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I am planning on getting a wbbb for christmas and a UQ with my tax money i am leaning towards a winter incubator so my question is would it be better to get it overstuffed or 900 instead of 800 fill or should i do both. i want to able to sleep in any temp. i have read that i can always vent the UQ if needed what is the concensus among the wise here on the forums
thanks
Hello,
All comes down to pocketbook, weight, loft, and compression. The more you stuff it the more it will keep you warm, but also the more it will weigh and the larger it will be in your pack, and the more expensive it will be.
From what I have read the last year most people would rather go with 900 w/o overstuffed than going with 800, and 800 overstuffed. That is the route I initially went and it served me well.
The only winter gear I have that I did not go that route was my Nanatak Torre Down Parka and that was because it's already warm enough and hard enough to compress down with a normal amount of 800 down.
You are correct it is fairly easy to compensate for too much heat. However, there comes a point where when you start lowering your UQ from the bottom of your hammock because you are too hot, and it is fairly windy, you are might suffer CBS, which is pretty much the point of having an UQ in the first place.
If you do not feel you can afford and summer and a winter, you kinda have a few options... go with a winter underquilt and chance CBS from happening during a summer windy night, or, go with a summer underquilt and buy warmer garments for the winter, and never worry about CBS, or, ditch an underquilt and overquilt all together and go with really good down garments (and save weight - as your garments are double-duty items) such as Nunatak garments or JacksRBetter garments.
This is from personal experience, so I can't offer tables or charts or specific scientific evidence.
BUT, I have used lots of down gear, from quilts to sleeping bags to jackets. I worked for REI and was eligible for a number of manufacturer discounts from many different companies. For a while, light weight and compressibility were my chief concerns for the UL style of hiking I was using, so I've dealt with quite a bit of 800 and 900 fill down.
What I consistently found was that while very high loft down packed small and lofted back up nicely, as soon as I moved, the down compressed noticeably in areas of contact, leaving spots which cooled off until they could reloft again.
Eventually I got rid of all my 900 fill down. Now 800 is the highest loft I use, and I find 750 seems a bit more stable still.
So for me, I would go with 4-6 ounces of overfill of 800 fill down versus 900 fill. Your quilt will be the same basic price and 4-6 ounces heavier, but I would expect a bit better comfort when you roll over in the middle of a cold night.
so if i went 900 fill and overstuffed it would it help it not cool off as much when it did compress?
after making UQ for the last year one thing i found out is too much overstuff is not a good thing...it's just extra weight an UQ can only loft so much....there is only so much room in there
2oz of overstuff is all you really need... and Adam packs alot i mean ALOT of down in his UQ already...so 1-2 should be find
from what i see alot of ppl really like the 900 fill over overstuff from Adam
just my .01 :)
first you got to ask yourself what temps do you plan to hang in ?
are you going to be doing more hiking then car camping?