Cedar Ridge UP or HG Econ Incubator

[TominMN]

Where are you getting that pricing? The Convector is $135, and the Econ Incubator is $179.95, according to their websites. So the down Incubator costs basically 25% ($44.95) more, weighs 16% less (25.45 vs. 30 ounces) and is probably 20 to 30% more compressible.

Compressibility is a huge selling point for me. If one quilt takes up 20% to 30% less room in my backpack, that's major. Also, from a warmth perspective, I'll take down over synthetic any day. Down warms up quick. While all my quilts are HG Premium water-resistant goose down, I used to own non-water-resistant goose down quilts and only upgraded to water-resistant because I felt that was the only area that synthetic might be superior. However, I've never gotten my down quilts wet enough to affect my warmth, so I'm not sure it was worth the upgrade.

These are all compelling reasons if the OP is to be backpacking, except for the implied idea that down "warms up quick" and that synthetic doesn't. r-value is r-value and the only "warmth" one feels is the inner shell material. Furthermore, although it is "only" a $45 difference, that's still real money to many people. Sure, "buy once, cry once" comes to mind but most of us end up buying a lot more often than once anyway.

No doubt if this set-up is to be used for backpacking, go for down.

[cmoulder]

Another consideration is that synthetic fills generally lose their loft much quicker than down.

Maybe UP is the exception, I dunno. I can say this: I've had some fairly old (+25 years!) down sleeping bags that were as good as new. One of them was a Campmor brand 25deg rated bag that I donated to a friend's Boy Scout troop only because I transitioned to quilts and wanted something with higher FP and lighter shell.

I was dubious about the water resistance of treated down but I have had enough experience with it by now to say that there's definitely something to it.

[TominMN]

Another consideration is that synthetic fills generally lose their loft much quicker than down.

...

I'm sure that depends on what the synthetic insulation actually is. I also have an old bag. It's rated at 20deg, it's synthetic, 30+ years old, and it too is still going strong.

[jgreenewv]

No direct experience with the CRO quilt, but I made my wife an underquilt using UP that should be around a 20 degree. She's used it a few times now, and also throwing in my testing, I'd say it definitely works as well as a down quilt, just slightly heavier and bulkier. A plus is that it seems to compress better than my kids' Climashield quilts.

[AIP1313]

My kids are fairly young so we primarily car camp right now making weight and compressibility non factors. If I were buying a single set cost wouldn't be much of a factor but when you start adding up the price for 4 setups with the varying temps we get in the northeast it gets steep fast. I have an assortment of top quilts/underquilts, down and synthetic, new and used that I've accumulated over the last few years and I can say that in my experience I prefer the convenience and cost of synthetic for under quilts and the comfort of down for top quilts. Again- specifically for car camping. All my insulation has performed exceptionally well (AHE, Hammock Gear, and EE) and I have no complaints about any of them. That 40 degree Ridge Creek gets slapped under my Ridge Runner all summer long though and I laugh about how little I paid for it.