Testing 20 degree Enlighten Equipment quilt.

Thanks Brian, the 20F looks thick and warm in your photo. I’m close to pulling the trigger on either a 20 or 30F Enigma – not sure which one yet. How do you like the straps on your pad – is that a Xlite medium underneath?

If you get the chance, I’d be curious to know your measured loft, near a baffle and also between baffles where any overfill would puff it up more. It’s kind of hard to measure thickness between the inside and outside fabric without calipers, but you can get a pretty good estimate with a ruler held close to a quilt edge. Would love to compare it to my Marmot Hydrogen’s 1.5″ baffles and 2″ max loft.

You should email EE about the measurement. I bet Tim can tell ya off top of his head.

It has good loft. What I am planning on doing to bump up the warmth if I need is zip my puffy up and put my feet in. The majority of the winter season it stays between 25-35 for the low but it does dip into the teens some. So if I need to I’ll suck it up and get a 0 but I’m hoping this will do 2/3rd of my trips. The rest my 45 degree summer quilt will work and it’s at 15 oz :)
Next time I have quilt out I’ll look at the loft.

Just an FYI, the shiftless baffle design doesn’t allow for overstuff so it’s not an option. If you need more warmth get the next level rated quilt.

I could always use a puffy around my feet or booties. But thanks for the tip. If this isn’t what I need this year I have a plan for next!

Often once my feet get wet and subsequently cold (usually after stopping for camp and waiting for food to cook etc), they refuse to warm up even after crawling into a sleeping bag with thick dry socks on. The insulation is sufficient, its just the chill inside needs to be kicked out.

Hot water bottle works wonders in this case. I use the drinking bottle for this, fill it up with boiling water, luxury comfort overnight, and ready sterilised drinking water for the next day hike! So it comes at no extra weight really.

A 1/4″ CCF pad between the quilt and the Neoair will make for a much warmer sleep system. The quilt’s elastic straps are great for holding the CCF in place, but it works even better with a rectangular air mat.

I use this setup with a Neoair Trekker short/wide (47″x25″) and place my pack under the leg/foot area, with the full-length CCF covering the air mat and pack. I’ve stayed warm down to a little below 0°F in my Enigma 20 while wearing down parka and down pants.

I don’t have down pants but I do have a 45 degree summer quilt I can double on itself and use as a footbox. It doesn’t compress on itself enough to loose loft.

You can also put your feet partially in your rain pants or jacket and created a vapor barrier. It works surprisingly well to keep your feet warm. This worked great to keep my feet toasty in my 30 deg EE Revelation when the temps dipped down to 30-32 degrees on my last trip.

Huh, I haven’t seen anyone mention doubling up a summer quilt for leg-only use. That would add a ton of insulation for your legs really quickly, though personally I think I’d normally find that added more warmth than I wanted for my legs (or if I needed that much warmth, I’d need something more on top than just a puffy jacket as well).

You probably already know about them, but it may be worth checking out the Sidekick booties. They can weigh less than really heavy wool socks, while still adding more warmth (and since they don’t conform to your foot shape, I feel like they’re less likely to restrict blood circulation).

Although I have some down booties, I find that if the rest of me is adequately warm I need nothing more than just some standard socks.

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edit: but I repeat myself on the rest — sorry! 

I also recently tested out my newly purchased Revelation 20 and I’m now a little confused. I have read that the temp rating assumes a solid baselayer. However, I took mine out on my apartment balcony, clipped it to my regular Neoair Trekker and jumped in it with only basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and cotton socks. I laid there for a good 30 minutes and was toasty warm in 26* temps. Can that really be right?

“Just an FYI, the shiftless baffle design doesn’t allow for overstuff so it’s not an option. If you need more warmth get the next level rated quilt.”

This isn’t entirely correct. They just don’t call it “overstuffing” any longer. I spoke with them and they gave me the option of ordering a 20* revelation but using the 30* baffles. This is effectively ordering a 30* quilt (2″ loft) overstuffed to have the same down quantity as the 20* quilt. FWIW…

“I spoke with them and they gave me the option of ordering a 20* revelation but using the 30* baffles. This is effectively ordering a 30* quilt (2″ loft) overstuffed to have the same down quantity as the 20* quilt.”

