Enlightened Equipment Revelation Review

[Stephanie Jordan]

Companion forum thread to:

Enlightened Equipment Revelation Review

[CW]

Please note that this was tested over the winter of 2011/2012 and submitted in the Spring of 2012 so the specs may and probably have changed.

[C Brown]

I have enlightened equipment Revelation
56" wide top
42" wide bottom
6'6" length
20 degrees
no overfill
20 d fabric
24.5 ounces

great design, great loft and great customer service!

[Stephen M]

I have a 20f rev X ands its one badass quilt.

[Tim Marshall]

Chris,

It made it!!

Was surprised to hear BPL had done a review from some customers. I had nearly forgotten about this from over a year ago :)

Biggest changes for those curious are now the baffle grid is tighter with smaller gaps to reduce down shift (not an issue in the 0* anyway). We also upgraded the strap system a lot it now secures the quilt above the pad and is much easier to use.

-Tim

[Justin McCabe]

My Rev X 20 is so comfortable that when I don't get a trip out, I find myself missing it and finding excuses to use it. As in, "brr honey, it'a a crisp 60 degrees here in Southern California tonight, do you feel that? Here, I'll get my quilt"

[Aubrey Biscoe]

Amazing quilts, and even better customer service; in a world where customer attention has been fed to the wolves, these guys and gals have obviously put an emphasis on it; it's a feel good transaction to do business with EE.

[MFR]

I concur with the opinions so far. I'm pretty over the moon about my Revelation 20° with 30% overstuff (2012). I've taken it down into the low teens with just a couple of layers, nothing near what I needed with my old, but much beloved, GoLite Ultra 20.

When I was looking at getting a new quilt, the reason I went with EE over some of the other highly regarded companies was that I really appreciate the simplicity and functionality of what Tim makes. I'm looking forward to this summer so that I can test how well this handles the warmer ranges in the evening. But given the ability to convert the quilt however I want, I am sure it will go very well.

And, I'll just second Tim's customer service. My brother borrowed a friend's Revelation 10° when he came to town recently and accidentally put a small tear in the outer fabric. So, I emailed Tim to see what he recommended I do, and he just had me ship it out to him and took care of it for me. (Tim–the quilt came in yesterday. Thanks again.)

I realize that the price often puts EE in the "value brand" category, but having seen a lot of sewing from a lot of companies, they offer a high quality product. The lower price is icing on the cake.

[J Dos]

I've written Tim back and forth for a while now. First off, this is the best customer service I've ever received from a cottage company, outside of Zpacks, who I also have to give a ton of credit. Anyway, Tim has always taken the time to answer all of my questions, in detail, even though he is busy growing his company. He's also deservedly mocked me when I asked ridiculous questions.

The EE Revelation 20 degree 6' reg width is my first quilt. I made the switch from a WM Ultralite 20 degree bag and I have no regrets. I've tried so many mummy bags and I feel WM makes the best bags in the world and EE's sewing compares favorably to WM's. Not a stitch out of place. Every feature is well thought out. My quilt is the 2013 version and seems to offer more options than the quilt that the reviewer tried. I had several choices in regards to fabrics.

I can't give a full review of the quilt yet, as I haven't logged nearly enough nights in it to give an accurate picture of it, yet I feel this is a versatile piece of gear that makes it perfect for my 3 to 4 season sleep system here in the redwoods of California.

I've never tried a product from Nunatak or Katabatic or any of the other quilt companies, so I'm not dissing their product, far from it, but if you're looking for great quality, workmanship, materials, customer service, and performance, then I think EE is tough to beat.

In closing, if you are interested in switching to a quilt, send Tim a message. You won't be disappointed.

J Dos Antos

[Nate Boyer]

I can't figure out how the bungees work. I see how they're looped on one side, but how do they attach on the other side (where the line locks are)?

[Jim H]

I believe the bungees/pad attachment has changed for 2013 models. Mine came with non-strechy pad straps and stretchy elastic straps. I've chosen to use the stretchy elastic straps so far. I put them around my body rather than the pad.

See their website here:

http://www.enlightenedequipment.com/2013-features/

[Nate Boyer]

Mine came with the bungees. They have one sliding line lock on each end (like the pics). I don't understand.

[Jim H]

When I was researching quilts a few months ago, there were some posts about people being confused on how to use those line-lock cords on the EE quilts. If I recall, people just sort of tied a know wherever it felt right.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=69691

[CW]

I'm going off memory so don't hold me to this but…

IIRC I connected the bungee at the middle to one side of the quilt with a girth hitch. I then pushed both ends of the bungee through the loop on the other side of the quilt and used the cord locks for adjustment. They held fine against the grosgrain loop.

[Jim Colten]

Jim H is correct. 2013 EE quilts have a changed strap system.

I own the first one made in 2013:-) Here is a photo of the two strap types:

The closer strap is elastic and is used to attach the sides of the quilts to each other.

