Talk me into a zpacks sleeping bag

I’m 5’11”, 190#, size 11.5. I have a long 40* Zpacks quilt, and regular (6′) 40* and 22* Katabatic Gear quilts. None of my quilts has a zipper and I wouldn’t get one with a zipper. The footbox on the Zpacks isn’t the greatest. You may want to go with the 6’6″ size for that reason in the Zpacks. The Katabatic definitely have nicer footboxes to accommodate larger feet with fewer cold spots. But it’s all the other little things that make the Katabatic quilts superior in my opinion. The down draft collar at the neck opening is pretty nice. The shaped profile puts room where you want it compared to the Zpacks. The pad attachment system on the K is better. The neck closure snap is better. The K quilts seem to have better differential cuts between the lining and shell to promote loft. It’s just a superior quilt. The Zpacks isn’t bad, the Katabatic is just more refined and thought out. It’s the difference between Marmot clothing and Arcteryx. I don’t feel the need to size up in the Katabatic quilts.

Just my opinion. Happy shopping.

@elboe805: Sorry, I can’t in good conscience do it.

I am 6’1″, 215 lb side sleeper. I have a 30* EE Revelation and a 10* EE Enigma both in regular/wide. They are perfect for me. Great footbox…lots of room for wearing down booties. They cinch up right under my chin without any compression in the footbox. No drafts when tossing and turning. Quality craftsmanship. Everyone who has seen them is very impressed and asks loads of questions.

If I had to do it over I’d buy them again without looking at others…best bang for the buck you will find. While I may sound like an EE fanboy, I’m just a very satisfied owner.

Thanks for the responses. JCH, I’ve gone around and around between zpacks and EE.  Coming from a mummy bag, I figured I would prefer the zipper but I’m still not 100% sold on it.  you’re 1″ taller than me and you find the regular length enigma to be sufficient?  Would you opt for the longer length or stick with the regular if doing again?  Does the wide width leave enough room for a puffy jacket?

I would buy reg/wide again. I’ve worn a Montbell Alpine Light parka and Thermawrap pants under them with no problem.

I came from a WM Megalight that I loved but would not go back. No zippers required…in fact I greatly prefer the freedom and flexibility of a quilt. And if you really don’t like it someone on BPL will buy it in a heartbeat.

IMHO, I think ZPacks, EE and Katabatibc all make great quilts, but with different ideas in mind. Katabatibc is more of the high end, all the bells and whistles and a high price tag, whereas ZPacks and EE are not so much about the bells and whistles as much as focusing on a more minimal set-up. Of course, there are variations within each company… So none are exactly one and done.

I will say that I own 2 EE quilts (both synthetic), 1 HG quilt and 1 ZPacks quilt. The ZPacks quilt is the newest addition. I opted for the standard 20F in a long and wide. I am 5’10” and 172 lbs, and wear a size 12.5 trail runner. I generally start out the night on my back, but as I get closer to drifting off, I roll over on my side and usually sleep on my sides during the night.

The long ZPacks quilt comes up to my nose/ears when lying flat on my back. When I cinch the cord down at my neck it comfortably fits on the top of my shoulders. My feet are close to the end, but not so much that they are pressing into and compressing the down in the foot box. Of course on my side, there is no issues with length at all.

I was hesitant to go with the zipper, but I figured why not. Now that I have it, I think I like it. I can zip it up and crawl into it like a pair of pants (feet legs first, then raise my hips and pull the bag over my hips, then sit up and pull it over my shoulders. When zipped I am not too confined, and I can still wear my MB EL Anorak while lying inside the zipped up bag. The zipper is not very noticeable, especially if I am wearing a couple of layers (which I would be anyway since this is a 20 bag, so it would be cold outside). I will say I am not to excited about the plastic buckle at the neck. I can feel it on my neck when buckled closed, although, I can rotate the opening just a little to move the buckle from behind my neck.

The foot box is nothing special, simply an envelope design. While I will admit, it is not as comfortable as the trapezoidal foot box like on my Marmot Helium sleeping bag, I can’t say it is uncomfortable either. It forms a box for my feet to rest in, and keeps it warm.

