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The Katabatic Palisade 30 Quilt is an extremely lightweight quilt with various fill options and size configurations. Its created to be used with or without a pad and has a differential cut and continuous baffles to evenly distribute the fill or move fill around to suit your needs. It has overstuffed baffles in the foot area to help with warmth too. As a 100% recycled product this will be a big hit with Thru Hikers and Fastest Known Time multi day adventurers looking to save weight but still get a good nights sleep in a variety of temperatures.
In Depth Review
The sleeping bag is dead. Long live the quilt.
As a long distance runner/ hiker I’m always looking for the lightest possible weight for gear with the best performance and I’ve always found the sleeping bag to be my biggest issue. If I save too much weight I get cold, but sleeping bags are bulky and heavy.
I took this Quilt on a 2 day test through The Fall Woodlands of New England in October this year and I’m now a complete convert to Top Quilts.
Advantages of A Top Quilt versus a Sleeping Bag
When you first get a top quilt out of its stuff sack you’ll be a bit confused. If you are used to seeing sleeping bags it wont make any sense why someone has stolen the zip and removed the hood.
There are three main advantages to using a Top Quilt instead of a sleeping bag when camping. They tend to be smaller and lighter in your pack compared like for like with an equivalent sleeping bag, they are also more comfortable if you turn over a lot in the night and they are also more flexible as a sleeping system than a sleeping bag because you can use the like a blanket during the day easily when you stop to eat and because they l end themselves much better to sleeping in hammocks and bivys.
Under Pressure
The first advantage of a Quilt is that when you use a sleeping bag any of the material that is underneath you gets compressed by your body weight so its basically ineffective as an insulator. The insulation in jackets and sleeping bag works because of the ‘puffiness’ and air caught inside. Compress and you have much less warmth potential.
By not having the underside of the sleeping bag you do away with a large area of unnecessary material which saves considerable weight when compared to a sleeping bag. On top of that this also means the Quilt packs down into a much smaller size when compared like for like with a sleeping bag. This Quilt comes in at under 19oz !
Top Quilts work Better with Inflatable Sleeping Mats
The ‘cold underside’ is dealt with in a much more effective way by using an inflatable sleeping mat which most people with a sleeping bag would use anyway. These act to keep you insulated ( because they are filled with air and pumped up so they don’t compress). Given that you would use a sleeping mat anyway with a sleeping bag you can still see the like for like weight and size advantage a Top Quilt has.
Top Quilts have small straps you can click round the inflatable sleeping mat to keep them secure if you wish. I tend to sleep on my side and turn over a lot so a Top Quilt is better suited for me as I find in a sleeping bag I turn over a few times and the hood then moves round and covers my face.
Pertex
This is the first time I’ve seen Pertex turn up in camping gear I’ve tested and I live it. I’ve been using Pertex Dry Suit Diving Undersuits for decades because it has a superb affinity for moisture on your body and wicking it away and outside.
All Good with No Hood
By not having a zip or hood the Quilt also saves space and weight. The lack of hood isn’t an issue as I tend to find I sleep with my jacket on anyway that has a hood, or wear a beanie hat. By not having you breathe as much into the bag it stays drier overnight from body moisture and is ore effective at keeping you warm.
Down Down Down
The debate continues to rage between synthetic versus down filling for jackets and sleeping bags/ quilts but I find the bottom line is that its OK to chose both for different reasons depending on what you are doing. The down fill with the Top Quilt overcomes some of the ‘hard to dry’ concerns by having the down coated in a DWR water repellent finish with its Hyperdry Down fill.
Once taken out of the stuff sack this quilt expands in a way I’ve never seen any jacket or sleeping bag do. It seems to magically puff itself up. This is because the 10D outer fabric is a light as possible and the 900+ down fill is generous. The baffles do a great job of preventing the down from moving around too much and causing areas of bunching up or areas with no fill. I also like the recycled cloth bag that came with it that akes a great storage bag when not in use ( its wide and not compact) but also makes an amazing mini sheet to place over an inflatable mattress.
Top Quilts are Good for Hammock sleepers too
Top quilts are also great for hammocks because you are sleeping off a cold hard ground do you don’t lose lots of heat through a floor.
Baffled Footbox
The Katabatic Palisade Quilt still has a baffled footbox section like a normal sleeping bag so your feet and legs stay warm in the traditional way. Most people don’t have a lot of body contact to the ground from the knees down so the traditional sleeping bag shape works great at that end.
Clips and Toggles
The Quilt not only has clips for clipping underneath an inflatable map but also a strap so you can extend the lengths of the clips to go round longer wider mats.
There are also poppers near the top of the Quilt to help do it up round your body tighter if you wish as well as a drawstring toggle to also tighten the quilt round your shoulders when sleeping if you wish.
Share the Warmth
Because the quilt opens up much more than a sleeping bag I also find this really useful when sat outside in a chair before bed when camping and to also wrap parts of it over my partner if she gets cold when we are camping.
Sizing
The Palisade Quilt comes in 5 sizes and three temperature ratings AND three fill options so you can pick the right quilt for your needs and budget.
Gripes
none.
Verdict
The Katabatic Palisade 30 Quilt is an extremely lightweight quilt with various fill options and size configurations. Its created to be used with or without a pad and has a differential cut and continuous baffles to evenly distribute the fill or move fill around to suit your needs. It has overstuffed baffles in the foot area to help with warmth too. As a 100% recycled product this will be a big hit with Thru Hikers and Fastest Known Time multi day adventurers looking to save weight but still get a good nights sleep in a variety of temperatures.
