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  1. #1
    New Member wawa68's Avatar
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    Vega Ultralight Underquilt by blueskylavender from U.K.

    Sideview.jpg

    Description

    Vega is a short underquilt filled with goose down of 700 fp. Its weight is exactly 362 g or 12.77 oz stuff sack not included. The stuff sack adds another 23 g or 0.81 oz.
    The underquilt dimension is 46“ x 45” or 117 cm x 114 cm.
    It is a so called 3 season quilt and because of its low weight it is the perfect solution for anybody wanting to save some weight in the backpack.
    I ordered it on Ebay for £95 and £10 shipping or $129 without taxes at the time I wrote the report.


    Workmanship

    Stitching.jpg
    Precise stitching but stitched through with the potential of creating a thermal bridge, so no H-chamber system or alike. But I never ran into any problems staying in the temperature range it is made for as a 3 season quilt.

    DifferentialCut.jpg
    The quilt is crafted with a differential cut. The inner shell is smaller than the outer shell causing the quilt to wrap around you.


    Setup

    Suspension with one drawcord tunneled through the sides. This allows for adjusting it while resting in the hammock. Two additional drawcords allow adjusting along the front and back side of the quilt.
    Simple. No further gimmicks, no secondary suspension but I could not recognize any crumpling together no accordion effect since using it.

    SBiner.jpg
    I decided using three S-Biner. Two are for clipping in the suspension and one is for better adjusting the lower suspension by pulling it up to the ridgeline about foot high.
    Thanks to Shug for all the above.


    Usage

    I have used the Vega around 20 times now and have to admit that I ran into a problem with a gap along the side not keeping the warmth in… cold butt syndrome. So James, the man behind blueskylavender, helped me out a lot and, of course, Shug.
    You really have to tighten the drawcords more than you'd believe and the trick with pulling the suspension up to the ridgeline finally did it. Happy and cosy now.
    Should any beginner read this you can save a lot of time by visiting Shugs YouTube channel “shugemery” and I am really greatful for the time he spend filming and explaining the typical errors.


    Conclusion

    I tested it down to 6°C or 43°F and was absolutely ok and in temperatures above 10°C or 50°F it is just great. I generally sleep in my clothing and only get out of my jacket, which I use as a pillow. Testing will continue now that temperatures finally drop.
    I wanted a short underquilt (seeing one on Shugs channel) because it is sufficient for 85% of my needs. Because of the reduzed size in comparison to a full length quilt you save a lot of weight and solace in my backpack and I really do not need the insulation on my legs. I wanted a really light and small quilt that I can also use as additional insulation in winter inside a bigger winter quilt or as an emergency blanket.
    Packaging is great with a weight off less than 400 g or 14 oz and the compressed size of a grapefruit it fits in any bag.
    No idea how 850 fp down would feel or how much warmer it would be but I am absolutely happy with what I got. Goodies from the US are way more expensive over here in Europe, since you have to pay shipping of about $50 and then there is a close to 30% tax on top. So for example a Warbonnet Yeti, that you can compare to the Vega, end up costing more than double the price I had to pay for the Vega.
    Agreed, there are more features that could have been packed into the system like H-system chamber system or 850 fp down or secondary suspension or an additional heat retaining channel along the sides etc.
    But taking into regard what you get for your bucks and how it performs… full points from me.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Cool!

    It's nice to see more vendors in Europe. Thank you for your review.

    Living in Scandinavia, even in summer, we rarely get nights warmer than 10c. So a partial length UQ with no H baffles and so "basic quality" down, wouldn't quite cut it, but super interesting to see he's at least made the quilts correct in terms of differential cut
    Last edited by OutandBack; 10-31-2016 at 08:49. Reason: poster request to change wording from poor quality to basic quality

  3. #3

  4. #4
    New Member wawa68's Avatar
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    I guess this one ment for ultra light usage is just consequent the way it is... I will test it in the coming much colder nights and see where it's limits are... And plan my next much warmer quilt.
    I keep you updated...

  5. #5
    Herder of Cats OutandBack's Avatar
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    Thank you for the review wawa I look forward to hearing more about this UQ as you do more testing.
    Welcome to the forums from Colorado usa.

  6. #6
    New Member wawa68's Avatar
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    Thanks OutandBack.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by GadgetUK437 View Post
    He does baffled quilts too.

    --
    Gadget
    Sounds great. I did take a look at his offerings

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    Great to hear your favourable appraisal of your VEGA hammock under quilt.

    Possibly my best selling quilt over 7 years of production on and off around 100 sold it's a go to straight forward grab and go quilt.


    I use High quality components available in quality 700 and higher again down specifications if required .

    It's a summer to 3 season quilt based at 52 degrees north .

    One owner of the Vega told me he was comfortable down to minus 2 centigrade during February in South Wales UK though he went on to tell me he was a bush craft instructor .

    So this quilt can be pushed further in the right experienced hands than what I advertise it as.

    Thank you again for your purchase and your review ....I will put me trumpet away .... James
    Last edited by clearskyblue; 10-29-2016 at 17:14.

  9. #9
    Senior Member GadgetUK437's Avatar
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    I think he meant basic quality, perhaps something got lost in translation. 700 fill isn't super high quality like 800+, but you pays your money and takes your choice.

    --
    Gadget

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by GadgetUK437 View Post
    I think he meant basic quality, perhaps something got lost in translation. 700 fill isn't super high quality like 800+, but you pays your money and takes your choice.

    --
    Gadget
    High quality, basic quality or low quality. It's all a bit arbitrary.

    Clearbluesky sent me a PM, asking me to change the: "low quality" down - part of my post. Unfortunately I'm unable to edit the post, but if I could' I'd change it to basic quality It's certainly better than 400 cuin

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