The Best Ultralight Backpacking Quilts (2026): Zenbivy, REI Leave a comment
Much less is much less, don’t let anybody persuade you in any other case. That is very true while you’re carrying every thing that you must stay for per week in your again, which brings us to the backpacking quilt: It’s a sleeping bag, however much less. In lots of instances, a backpacking quilt is all you want, and I’ve come to love them higher than sleeping luggage for all however the coldest of journeys.
These quilts will not be like those your grandmother gave you. Backpacking quilts are made from nylon and full of down like a conventional sleeping bag, however they lie over you want a quilt, moderately than wrapping you up the way in which a sleeping bag would. The profit is twofold: A quilt is lighter, that means much less weight to hold in your pack, and in the suitable situations, you simply may sleep higher too.
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Why Is a Quilt Higher Than a Sleeping Bag?
I’ve a complete article dedicated to answering this query, however the brief model is that it’s simply as heat, and weighs much less. The science behind the primary assertion is fundamental physics. Whenever you lie down in a sleeping bag, the burden of your physique forces many of the down fill off to the edges. The down left below you is so little and so compacted (by your mendacity on it) that you simply’re not getting any actual insulation from it. Why, the logic goes, carry round weight you’re not utilizing?
Quilts do away with the underside layer of a sleeping bag, and lie over you just like the quilt in your mattress at residence. Quilts usually weigh lower than sleeping luggage and pack down smaller, making them very fashionable with backpackers attempting to cut back weight and save area.
When Is a Sleeping Bag Higher Than a Quilt?
When it’s actually chilly. The issue with quilts is drafts (they don’t wrap round you so that they’re liable to letting in chilly air) and their lack of hoods. Drafts aren’t an enormous deal in the summertime when most of us backpack, which is why I like them greater than sleeping luggage more often than not. That stated, once I head out snowboarding or snowshoeing within the depths of winter, I convey a subzero sleeping bag.
After years of testing, I’ve discovered nearly any quilt high-quality for summer time use. For shoulder-season journeys the place temps might dip beneath freezing, I nonetheless use a quilt, however I take advantage of a Zenbivy, which retains out drafts higher than different quilts due to the extra sheet and aspect baffles. Any time I feel temps will dip beneath 20°F, I convey a sleeping bag.
If They’ve Much less Materials, Why Are Quilts Extra Costly?
Quilts are typically—however not all the time—dearer than a conventional light-weight sleeping bag. Why are we paying extra for much less? Most often, the reply is down-fill energy. Cheaper sleeping luggage typically use 650 down fill, whereas most quilts are within the 800 to 1,000 fill-power vary, which makes them considerably pricier. That stated, there are some nice lower-priced down quilts, like REI’s Magma Quilt (see beneath).
The Finest Quilt for Ultralight Summer time Journeys
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
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Enlightened Tools
Revelation Quilt (40°F)
For summer time journeys, once I need to go as gentle as potential, Enlightened Tools’s Revelation Quilt is my high decide. I’ve the 40°F model, which weighs simply 19 ounces. Not like many producers, Enlightened Tools doesn’t do a twin temp score of consolation and decrease/excessive restrict. As an alternative it picks a quantity in between and recommends on its web site that most individuals “use a quilt 10 levels hotter than the bottom anticipated temperatures.” My expertise with the Revelation suggests this advice is stable. I’ve discovered the Revelation retains me heat all the way down to round freezing, offered I’m sporting a base layer. If it’s any colder than that, I’ll sleep in a puffy jacket as properly, however in summer time, even within the mountains, that is not often going to be mandatory.
The Revelation has the power to lie fully flat on hotter nights, which is how I usually use it. The foot field has a 20-inch zipper and drawstring, which let you shut it all the way down to create a pleasant tight (learn heat) area at your toes while you want it. There are additionally straps that type a loop and wrap round your sleeping pad to maintain the Revelation in place. The straps are separate, which is good as a result of half the time I don’t use them, but it surely does make shedding then one thing of a threat. They’re additionally a bit completely different from different techniques I’ve examined in that they loop round your pad (moderately than simply below) and you then clip the Revelation to them. I don’t like sleeping on the strap, so I take advantage of these straps “fallacious” and simply put them below my pad, ignoring the loop characteristic, and it really works nice. On hotter nights I don’t hassle with the straps in any respect—quilts are about flexibility in spite of everything.
The Revelation is out there in an virtually limitless array of configurations, with temp rankings from 50°F all the way down to 0°F. You can even get completely different lengths (brief, common, lengthy) and completely different widths (vast, common), and select between 850-fill-power and 950-fill-power down. A draft collar is out there on luggage rated beneath 30°F. I examined the 40°F mannequin with 850 fill energy, which weighs 19 ounces and prices $370. It’s additionally value noting that there’s an choice to construct a totally customized, made-in-the-US Revelation utilizing your actual dimensions and fill energy and cloth shade preferences.
The Finest Sleep System for Shoulder Season Journeys
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
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{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson
When the temperature dips beneath freezing, I flip to Zenbivy’s numerous sleep techniques. In my neck of the woods, freezing temps can lengthen into June and begin up in early September so I spend lots of time in Zenbivy quilts. I’ve examined each mannequin the corporate makes and a part of the fantastic thing about the Zenbivy system is you’ll be able to combine and match completely different quilts and sheets in keeping with what works greatest for you. My favourite combo is the Gentle Quilt (convertible model, which opens flat), paired with the half sheet/hood from the Ultralight Mattress. I favor the ten°F model of each. This finally ends up essentially the most versatile, light-weight combo for the temperatures I are inclined to encounter (utilizing the half sheet saves me 6 ounces over the total). That stated, if I have been backpacking principally within the mountainous West or in hotter climates, I’d go along with the 25°F possibility.