Tyler, would this make yours a 25 degree bag? Otherwise, I’m confused as to why you would want that option.

“Tyler, would this make yours a 25 degree bag? Otherwise, I’m confused as to why you would want that option.”

JP, I’m relatively new to quilts so I don’t know what temp rating this would end up. I didn’t pursue this particular information as I decided not to go that route and just ordered a plain ‘ole 20*. The reason that conversation actually came about is because I asked them if they could overfill certain baffles to make “hot spots” as I was considering ordering one for my wife and women need to have a warmer core. As to your question about why you would want to do that for an entire quilt? Honestly not sure…Since this is effectively another verbiage for the simple idea  of overstuffing, I guess the answer would be the same as to why people used to order an over-stuffed revelation back when they offered it which I can only assume was to prevent down shifting.

FWIW, this is the exact response they sent me via email:

We do not offer overfill in the typical sense, the two reasons to get overfill are for lower temp ratings, but we offer ratings every 10* so if you need more warmth go to the next rating. The other reason is so down does not shift, but our unique baffle design makes it so down does not shift while you sleep making for a better nights rest. If you still want overfill what we could do is use a smaller baffle in your quilt which would puff up your quilt more and make it even harder for down to move in your quilt (so use 30* baffles and stuff it with 20* temp ratings). If you want this it will not cost you any extra, just in your order notes we request that we use the next smaller baffles (so if you order a 20* request a 30* baffle) and we can do that for you. Keep in mind that this will make your quilt custom and will not be able to be returned or exchanged. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Testing a quilt for 30-90 minutes will give you a sense of its general warmth, but it doesn’t take into consideration the body’s natural temperature fluctuations in the night. Regardless of outside temperature, the body cools during sleep, and is usually at its lowest temperature between 4-5am.

Thank you Tyler.

The reason I ask is that I’m looking at replacing my Revelation 20 degree overstuffed that is the older style with kario baffles, with a new version of the Revelation that has vertical baffles. I consider my 20 degree overstuff to be a 15 degree, and would like to find a way to make a current Revelation to be 15 degree. I already own a 30 degree quilt and a 0 degree bag.

On a side note, does anyone know if the current wide version is the same width as the wide version from 5 years ago when Tim was making them in his basement?

If any of you are thinking about the EE but indecisive because of cost (as I was). I recommend doing it before the season. I think the wait time is 6 weeks and there’s no expediting option.

This quilt is an awesome addition. It replaced my 4.5 lb 0 degree bag. At 19 oz, its light and takes up NO space at all in the pack.

I tested in Glacier Park at end of August. We had snow on the ground 1 of the nights, between 30-45 degrees at night I was plenty warm. Slept without my base layers or a hat. I forgot the pad straps so can confirm on a 2.5 inch pad it’s easy to catch a draft, but overall I woke up LESS because it didn’t feel like I was sleeping in a straight jacket. I’m sure it’s less drafty with the pad straps…

What rating is yours Craig?

JP,

The widths today are very similar to the widths of old.  The new templates are computer cut so more precise than the ones I made by hand in my garage back in the day, but the dimension should be the same as any quilts made after OCT 2011.  Some earlier “Revelations” had horizontal baffles and I believe those were Slim 48″, Reg 52″ and Wide 56″, where now everything is 2″ wider, but there weren’t many of those made as everything before OCT 2011 was sewn by me with no additional help.

-Tim

as said above you really need to spend an entire night to get the sense of the rating accuracy

not only does the metabolic activity slow down when sleeping, the morning is often when folks feel most cold

also by that time any condensation from internal or external sources would have appeared

personally i think that the rating on the older revelation i have is somewhat accurate … with a quilt its quite hard to tell, though IMO a snug mummy sleeping bag of the same rating is warmer if a bit heavier

one thing it undoubtably is … its more flexible and sees more use than a similar sleeping bag … just open it up and you have a blanked for all situations

note that the old revelation i had has a fairly durable shell …

I got the 20 and I believe it was Extra wide with the theory that it would help avoid drafts better when turning over.

I have the 20 wide. Thanks for your temp experience.