Sleeping Quilt

From CanyonWiki

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The sleeping quilt was an idea championed by ultra-light hiker Ray Jardine. The idea is this: your weight essentially flattens and obliterates the insulating capacity of the fill under you, so why carry it? Cut the bottom off and save yourself the weight of 1/3 of the bag + the zipper. This does mean you sleep on your pad, which isn't as smooth and comfy as some fluffy nylon. Then again, carrying 1-2 lbs less sleeping bag is much more comfy.

There are two basic approaches based on fill: down and synthetic. Down may be warmer for the weight, but requires sewing baffles and working with the messy feathers (not something your significant-other may approve of). Synthetic fabrics come in large sheets. They are easy to work with, warmer when wet, but a little heavier for the weight.

As there are good instructions available for either a down or a synthetic project, and Ray's web site offers a complete kit with instructions, I'll just point you to those sites.

I have made a synthetic quilt, basically following the instructions at Glenn Hecko's site. I made it longer than he suggested so the flaps are more easily tucked under my shoulders. I used a single layer of Primaloft (1.3 inches thick). This is probably rated to about 40 degrees and I've scrapped through some water bottle-freezing nights wearing my fleece pants and down sweater. Overall it is a nice system. It is an easy project and shaves a couple pounds off your back. Heck, at just over 1 lbs, you might even consider bringing it along as a piece of emergency bivy gear.

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