I forgot to respond to this part of your question in my previous post. I think a lot of people do not realize this fact, even think the opposite:
You can not directly compare the insulation values of different materials by comparing the loft. This will seem obvious if you think in terms a a closed cell foam pad. A 1" thick CCF pad might be good to the teens, even in hammock. Imagine trying to do the teens in a 1" thick down quilt? Many people here have used 0.5" Walmart Blue pads OK down into, I don't remember, maybe the low 40s or high 30s, even in a hammock? Again, try to imagine doing that with 1/2" down loft UQ. Even pads are different: That 1" CCF pad some have used to the low 20s or teens has an R value around 4.3, a 1" thick Thermarest Prolight 3 has R value of 2.3, probably good no lower than the high 40s in a hammock.
But what about quilt material and warmth vs thickness? That CS XP Yeti I mentioned in my 1st post, that one guy(a warm sleeper) here used repeatedly below zero? It probably only had about 2.4" of loft with that 10 oz/sq/yd CS XP. Again, no way 2.5" of single layer down is taking many folks to zero in an UQ, maybe 25F. Maybe 20F. ( Although people vary widely in how low they can take any given thickness of quilt.) But 2.5" thick down UQs are probably almost all rated to 20-25 for a good reason.
My AHE CS Apex quilts only have, by my best attempt to measure, max 1.5" loft. These are conservatively rated at 25F, and have been used at that temp and lower by many people here at this forum. A 1.5" down quilt would probably be good to about 40F at that loft, assuming totally dry.
So, point is: you can not compare warmth by comparing thickness of different materials. Just something to be aware of. If you have a down quilt of X weight besde a synthetic, it is always going to look much puffier and warmer. But looks can be deceiving.
I have certainly had synthetic bags loose some loft and it doesn't take that long. But, I find my older synthetic bags have not lost much more loft after that initial loss, even after many years. However, my CS XP and Combat Yeti has kept most of it's loft for 9 or 10 years. But it has not been stuffed all that much, so maybe with heavier usage it would loose more. With all of the AHE quilts used around here, we should have some pretty good info on how well they are holding up. Anyone? (mine are holding up great, but again: very light usage)
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