"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
I have six quilts from HammockGear and am very satisfied with them. For temps 30* and above, I use my HG 20* or 40* 3/4 underquilts. Once it gets below 30* I prefer my 0* Burrow and full-length Incubator. I'm a big fan of the 10* buffer rule (make sure your quilts are rated at least 10* lower than the expected low temps).
The 10* buffer rule serves two purposes: 1) you never actually test whether a 20* quilt works at 20 degrees, and 2) there aren't many weather stations in the wilderness, so whatever the Weather Channel says could be drastically wrong. For example, I once went out in the Pine Barrens and the Weather Channel said I could expect lows of 18* F. Yeah, right - the actual low was -3* F. I am so glad I didn't pay much attention to the Weather Channel, or consider using my 20* quilts since the Weather Channel said the low would only be 18* F. I ended up layering my 0* and 20* quilts and was toasty warm.
If I didn't already own all the HG quilts I would ever need, I'd try Loco Libre. George once asked me why I hadn't tried his quilts, and bottom line is: I already have all the quilts I need!
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
All make good quilts. EE tends to be a bit liberal with their ratings, more of a limit rating than a comfort rating. I have a 30* EE top quilt that I get cold in at around 35* and I'm a hot sleeper. All of my other quilts are fine 10-15* below their ratings but they are also heavier. They've recently started to add more down due to this issue so it might be resolved.
I have EE underquilts. rated 20 30 and 40 long and regular lengths. I have take the 40 into the mid and low 40s with no problem. I went with EE because of the weight.
I tend to run towards cold when i sleep, so to stay warm says something. I use the 40s when I am really looking at my ounces and then I have the 20 and 30 when I want to make sure I am warm and cozy and pay for it with the slight weight gain. I have recently gotten rid of my 30 and now just have the 40 (regular) and 20 (long and regular length).
EE TQ weights are about on par with the other companies. I think I calculated that UGQ has the lighter TQs, however I have yet to pick up one of theirs. I use an LL or HG TQ.
EE is the lightest but based on feedback I've seen has an inferior underquilt design. "Cold spots" sometimes.
The others, and Underground Quilts, are all equally solid. Choose whichever fits your needs best.
I ended up choosing Underground Quilts. Can't wait to try it out once it arrives.
Thanks for all the feedback, everyone!
I cannot speak for the other brands, but I can say that Loco Libre is of the highest quality, & that their temperature ratings are fairly modest. I have a 30degree Habanero that I would easily take down to 15 with a down pullover for backup. No cold spots or drafts.
Please do share your thoughts on the Underground Quilt when you receive it! I'm in the market for a winter UQ myself.
Of those three definitely go with Loco Libre. EE top quilts are nice, but their UQ's are terrible. Their design simply does not work for an UQ. Hammock gear only offers up to 850 fill if I'm not mistaken, and I've heard of some people having trouble with their butt shelf design having cold spots. Loco quilts just feel solid and dense, a step above others I've had and seen. Even with the 900 fill and low 40* rating, there's not even a resemblance of a flat spot, unlike my others that although kept me warm, how 'underinflated' they felt when fluffed up always surprised me that they kept me warm ( talking about other high fill 40* quilts in particular)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Pine Barrens Leather
I was wondering what the benefits of the mrs 20 the m10 and HD 1.0 were. I am curious about other fabrics. I am building my system ground up right now in my research. I had a hammock gear incubator a northwoods hammock which was short lived and a hammock gear cuben tarp. I am looking at the chameleon hammock now, a Dutch hexon sil poly a feathered friends Flickr 20 or if swayed to cottage an UGQ or other manufacture to build my underquilt. The quality of hammock gear was outstanding however I would like lighter and more full down quilt the full length as his design is a little limiting.
If you have an 11 foot hammock don’t get the EE quilt. I bought one for my Blackbird XLC and the shock cord was way too tight. They offered to send some longer cord but I did not want to mess with trying to fit the thing myself and, instead, returned and bought a HG that fit like a glove.
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