"Budget" top quilts

[Bigred]

I can chime in here. My first multi day semi-cold weather (low 40's) with my simply light, snug pack top quilt and DIY woobie under quilt with a cheap pad was livable but cold. My issue was the rigged woobie UQ wasn't covering me right and my cold back was waking me up.

My point is that as mentioned in a ton of posts I have seen, and I finally had the chance to experience is that the quality and rating of the underquilt far exceeds the top quilt. I think you can get away with a regular wool blanket if your underquilt is sufficient. I think you could go with the snugpak TQ, its cheap and a good summer quilt, and prepare to wear some warm socks, long johns and a wool hat. Assuming your underquilt performs you should be fine.

On another note, make sure you have a tarp you can bring down tight if it gets windy. Also experienced this the hard way. Mid-50’s got cold as hell with the wind and I had to cocoon the tarp around me to survive. DIY woobie will be kept for Summer only, picked up a HG UQ 30 for spring and fall and also looking to upgrade the TQ for fall.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Countrybois]

Hykeandbyke.com has some very reasonable down bags... I have no experience with them though

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[BananaHammock]

See if you can find an Ozark trail cocoon 250 and mod it

[Johnny Gunz]

I am very impressed with the quality and size of the Snugpack top quilt. I'd say you really can't beat it for $37. If you upgrade later, it'll make a great warmer weather or beater TQ.

[Koolranch]

The Costco option is a great budget way to go. Her is my next project. http://imgur.com/gallery/kOXYm I used a Costco bottom quilt and it worked great at 50. It could probably go to 40. Use a pad and it will get you where you want to go.

[matt3liv]

I was in a similar situation two weeks ago, except I needed an UQ. I made a PLUQ but it wasn't going to cut it. I ordered a Flamethrower 30 from AHE. The website said there was only a three day lead time, IIRC. It took longer, but when I asked for updates Paul responded quickly and got it to me yesterday. I think it was just about two weeks total time. If you order from them, double check the lead-time.

All that said, the thing is awesome. I rigged it up yesterday evening. Laid in it a while to get it right. Next thing you know, its after midnight, and I've been sleeping for a couple hours!

I would definitely consider Arrowhead, if I was you.

[SilvrSurfr]

I'm not really prepared to shell out over $150 which seems to exclude pretty much every down offering out there. What I've found so far that are in my budget are the DD quilt ($85), Snugpak quilt and jungle blanket ($70), ENO Vesta (at $160, def at the top end of my price range) or a DIY with the thickest climashield ($80ish depending on shell fabric). I'd definitely consider a traditional down sleeping bag, I'm just not seeing one in my price range. I have an overnight planned for 2 weeks from now which makes shipping time a little bit of a problem (I knew I should have checked the size of my bag before now!)

thoughts?

I've slowly learned the hard way that buying stuff on the cheap is pretty much false economy. Getting a couple of cheap bags "on sale" to satisfy a current need burns the cash you could have spent on one piece of quality gear. Maybe you can just suffer a bit for a trip or two while you save your pennies.

I wouldn't buy any of the options you suggested (other than the Climashield). If you have a backpack, you're probably a hiker and some of the items you list weigh quite a bit. I'd definitely stay away from the ENO Vesta - hard to find a good review anywhere on it.

I went two years before I bought a quilt of any kind. It wasn't in my budget; I was too cheap; whatever you want to call it. As zukiguy suggested, don't waste money to satisfy a current need - look at the big picture and save your money for a quality piece of gear.

My first UQ was an HG Phoenix 20* 3/4 UQ for $200 - very versatile. I still use it 80% of the time. Save your bucks and get something nice rather than throw money away on "not exactly."

[Chesapeake]

Cheap and low quality are vary different. Its definitely possible to buy gear that will last and is in expensive. Its also true that a lot of times you get what you pay for. But so far for me, gear selection absolutely depends on what I need it for and how I'm going to use it . The saying " inexpensive, durable or light, pick two " seems to hold true from what I've seen. Some times it is best to save pennies and wait to get a more expensive piece of gear, but that might not be the best plan for everyone in every situation. Cottage vendor equipment is definitely the gold standard but less expensive gear can function just as good and be just as durable. It all depends on what your specific Circumstances are and what you value when it comes to being inexpensive, durable or lightweight. Eno as stated above for example,might just make an inferior quilt compaired to a lot of others but might be the best for the OP in his/ her situation. I think recomending gear based on the above criteria is more effective than saying what gear/ companies another person doesn't like based on their situation and criteria or what they believe to be ineffective because of their personal preference. What works for one might not work for another right? That's what's so cool about this community, everyone has different tastes and no two set ups will ever be the same just like jeeps lol. Do a lot of research and you'll get exactly what's right for you and what your personal needs are. But, cheap gear should be avoided if at all possible.

[Trinity]

I use the snugpak jungle blanket and under quilt mostly, but where i live it rarely gets to freezing. They do make a special hammock top quilt now thats supposedly thicker but i haven't got one to play with yet.

[ComfyCocoon]

If you want a high quality "Budget" top quilt I would recommend looking at the cottage vendors that make climashield apex top quilts. The 3 that come to mind are Arrowhead Equipment, Enlightened Equipment, and Loco Libre. A lot of the vendors run black friday sales as well.

To get you by for your upcoming trip I would recommend picking up a green patrol bag off of amazon. You can get a used good condition one for under $20. I used one for a quite a while before I got a top quilt. I've used it down to 40 degrees and stayed comfortable. You will probably have to supplement with some clothing insulation though or bag liner to get down to mid 30's comfortably.