New River 4 Season questions?

**biggameken** · 11-24-2014, 09:13

Can anyone out there address the two concerns I have listed below? Any insider information is welcome. Thanks in advance for your input

1. I'm looking at getting the 10* 4 Season New River long underquilt. Has anyone out there used this in 10*, and if so how warm were you?
2. I'm concerned that after repeated use, the APEX insulation will bunch up or otherwise not stay evenly dispersed across the underquilt. Has anyone out there used an APEX insulated underquilt long enough to say whether this happens over time?

Thanks again! Depending on responses I hope to purchase a New River Long (I'm 6ft tall) later this week.

- BigGameKen

**Banjoman** · 11-24-2014, 10:33

I'm not 100% positive, but I think Paul has only been offering the apex uq's for a couple years at the longest. I've had an apex for around a year now but have only used it a few times. I also have an older non-apex (climashield maybe?) that I tend to use more often just because I want to make my newer one last longer. But back to your question, I'm not sure AHE apex uq's have existed long enough for you to get a lot of feedback. If you treat your gear well, I think it should hold up just fine for quite a long time... especially for the price.

**brino** · 11-24-2014, 11:14

I have a 25* apex new river ... I'm a fairly hot sleeper but that 25* seems pretty conservative to me! More like 20* I'd say. I'd have to assume the 10* is pretty much in the same boat!

Also the apex seems to hold up extremely well! I've slept in mine nearly 50 times this year, stuffing and un-stuffing etc... and there is NO SIGN of any migration of the insulation, or anything even remotely similar. Also, the mfg of apex (climashield) states that it does not need ANY quilting at all, based on it's physical structure (continuous strand) it is extremely difficult for that insulation to "pull apart".

Paul makes a quality product, it should last a very long time!

**biggameken** · 11-24-2014, 12:34

brino...have you washed your underquilt yet? If so, how'd that go?

**pgibson** · 11-24-2014, 14:20

We try to be pretty conservative on our temp ratings. Every person is so different and the effective temp ratings will vary night to night with many folks. Things like individual metabolism plays a huge part as does humidity, wind, and many other factors. So we try to rate conservatively to a comfort point for most folks in most conditions. By no means should our ratings be considered Survival point ratings but comfort ratings.

Second. We have been offering APEX for a number of years. It is simply the current highest grade generation of Climashield. We have only ever offered Climashield in our quilts as it is the best preforming synthetic available to us. It does not shift of migrate as it's a continuous filament insulation. It comes on a sheet thats structure is sewn in around all of the edges of the quilts and there for can not move around inside the quilt. It won't bunch up over time though if you were extremely rough with it you could tear it creating cold spots....but you would have to be rough to the point of abusive of how you handled it to cause that to happen.

We have some place well over 5000 Climashield Kick *** Quilts in use around the world, Over 2500 of those use APEX Climashield as the insulation. The very first one we produced is still being used by the person we sent it to over 5 years ago.

You should not need to "wash" one of our quilts for a very long time. But if you get it dirty then you should check out our Care and Cleaning video on the How to Videos page at AHE. Washing will not harm the quilt but realistically only outer fabrics should be getting any dust or dirt on them with an under quilt so just simply wetting and wiping down the fabric is all that should realistically be needed on any sort of regular basis.

Hope that helps but let me know if you have any further questions at all.

Paul @ AHE

**biggameken** · 11-24-2014, 16:10

This is very helpful. Thank you for the added clarification. Also to your credit, I'm finding a ton of positive feedback and comments online about your synthetic materials. Great to see. I'm excited to order an underquilt later this week. I currently use a 30 degree Snugfit with my Warbonnet XLC, but would like to get down to colder temperatures. Happy Thanksgiving!

**Dux** · 11-25-2014, 20:31

What are the actual dimensions on a New River Long? I'm 6'2", my dog sleeps in the hammock behind my knees and as age catches up my feet get cold more easily. Therefore I'm looking for an UQ that is long with a rectangular cut. At half the price of down, the NR is lookin' mighty good.

**biggameken** · 11-26-2014, 11:14

Website says the regular length covers someone up to 6' and the long length covers someone up to 6' 6". Paul, can you be more specific about the actual length?

**pgibson** · 11-26-2014, 14:10

The Regular New River finishes out at roughly 6'4" and the long at about 6'8". They are slightly longer as when you gather the ends you bunch inward the ends slightly. Now the 3 and 4 seasons will measure out a little different when you lay they out flat as the 4 season is puffed up more but the difference is minor and if you were to pull both out as flat a possible to measure then you would be pretty close. Hope that helps but let me know if you have any further questions at all.