Note: I paid full price for this quilt and am reviewing with no benefits, just enjoyment of being a nerd 🙂
So I was looking for a light/ultra light sleep system. I was sick of being cold in the sub alpine. I was sick of waking up all tangled in the night facing the back of my mummy bag or constantly having to pull up my ZPacks bag as it would shimmy down to my hips. I was intrigued by quilts. That was my headspace when I contacted Enlightened Equipment for information regarding a new sleeping bag or quilt.
First and foremost, I have to give a huge shout out to Jacob at Enlightened Equipment. I asked a ton of questions and he was happy to really drill down and give me piece of mind.
Things he told me (summarized):
- As of November 2017 they include a 5% overstuff, so cold sleepers unite!
- I asked if 950 of the same rating would be any warmer at all, he assured me no, just way more compressibility and lighter for us gram weenies.
- I asked about dead spots. I tolerate my ZPacks 20 degree bag especially for summer, but I never truly loved it. Some folks mention it may be due to the baffle direction being horizontal, as it sometimes gets dead spots where I feel cold air coming through as the down shifts and moves. Jacob mentions that however it does happen with all down products they do try to limit it with their baffle design. He also linked me to their Distributing Down link which provides tips on how to mitigate.
- Finally, I am a rotisserie sleeper. This means I roll front to side to back all night making most mummy bags a hot mess of tangled and twistedness. Jacob recommended I upsize to a regular despite fitting in a Slim. Also the bags cinch around your nose based on the height, so he recommended a regular length to be able to really hunker down at 5’6.
Considering it is a ton of money to spend on a sleeping bag, I was really pleasantly welcoming to all the fantastic support and reassurance he provided.
The EE Enigma 0 degree 950 quilt in regular width arrived and weighed in at 23.1oz with the straps. I found this wonderful YouTube link from Enlightened Equipment on how to strap in for the night. The quilt has a closed footbox, and no zipper. There are two male female type straps on the quilt one for a strap that is a loop around your mat that can be adjusted and another that is a U. I ordered some additional straps for a few dollars after learning I preferred the loop type strap and wanting two of them. I wish they shipped stock with two of the loop type straps…
There are some snaps around the collar and a draw string at the top of the quilt to really cinch you in.
I paired this quilt with the Neoair X-Therm sleeping mat. It is a 4 season mat at 16oz that has an R value of a whopping 5.7. With a quilt you sleep directly on the mat so having a warm mat is vital. I have purchased an Enlightened Equipment mat cover that weighs only 1.5oz and is extremely silky smooth, to prevent sticking to the mat, and sweating on the mat dirt and grime.
I have taken this quilt out a handful of times so far, and have been plenty warm. I took it recently to around 6-10 degrees Celsius 40-50F, and actually had to remove clothing layers during the night as I was too warm. The nice thing about the quilt is you can pop open a draft or loosen how cinched the straps are or just use it like a blanket sans straps.
Earlier in the shoulder season I took it out around freezing temperatures, and just wore a normal base layer no puffy and felt no issues with temperature. I did have the quilt cinched fairly tight with the straps for that evening as we were next to a lake.
Overall this quilt is a huge winner in my books, it lofts huge, is soft to the touch and Enlightened Equipment are a class act company. I will be taking it into the High Sierra for 12 days this fall and look forward to running it through its paces in the sub alpine.
Happy hiking!
Holly Hikes Hills 
Leave a comment