Katabatic Sawatch Quilt
Premium materials and a semi-quilt design make this one of the lightest three-season options available.
Brand: Katabatic
Model: Sawatch Quilt
Warmth
This is the Ferrari of 2016’s bags: sleek, light, and easy to get yourself into trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing. “There’s an art to sleeping in a quilt in low temps, as it’s easy to accidentally let in a draft and lose all of your heat,” says one of our veteran quilt aficionados. To help you avoid this, the ultra packable Sawatch has anchor clips at the hip and shoulders (rather than traditional tie-in loops) where you can secure it to your pad with optional cords. Consider them training wheels for learning to quilt-camp in cold temps: We preferred sleeping without the cords (easier to get in and out), but novice quilt sleepers might like them for security. The quilt is also more versatile in warmer temps.
Fit
The bottom 27 inches are a fully enclosed footbox (pictured), which then splays to a 52-inch-wide quilt at the top. The semi-quilt design leaves plenty of room for a jacket when you’re dipping below the temp rating. Really cold out? A pair of snaps and a cinch secure the top of the bag around your nape. “On Mt. Shasta, I was comfortable in the upper teens with a puffy on, as long as I pulled the integrated drawcord to seal the neckline,” our tester says. BYO beanie.
Details
900-fill goose down makes it ultrapackable—7 by 12.5 inches—and expensive.