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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brady's Avatar
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    Wink Oh so worth it! In fact, worth every. single. gram.

    I've finally got the time to do a review of my new HG quilt set. To do so in complete requires a small amount of background for me to wrap my own head around it.

    All weights are from my digital scale.

    I've always tried to keep my kit lightweight, at least according to my understanding since when I built my first kit there was no functional internet. I used this same setup for the next 18 years until I got into hammocking when looking into lightweight backpacking. When I was on the ground, this meant I slept on a roll of reflectix, carrying a tiny thinsulate sleeping bag, coffee can pot and 3 rock fire, stuff sac for pillow filled with clothes, and mostly the rain fly for my old Kelty tent, sometimes the tent, you get the picture. After way to many nights waking up cold and sore it was time for a change.

    For Christmas 2012, my wife bought me my first hammock. A Warbonnet XLC. At first I used a Walmart pad and my wife's MEC down bag since she made me toss the ratty old thinsulate bag. Comfortable, yes, much better then the ground. But I wanted more, so I bought a JRB Sierra Stealth 498g (17.56oz) here on the forums, hoping it would be enough for me to be warm through the night with some supplementation for the colder trips. It was okay but since I head deep into the Canadian Rockies frequently, I was back to cool nights, albeit more comfortable. I always needed extra layers for my trips here in Canada.

    Then as I started looking at UQ's, I wanted light, so of course looked for a partial UQ. Within days of starting the search, Leighlo decided to close up shop and I got one of the last 30F 48" UQ's before she retired the store. Awesome! I love this thing, especially with a weight of 388g (13.68oz). Together they made a nice matched set for summer...somewhere else. The alpine trips still left me quite cool, but this combination worked very well when the nights stayed above 12 Celcius. This is the limit I found I could comfortably use this setup with a cut down version of a leg pad from my old reflectix pad.

    Here's a photo of the setup, although you can't see the pad or TQ.
    20130731_083428.jpg

    So now with 1.5 years of hanging, ~70 nights playing with these setups I had a functional but no perfect lightweight setup, at least one that would let me sleep toasty warm. Please let me explain that the JRB and Leighlo quilts are fantastic and well made, it's not the quilts fault. In fact, I wish my new Burrow had a head hold like the Stealth, but I digress.

    Now recently fed up with being cool, I started looking at various TQ's. After much deliberation and discernment, and a ridiculous amount of forum reviewing...I choose to go with a HG Burrow:

    20F Burrow, wide, snaps, standard length, 850fp water resistant down, and black/titanium grey in Argon67 with 1oz overstuff.

    I pulled the trigger and started the wait. In the interim, a fellow forum member decided to sell the almost exact UQ I had been contemplating. The only difference was the colours. So I figured, well, Brady, you bought one, may as well get the other to go with it.

    0F custom length Incubator, 900fp down (which I wanted) with 1oz overstuff, in Chocolate Brown Argon. But wait, they don't match. So I immediately emailed HG and discovered my TQ is ready to ship, but if I really want to change it, they'll put me back in the queue for a new quilt with the matching colours. Thank you Jenny!!!!! So I settled into another wait, this time for a "set". Within three weeks both were in my hands and strung up on the turtledog stand.

    Here's the main reason I wrote this super long post, besides the photographic proof. I've always been a bit of a cheapo. That's part of why I used my former setup because everything was cheap, fairly light, and easily replaceable. Why I wrote this is because I have a feeling a lot of us take the cheap option, without regarding the longer term. Take pots and stoves, if I had just gotten the pot I wanted initially, or bought a stove instead of making it I would have spent far less money...but I can't deny I loved every minute of myog tinkering. If I had just bought the Burrow I would have saved a lot of cold nights and money in experimentation, same with the Phincubator. Okay, enough ranting, I could go on forever on this topic.

    Almost at the end. Here's the improvements and pitfalls of each system.

    Leighlo/JRB combo + pad = 932g (32.86oz). It is great for warmer weather and definitely light.

    HG 0F/20F custom set = 1284g (45.29oz). Almost a pound heavier but no fiddling with the pad, no cold spots, and after seven nights in it, worth every gram.

    And now the pudding...

    0F Phincubator!


    Side by side goodness showcasing contrasting inner/outers


    20F Burrow!


    In action with wife inside...or rather inaction.


    The draft collars sealing the gap.


    My wife, who crawled in to help me dial in the suspension immediately fell asleep and wouldn't come out for over two hours.
    Last edited by Brady; 07-04-2014 at 15:02. Reason: Captioning photos
    Brady

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Very helpful post for those of us in the market for quilts, thank you!