If I were to order it again, I would go with the same size (assuming I were sticking with the 20 F bag – if I were going for the 10 F bag I would probably go 1 longer just in case I did want to stick my head inside the bag, which I never do). I would definitely keep the zipper (IIRC, it’s only an additional 0.6 oz) I would be up in the air about adding the draft tube along the zipper though… I do tend to turn inside my sleeping bag, which makes this bag really awesome for me since it zips up like a bag, but has no hood to get in my way, however, if it ever did get turned any while I was sleeping, cold air could sneak in through the zipper.

I considered going with the strap attachments so I could add an attachment point to my sleeping pad (which is how I have moded my EE quilt), but if it gets cold, I think I would prefer to simply zip it up and stay inside. This would make the straps unnecessary. And for those less than cold nights, it is very easy to open this quilt up and use as a quilt.

Hope this helps some, and good luck with your decision…

If you’re going to drop that kind of money, splurge for a Katabatic Gear Flex bag. The craftsmanship is insane, the fill weight is higher giving you a more true temp rating, the multiple ways to configure the foot box, and in my opinion, the best sleep pad locking system in the quilt market.

• Thank you for your responses.  Stick, I too am coming out of a helium and I loved that foot box.  I love your videos, by the way!  The katabatic looks really nice, but comes at the expense of some serious coin.  I think I’m going to go with the EE and embrace the transition to the quilt with arms wide open.  JCH, do you find the EE temp ratings true?  I found the marmot helium good to about 20, the lowest I had it was 17 and I was a little chilly, but still slept wearing a 100wt fleece top, fleece beanie, and cap 2 pants.

The katabatic looks really nice, but comes at the expense of some serious coin.

About the same price as a Zpacks bag you are inquiring about.

You can’t go wrong with an EE quilt.  I’d say their temp ratings are close but I sleep warm so maybe I’m not a good gauge. Their hydro down worked well for me.  Last fall I woke up to my footbox in a huge puddle of water and I never even felt or noticed it.  Everything was dry inside.

I always find it funny people worry about “the transition to quilt sleeping” like its some thing you gotta work on.  If you think about it, you sleep with a quilt every night on your bed.  (Except for Danepacker who sleeps in his modded TTs and montbell sleeping bags at home)

If there is a transition, its a transition to sleeping bag use, the quilt comes naturally.

I think that you will be happy with an EE bag just as much as one of the others. Also, if you are wanting to use a quilt for temps around the 20’s or less, I would suggest to get one with a closed foot box as opposed to one that can open all the way up, such as the Flex. Not saying they won’t work, but the way I always looked at it was, I would rather have a quilt that opened all the way up for warmer temps (40 F and above), but would rather a quilt that had a closed foot box for colder temps. (I understand some folks will feel differently about this than I do though…) But, the chances are you will not want to open a quilt all the way up when it’s 15 F outside, so there is no reason for more fiddle, or extra weight using a zipper or buttons or what not to close it up. Considering this though, the Katabatibc quilts that are closed up are quite a bit more expensive than the Flex quilts… However, the EE Enigma quilts are priced very nicely, has a closed foot box,and has a nice, effective, easy to use strap system to close the quilt around you.

I always find it funny people worry about “the transition to quilt sleeping” like its some thing you gotta work on.  If you think about it, you sleep with a quilt every night on your bed.

EXACTLY! It took forever for me to become accustomed to being wrapped up in my WM Megalight (a fairly wide bag), and honestly I never really found it restful.  The first night under my EE and I knew I was never going back.  So easy to pop your arms out to do anything then pop them back under.

They only thing I had to work out was keeping my head warm and that turned out to be easy as well.  A Cap4 balaclava over my micro-fleece beanie is usually plenty warm down to freezing. Colder than that I use the hood on my puffy, which I will likely be wearing under the quilt anyway when it gets really cold.

Also, if you are wanting to use a quilt for temps around the 20’s or less, I would suggest to get one with a closed foot box as opposed to one that can open all the way up…

Which is precisely why I went with a 30* Revelation for 60* down to freezing and a 10* Enigma for below freezing.

Don’t overlook Nunatak. I’ve experience with all quilt/bag makers here except Marmot and I can honestly say that Nunatak is top notch. To me, they are right on par with Katabatic.