Best Camping Quilts 2020

Buying a backpacking quilt is not an easy task, especially if you’ve never used one on the trail.

There are many factors to think about when purchasing a quilt.

And many of these factors can differ from how you search for a sleeping bag.

Below is a list of qualities, features, and specs to keep in mind when looking for a backpacking quilt.

1.) Weight

Most of the appeal of quilts is that they can spare you a lot of weight over your conventional sleeping bag.

The lightest quilts are usually made from down.

A synthetic quilt can seem appealing from a price standpoint.

However, over time it will wear out faster, and weigh down your pack especially if its wet.

Be sure to stay away from low quality down, and heavier synthetic materials.

2.) Down Fill Power

Down fill power (FP) is a sign of the quality of down utilized as a part of the quilt.

Higher fill power implies higher quality down.

Higher quality down implies less weight, more extended durability, better warmth maintenance, and more fluffiness.

Fill power is estimated in cubic inches in each ounce.

For example, one ounce of your average 850 fill power down can fill around 850 cubic inches of volume.

As you may expect the higher the fill power of the down in the backpacking quilt, the higher the cost.

When in doubt, stick to 850 or more prominent fill power down.

When you dip beneath 850 fill power, you start to see feathers blended in with your down

This causes a drop in the weight effectiveness.

3.) Water Repellent Down

Water repellent spray has been a hot topic of discussion over the last few years in the backpacking scene.

Some people believe that spray coating can lessen the life of the down material in the long term.

Others question the ecological effect that the ingredients have on our planet.

You’ll see that most big name brands have waterproofing built into their backpacking quilts.

You’ll also get some added protection with some water repellent spray.

Down quilts with built-in waterproofing tend to naturally last longer.

While a waterproof down backpacking quilt won’t completely protect you from heavy amounts of water, it is sufficient enough to withstand light water exposure and keep you dry inside.

4.) Pad Straps

Some quilts include loops or straps which are intended to secure the backpacking quilt around your sleeping cushion.

This keeps it from shifting excessively throughout the night.

Whether these straps are necessary is debatable.

Simply put, not many backpackers utilize them.

A lot of quilt straps tend to be clumsy and a minor disturbance, also that they add a bit of weight to the quilt.

I’ve discovered that the best strategy for protecting my quilt is by just placing the pad underneath my body.

This technique guarantees that drafts remain out, and doesn’t cost me any additional weight.

5.) Hoods

Backpacking Quilts do not have hoods, nor should they.

Simply utilize your down coat or a beanie to keep your head warm.

Many backpacking sleeping bags on the market include hoods, but you will not find this luxury with a quilt.

You’re also not going to find too many quilts with draft tubes.

While sleeping bags are now made with draft tubes to prevent heat from leaving the bag, a backpacking quilt has no need for one.

You’re own natural draft protection will come from how well you tuck the quilt underneath you.

This is just another trade-off from sleeping bag to quilts that has its advantages and disadvantages.

7.) Baffles

Simply put, you don’t need materials to be sewn through bewilders, you need boxed or 3D puzzles.

Sewn-through astounds sew both the inward and external shells of the quilt together to control down.

This leaves cold spots without protection, where cold air can undoubtedly make it inside your quilt, and warm can get away.

Boxed creates control around utilizing vertical bits of material to join the inward and external shells of the quilt, making no “squeeze zones” or places for loss of protection.

Here and there sewn through puzzles are worthy in a lightweight summer quilt. However, I decide on boxed perplexes when I can get them.

8.) Materials

Materials shouldn’t be an enormous worry for you.

Most producers now are utilizing the lightest and most fitting materials accessible.

You need a firmly woven, down-verification material that won’t permit down stuffing to infiltrate it and break out.

Lightweight materials are best, periodically a 10 or 15 Denier ripstop nylon can be the most ideally equipped contender for the activity.

A water-safe DWR coating is once in a while essential in a quilt.

If you are utilizing a moderate canvas and regularly find that rain sprinkles onto the foot of your bag/quilt, a few brands offer a piece of climate confirmation texture at the foot of the quilt for simply this reason.