I was thrilled to receive an almost weightless package which contained my Cocoon pro-90 parka, UL 60 pants and UL 180 quilt.
I am basically quite thrilled with the pants and parka, considering their weight, or lack thereof. But I'm not so sure, yet, about the quilt. I'm trying to integrate this into my backpacking experience to figure out exactly how usable it's going to be for me. I don't know what I was expecting, after all, it's not 800 fill power down and it is superlight, so really how thick should I have expected it to be? But I guess at $200 after significant member discount, psychologically you're still expecting something pretty puffy. The thing is, prior to my order I had not been able to find any estimates of loft. So I was just basing my expectations on the successful arctic testing and Montana training in springtime.
Recently,at this link, I found the loft (single layer) of Ryan's arctic 20 oz. quilt specified as 1.8", which I supposed was to be the same as the standard Cocoon 180 that was supposed to be tested.
http://www.ryanjordan.com/2006_arctic/2006/06/ultralight_shel.html So should I expect a similar loft in the 180 quilt that is for sale to the members? Mine does weigh 20 oz., but, even after several days of being out of the box, I'm not finding a loft to match that. What loft should be expected from 180 g/m2 Polarguard Delta?
I'm sure that measuring loft at home can be a bit tricky, and my results are probably not very scientific. Which is why I'm checking with you experienced ultralighters in order to find out if my concerns are unwarranted.
My very first measurement double layer yielded 3 inches in some spots, which would give me 1.5 inches. But more realistically it was averaging closer to 2.5 inches. I had just repeated another loft measurement of the quilt, both double layer and a single layer. Even after another 24 hours out of the box, the results are really no different. Measuring double layer, I can find the occasional spot that will just barely yield me 3 inches. But is double layer even a correct way to do this? Because wouldn't I then be using a measurement which included extra shell material, both inner and outer, which of course would not even be over me in normal use of the product? Regardless, double layer measurement = barely 3 inches max, realistically averaging more like 2.5 inches max. So mostly 1.25 inches single layer dividing by two, maybe 1.5 inches in a few areas. Every attempt I made to measure single layer, the best I can come up with was 1.25 inches, maybe 1.3 or so. Should I be expecting 1.8, such as the quilt which Ryan was going to use in the Arctic? Because on a percentage basis that's a significant difference. Or, are the measurements I'm getting exactly as should be expected?
Of course all of this anal measurement of fractions of inches simply leads back to my initial concern of whether this superlight bag will be adequate for my needs, even with the pants and parka. I have been backpacking regularly since the early 80s. Unfortunately I find that I don't sleep as warm as I used to. I was always a notoriously warm sleeper. But not quite so much at age 58. I go to the Wind Rivers a lot during the first week of September. The coldest I have ever experienced is 15° at this time, once I had a week where every single night was exactly 20° at Big Sandy Lake base camp, and other times I have seen one night reach low 20s with the other 4 nights in the 30s or 40s.
In recent years I had just barely kept warm in the mid-20s (sleeping out under the stars) using my North Face Cats Meow Endurance bag that is rated at 15°. However, I think that rating is wildly optimistic. They're giving an extra 5° for the shell. For me in my old age (58 years) it is proving to be a mid-20s bag including wearing midweight fleece top, bottom and cap, with neck collar and hood cinched pretty tight. But here's the thing! This Polarguard Delta bag, which is many years old and has seen many trips, using the same measuring techniques i used on the quilt, yields 2.25 to 2.5 inches top layer through the chest. About 1.75 inches or more bottom layer. A double layer measurement gives me roughly 4+ inches.( it was 5+ new)
So if I wear my cocoon pants and parka inside the quilt, what loft would that give me? Should I get about 1/2" loft single layer out of the 60 weight clothing? I really have no idea, when I attempt to measure I get anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 inch, maybe a little more in some spots. But they are clearly a good bit thicker than the heavier fleece that they will replace. And they are many times thicker than the Patagonia expedition weight Capilene bottoms which weigh about the same as the pants. And I think that's wonderful. But, 1/2" of single layer loft from the clothing plus 1.25 inches from the quilt equals 1.75 inches. That still leaves me a long way % wise from the 2.25-2.5 inches loft that I got just from the top layer of that sleeping bag. So I'm thinking that for me this is going to be at best a 30 or 40° setup. I'd be a lot closer if I was getting the 1.8 inches that was mentioned from the link I gave at the first of this long rambling note I'm writing here!
Anyway, I would appreciate any comments from experienced users of this gear or very sinilar gear. I'm really not all that cold of a sleeper, and I'd like to know what I could reasonably expect from the clothing plus the quilt. Most of all, I'd like to know if I should expect this quilt to have 1.8 inches of loft single layer? What's the consensus opinion around here on this 180 quilt? One also has to wonder about cost-effectiveness. The prices recently on the JRB No Sniveler are not all that much more than this cocoon quilt, and the weight is only a couple of ounces more for a size large. But according to BPL it has a loft of 2.25 to 2.5 inches. Of course that's down with all of its moisture concerns, not exactly an apples to apples comparison. And I'm never quite sure how I should compare the loft/warmth of a synthetic to the loft/warmth of down. Is one inch of PG warmer than 1" of 800 down? (Obviously yes when water is a concern)
I have a beautiful Patagonia down vest that I could use to soup this system up. That thing must be 1 1/2 to 2 inches of single layer loft! Would you wear this over the pro-90 parka, or under? I seem to have plenty of room for it underneath the pro 90, with no obvious loft compression.
Thanks in advance for any advice- sorry for the rambling.
Bill