    Since low weight seems to have been of some importance to you historically, what was your main rationale for going with the full-length UQ versus a 2/3 length? I vacillate between thinking I'd prefer the pack advantages of the shorty, and thinking the comfort factor of the full length is worth the extra pack space/weight.

  3. #3
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
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    Nice gear, including your TurtleDog Stand.
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

  4. #4
    Senior Member Brady's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DanglingModifier View Post
    Very helpful post for those of us in the market for quilts, thank you!

    Since low weight seems to have been of some importance to you historically, what was your main rationale for going with the full-length UQ versus a 2/3 length? I vacillate between thinking I'd prefer the pack advantages of the shorty, and thinking the comfort factor of the full length is worth the extra pack space/weight.
    This is just my subjective opinion, ymmv. Since taking up hammocking I've looked at lightening up a lot of things I use to take the were light, but redundant, like two pots with frying pan lids just in case I needed them for some foraging meal. The extra weight I'm carrying for this new quilt set was more that accounted for by what I shaved off.

    But.....the main reason I switched was comfort. I have a 2/3 already with the 30F Leighlo as it is 48" long and didn't like fiddling with the pad, even though it was not a huge problem. I still love that quilt and will keep it for longer hikes where I'm not in the alpine but I spend a lot of time in conditions that drop below freezing even in mid-summer.

    The 0F Phoenix is 52" long and believe me I spent a looooooot of hours debating if adding 4 inches would make a big enough difference and decided it wouldn't make enough difference for me. Four inches in length for a gain of 6.5ish oz., but when I did the comparison it's not really apples to apples. I wanted a more versatile setup and a 30F wasn't going to cut it.

    30F Leighlo 2/3 or 48"
    13.68oz on my scale
    0F HG Phoenix 3/4 or 52"
    20.2oz per HG website
    0F HG Phincubator 68"
    23.91 on my scale with 1oz overstuff
    0F HG Incubator short 73"
    25.3oz per HG website
    0F HG Incubator standard full length 78"
    26.3oz per HG website

    So basically, I chose a 9.3oz increase in weight plus the 1oz overstuff bring the UQ gap to total 10.3oz. That 10.3oz will keep me warm in any conditions I would camp in. I'm not interested in camping below -20C and this should cover that.

    In long form, the extra weight is worth every gram...for me.
    Brady

  5. #5
    Senior Member Brady's Avatar
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    Oh so worth it! In fact, worth every. single. gram.

    Quote Originally Posted by MAD777 View Post
    Nice gear, including your TurtleDog Stand.
    Thanks. I'm humbled such a senior poster would comment on it!

    Though truth be told, when my wife got in on top of me rather abruptly the day after I took the photos, it wasn't so nice but after replacing the conduit, it's good. The shock of the ground followed by a wife's landing on top of me, and then the foot end tripod falling onto her, not so good. Would've made a great video though...

    Needs a paint job soon though.
    Brady

  6. #6
    silentorpheus's Avatar
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    That's a sexy looking UQ you've got there

    Glad you got your setup dialed in.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Brady's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by silentorpheus View Post
    That's a sexy looking UQ you've got there

    Glad you got your setup dialed in.
    Lol, thanks again! I had literally been contemplating this exact setup. And yes, **** sexy!
    Brady

  8. #8
    Member hattywaiverwireguru's Avatar
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    Looking good... nothing better than to have a setup that you are comfortable in. A good night sleep is worth the cash.

  9. #9
    Member cdnunn01's Avatar
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    Nice gear! I plan on buying the 0 degree Burrow this fall, which I'll combine with my DD Hammock under quilt. Can't wait to try it out!
    Black Raven Survival YouTube Page

    Gear Reviews, DIY Tutorials, Trip Reports, Homesteading, Survivalism, Bushcraft, Firearms, Prepping, Hiking, Camping

  10. #10
    Senior Member Brady's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hattywaiverwireguru View Post
    Looking good... nothing better than to have a setup that you are comfortable in. A good night sleep is worth the cash.
    Agreed. I still love the other quilts but this is now the go to arranglement.

    Quote Originally Posted by cdnunn01 View Post
    Nice gear! I plan on buying the 0 degree Burrow this fall, which I'll combine with my DD Hammock under quilt. Can't wait to try it out!
    Sounds fun! HG quilts I've now learnt are as awesome as proclaimed!
    Brady

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