PURCHASE $385Features
Patented Pad Attachment System – Widely considered the best design on the market for preventing drafts. Offers unmatched versatility, comfort and efficiency in a quilt style sleeping bag. For more information view our Product Manual.
Can Be Used Without a Sleeping Pad – Comes with removable webbing straps to be used without attaching to a sleeping pad. For more information view our Product Manual.
Elastic Binding Around Bottom Opening – Elastic binding around the bottom opening prevents gaps and drafts at the sleeping pad.
Differential Cut – A critical factor in quilt style bags with adjustable girth, differential cut allows for maximum loft from our premium down.
Continuous Baffles – With continuous baffles the down can be manually moved as temperatures dictate for maximum versatility.
Down Filled Collar – Our overstuffed collar fits comfortably against your neck to seal this critical area from drafts.
Trapezoidal Foot Box – We have shaped our foot box for the greatest comfort, warmth and efficiency.
Overstuffed Baffles over the Foot Section – Provides extra insulation over your feet to ensure toasty toes.
Specs
Small | Regular | Long | Regular Wide | Long Wide | ||||||
| Fits To | 5’6″ | 6′ | 6’6″ | 6′ | 6’6″ | |||||
| Fill Weight (ounces) | 850fp | 900fp | 850fp | 900fp | 850fp | 900fp | 850fp | 900fp | 850fp | 900fp |
| 10.8 | 10.0 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 12.2 | 11.3 | 12.9 | 12.0 | 13.9 | 12.9 | |
| Total Weight (ounces) | 18.4 | 17.6 | 19.3 | 18.5 | 20.6 | 19.7 | 21.6 | 20.7 | 23.2 | 22.2 |
| Loft Single Side | 2.25″ | 2.25″ | 2.25″ | 2.25″ | 2.25″ | |||||
| Shoulder Width | 52 inches (Similar to 61″ mummy bag) | 52 inches (Similar to 61″ mummy bag) | 52 inches (Similar to 61″ mummy bag) | 58 inches (Similar to 67″ mummy bag) | 58 inches (Similar to 67″ mummy bag) | |||||
| Hip Width | 42 inches | 42 inches | 42 inches | 48 inches | 48 inches | |||||
| Foot Girth | 38 inches | 38 inches | 38 inches | 43 inches | 43 inches | |||||
| Footbox Length | 21 inches | 23.5 inches | 26 inches | 23.5 inches | 26 inches | |||||
| Packed Size | 6 X 10 inches 4.5 Liters | 6 X 10 inches 4.5 Liters | 6 X 10 inches 4.5 Liters | 6.5 X 11.5 inches 6.5 Liters | 6.5 X 11.5 inches 6.5 Liters |
About Katabatic
Just like you, I really love being in the backcountry. Hiking, pedaling, paddling: I love it all, but it started with hiking. I had been backpacking (the traditional, “heavy” backpacking) for more than a decade before I decided that I really like to be comfortable, too. That’s about when I started transitioning to lightweight and ultralight backpacking. It’s also when I designed my first quilt.
I thought quilts were a great idea to reduce weight, but at the time, I couldn’t find a single one that kept the cold drafts out and my body heat in. I mean, there’s a big gaping hole in the back, so that’s not easy to do! Add to the mix that I’m a pretty active sleeper, and quilts just were not working well for me. I had some ideas on how to design a quilt that would keep me warm, so I sewed up my own version of a quilt, and took it on a thru-hike of the Colorado Trail.
OUR STORY
Just like you, I really love being in the backcountry. Hiking, pedaling, paddling: I love it all, but it started with hiking. I had been backpacking (the traditional, “heavy” backpacking) for more than a decade before I decided that I really like to be comfortable, too. That’s about when I started transitioning to lightweight and ultralight backpacking. It’s also when I designed my first quilt.
I thought quilts were a great idea to reduce weight, but at the time, I couldn’t find a single one that kept the cold drafts out and my body heat in. I mean, there’s a big gaping hole in the back, so that’s not easy to do! Add to the mix that I’m a pretty active sleeper, and quilts just were not working well for me. I had some ideas on how to design a quilt that would keep me warm, so I sewed up my own version of a quilt, and took it on a thru-hike of the Colorado Trail.
“I SPENT NEARLY 200 NIGHTS TESTING MY PROTOTYPES IN REALISTIC CONDITIONS, FROM MY THRU-HIKE OF THE HAYDUKE TRAIL . . . TO THE WILDERNESS OF ALASKA.”
After testing it on the CT, I spent over a year making numerous revisions; perfecting all the details to make sure it would even keep quilt-skeptics (like me) warm. I spent nearly 200 nights testing my prototypes in realistic conditions, from my thru-hike of the Hayduke Trail to paddling the Yukon River; from our home in Colorado to the Wonderland Trail in Washington; from the canyons of Utah to the wilderness of Alaska.
Once I had a design I loved, I convinced friends and family to try them out, too. In 2009, the most skeptical of skeptics (her words were something like, “Why would I use a sleeping bag with a giant hole in it? That’s insane.”) my partner, Kris, used it on her second backpacking trip, ever. She’s been a quilt convert ever since, and even joined the Katabatic crew in 2013.
So, that’s how it started. The main focus has always been to ensure that carrying ultralight gear does not mean you have to sacrifice comfort or function. Quality is the priority, whether it’s our design, the raw materials, or the amazing individuals on our team. We test our designs personally, and extensively before we produce them for you. This way we know we are sending you gear that will exceed your expectations, and let you focus on the adventure at-hand. Enjoy
