what makes a good underquilt?

[22gdsmwheezy]

I'll stand by my snugpak uq all day long it's been fantastic for me so far. In fact just bought another one and am practising using 2 quilts

I paid £45 for mine and I am happy with weight and packability I may change my mind and go expensive and lightweight if I was going long distance walking but for starting out can't fault tham

[HandyRandy]

Used down quilts are just as good and much better than a new el cheapo. And you can wash them, just learn how to first. Basically, hand wash in a tub with mild soap. Then hang dry in the sun all day. Protip: Stuff in it it’s sack before wash and submerge it completely, squeeze the air out, let it saturate, then in pack it under water. Much quicker that way. Wring it out and let it dry a bit laid down first before you hang dry though to avoid damage.

[Getintouch98]

The OP didn’t specify backpacking weight or resale value. Not everyone is willing to spend $150 for something even if it is most likely a better option for them. I would never get rid of my snugpak because it is built like a tank and will probably outlast me. For new hammockers who don’t backpack there are much worse options. Just saying.

[TominMN]

A good UQ will have nice suspension, which usually means both primary and secondary. Baffles on the ends and adjustments to cinch the ends make a big difference in reducing gaps.

[kevperro]

That's 53 ounces for $53. Try reselling that! You'll lose all your money on shipping alone. Since I'm a hiker, I couldn't even imagine buying a 53 ounce underquilt. As mentioned before, you can get a 20* HG Econ Incubator for $149.95, weighs 25.45 ounces, and has actual resale value. Get an Econ Burrow TQ that weighs 22.19 ounces and costs $159.95 and both the TQ and UQ will still weigh less than the Snugpak UQ.

Ding ding ding ding!

The cheapest and best option is not the lowest up front cost. How often does that happen in life?

You could buy and use those Hammock Gear items for a couple years and turn around and sell them and be out little money.


I bought a 20* Burrow - in an attractive orange Tic-Tac flavor, standard length + wide (since I'm getting wider every year). $170ish

I bought a 20* Incubator - in the same attractive Tic-Tac flavor, shorter (since I'm only 5'6") for $133ish.

I have a down sleeping bag I splurged on 30-years ago from Feathered Friends and I still use it to this day. It still would have value if I sold it. The el-cheapo brands of synthetic bags I've bought over the years are all in the trash heap. They were half the price of the Feathered Friends bag and 10% of the utility!

[Miquel Westano]

I'm new to hammock camping and it seems the first thing I need to buy is an underquilt. I have a hammock given to me by a friend and now insulation is my biggest worry. I began looking on Amazon to see if there were underquilts available there and I was a bit surprised to find some. I saw some underquilts at the gathering in PA this past october and I was told the quilts in the raffel were of about a $250 value. My question is, the $80-$125 quilts I saw on Amazon, are they any good? I can see this being a "you get what you pay for" kind of thing but I don't know to what degree. Any thoughts on the matter?

A good underquilt will be light, durable, insulated to the temp level advertised and affordable relative to it's quality. In the real world good gear is never cheap. That said, there are cost modifiers that you can move up or down to suit your budget vs needs. The most obvious will be weight. Next will be length. A 3/4 length will typically be lower in price than a full length.

I suggest avoiding the Amazon mass produced imported stuff. There is a reason it is cheap. It will be heavier, less durable, likely not meet it's advertised temperature rating, have little if any resale value, be almost impossible to get warrantied, and possibly not even the type of fill advertised. The down may be part down and part feathers, or duck down instead of goose, and the fabric cheaper and weaker than the specs if there even are specs provided.

I know it is expensive to get started, but it usually doesn't save money to try to get by with cheap gear. Instead check the marketplace here for used gear, or consider the economy line gear from a known vendor on here as suggested by others.