The farther strap wraps around your pad and the quilt attaches to that strap at two places that can adjusted as wide apart or close together as you prefer.

All attachments are center release buckles.

How do they work? Limited use use far (it is a 0*F quilt) but so far so good. Being a toss & turner I prefer to attach to the pad (or not attach at all).

[Tim Marshall]

I'm a fan of using the pad straps but only attaching one side of my quilt to them. Then I can get in and out easy on the open side and only have to manage tucking one side as the buckles hold the other. I'm claustrophobic which is why I use quilts in the first place vs a sleeping coffin;)

-Tim

[John Coyle]

Several months ago I ordered and received a 20 degree RevelationX–I believe it's the 2013 model which has different dimensions than the older model. In any case, the one I got in regular seems to fit me at 6' 1' 190 lbs, and I am a side sleeper. The X model is cheaper because it uses outer material rated as seconds, but I can't see any flaws in the material at all.

Haven't used it yet in the field, but it seems like an excellent quilt and I am very happy with it. It is very puffy, and I am concerned that the 20 degree model might be too warm for three season use in the Sierra of Northern California, but at least I won't get cold. I would like to compress it more than the supplied stuff sack would allow, but I don't know if that is advisable, so if Tim is around, maybe he could address that. Also, and this is a small issue, but I would prefer the larger home storage sack be a more breathable material instead of what appears to be sil-nylon.

[Tim Marshall]

John,

It's ok to compress it more. If you compress it heavily just be aware it will take longer to recover and loft fully. It will recover.

The large storage sack has always been made of DWR nylon, the silver ones had more DWR and don't breathe as well as the yellow ones we use now but they always have been breathable.

-Tim

[J C]

Tim, you should totally use that top picture of the revelation laid open on your website! I love how plush and comfy the thing looks, and I think it gives a better idea of your quilts and how they work than your stock photo which to me looks like some sort of weird giant cocoon.

That picture, this article and a few others explaining how the pad attachment system works have basically sold me on a Revelation. Now I just need to find a buyer for my WM Apache…

[Fitz Travels]

One of yhe main reasons i havent bought one yet is because Katabatic is always out of stock in their hoods (crestone) and i just dont think zpacks hoods is warm enough for really low temps, plus the fact that i still sometimes wimp out when i compare high dollar bags weights to a quilt and a hood and wonder if the extra 2 or 3 ounces is worth it to ensure absolutely no drafts.

[Will Newton]

Some threads need reviving, this is one. I can list the number of gear items that I've liked *more* the longer I've owned them on one hand, and my ProdigyX 40° is in the top three. Tim was very responsive and helpful in the selection process; the quilt showed up earlier than anticipated, and it's just been a joy to use as a summer bag. A down shirt and fleece hat have taken it into the low 30s in the Cascades; this weekend it was out on the beach in Half Moon Bay, wet as all get out, warm as all get out. Looking forward to pairing it with a 15° bag for winter trips… if I can resist the temptation for a Revelation 10°.

Tim's recent post asking for feedback on price increases just blew my mind. Who does that? Who takes their customers' concerns that seriously? Great quilt, great company.

[Jeremy]

Just ordered the 0* as my first legit quilt. Wish I could have afforded the 800 or 850, but had to go with the 750 to save the bank. Love the fact I can use it as an UQ when I hang. Hope it's still cold when it comes in.

[Mordecai _]

Last night, I decide to get a second quilt from this company, a synthetic – the Prodigy. I have a 10-degree Revelation that I have mostly used as a luxurious blanket because it is so warm and wide, and its nice to be able to vent just by flipping over. I now wanted to get a light synth for summer use with a hammock that I just ordered. I emailed Tim at 10:44PM (last night was a Sunday), asking about current delivery times. I expected to hear back today. Tim answered 29 minutes later (after 11 PM on a Sunday) with all the info I needed. (FYI, its 2-3 weeks to ship EE quilts, currently closer 2 weeks, and they also have a rush option that is 1 week for an extra $40.)

Obviously, I was impressed. I hadn’t posted about how much I like my Revelation quilt from EE, but I decided last night to actively promote their company. Looking at this thread, it seems this is old news. Anyway, to reiterate the positives:

1. Quality design and execution. A sharp but simple product that works. No extras. For my quilt, the temp rating is indeed conservative, and the weight met spec. No wear or other issues after about 20 nights outside in a tent, and many more nights as a comforter on my bed.
2. Copious options for fill, length, width, fixed/opening foot-box, shell material, even lots of colors.
3. The pricing reflects the cost of these materials, and consistently beats comparably spec’d quilts.
4. Generous return policy (I have no practical experience with this, obviously, but have seen no complaints in forums such as this.)
5. The guy that will build my quilt answered my email late on a Sunday night.

(Please trust that I was just a customer with a question. In no way am I credentialed to get “special treatment”. Thus, I felt compelled to add this comment to the most-related post on BPL, and some other sites too.)

[Author]

Posts