply I had already ordered an Enlightened Equipment 6'6 20F. Good to see my independent assessment of options landed me in the same place as you are standing. It looks like a great product.

Derrick

Derrik

i use an MLD climashiled quilt as an over bag. The upside is that its more weather proof (which I assume as weather gets colder is more important) AND the dew point will be in the synth bag thus making this a more robust combo moisture wise.

obviously the downside is weight and packability

side note – Tim 2 enlightened might have water resistant down soon IIRC…I know nothing of the long term performance but i would look into that

Mike

Thanks Mike and Roger!