A good night’s sleep in the back country is essential. There’s nothing worse than shrugging on your heavy pack and trying to put one foot in front of the other when you’ve had next to no sleep the night before.
Your sleep system plays a huge role in the quality of your sleep, so choosing your gear carefully is essential. Quilts are gaining more and more popularity as a substitution for sleeping bags, but are they really that much better? What should you invest your money in?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I asked Kiwi Ultralight to send me one of their quilts in exchange for an honest review article on my website. However, they didn’t get any say over the content of this post. The following are my genuine thoughts and feelings after trialing their quilt for a few months.
This post contains affiliate links.
Sleeping bag or quilt?
Sleeping bags are what trampers traditionally carry as part of their sleep system, whether they’re camping in a tent or sleeping in a hut. They come in many different shapes, materials and warmth ratings. Sleeping bags completely enclose the body (many include a hood you can draw over your head).
Quilts are becoming more popular. They look similar to sleeping bags, but are just a single layer – like a duvet or doona – that lies on top of you. They’re a lot lighter than sleeping bags, since they don’t have the layer of down that just ends up compressed under your body in a sleeping bag (and therefore doesn’t provide much insulation).
Many quilts come with straps that attach to the mattress or sleeping mat to keep the quilt from falling off. You can also buy silk sheets that fit over hut mattresses or your sleeping mat. The Kiwi Ultralight quilt allowed me to customise my fill / comfort rating and length so that it was exactly what I needed.
So which one should you buy??
Why you should buy a quilt:
- Lightweight: you only carry the top layer that will actually keep you warm, so quilts are much lighter than sleeping bags. My Kiwi Ultralight quilt only weighs around 500g for a -5 comfort rating, compared to more than double that (1kg+) for similar sleeping bags.
- Packs smaller: quilts pack down a lot smaller in your pack, since you’re carrying less material overall. This means more room for they important things like chocolate.
- More comfortable: this one is subjective, but I noticed a huge difference in how well I sleep from a comfort perspective once I started using the KiwiUltralight quilt. I was able to move much more freely, and didn’t feel as restricted as I do in a sleeping bag.
- Ventilation: If you sleep warm, it’s a lot easier to temperature regulate with a quilt than in a sleeping bag.
- Versatility: quilts can be more easily used as blankets and shared amongst more than one person (I’ve slept with my toddler in my quilt easily, but I know I wouldn’t get any sleep if I was squished into my sleeping bag with her).
Why you should buy a sleeping bag:
- Fully enclosed: with a sleeping bag you’re fully protected against drafts and the cold. It’s near impossible for a sleeping bag to slip off you, and you normally have the option of drawing closed the hood to be fully enclosed.
- Best for winter: if you’re a cold sleeper, or mostly tramping in winter / cold temperatures, then a sleeping bag is probably the better option.
- Simple to use: most trampers know and use sleeping bags. There is no learning curve or straps to figure out. You have the experience when shopping to know exactly what you want in terms of shape, materials and comfort ratings.
- Keeps the sandflies out: if you’re cowboy camping under a tarp, then being able to fully enclose your body against sandflies and mosquitos is probably a priority! Sleeping bags make this simpler.
My two cents:
I absolutely love my Kiwi Ultralight quilt! I did go into this experience expecting to prefer a quilt, since I have many friends who do, but it exceeded even my already high expectations. I’ve camped with my quilt in huts, in tents, near warm fires, in hard frosts, with my toddler curled up next to me, and by myself. It’s held up each time, it’s so light, and each time I’ve preferred it to my sleeping bag. I find the quilt so comfortable, and it’s a joy packing something so light into my pack!
If you’re a cold sleeper and spend a lot of time tenting in winter, I wouldn’t recommend a quilt. But otherwise, I’d highly, highly recommend buying the KiwiUltralight quilt over a sleeping bag any day 🙂
