Outdoor Vitals Aerie 0 15 30 45 Degree Down Underquilt 800+ Fill Power Starting just Over 2 lbs. Sleeping Bag w/LoftTek Options

I didn't expect the loft tech bag to be as small as its down counterpart but this thing is huge, way too big for backpacking. I didn't recieve the 4 point compression bag either despite the description saying it is included. It's about 16 by 10 inches in the bag.

Overall, there are a lot of things I like about this item. There are a few things I would change though. Here is a short list of pros and cons.PROS:It is versatile. Being useful as a sleeping bag or under quilt make it a nice multifunction item. So if you are hammock camping or tent camping you are covered, literally. It is my first down camping anything and I am impressed with the warmth it provides. It doesn't directly compare to other sleeping bags I have had that were colder rated etc because it doesn't really take time to warm up the insulating layers like traditional sleeping bags do. It is very warm but doesn't get too hot or hasn't yet and that is saying something as I am pretty warm natured. It just keeps you around the comfortably warm level. I haven't tested it below 60 yet but can speak to how well it warms as an under quilt. Hammocks are great but anything below 70 and you have a cold draft under you. I did several makeshift things before I got this item and it surpassed all of them. It has a wide range of hanging methods via several attachment points. That makes it very useful. It matches the pictures in that it can be used as a traditional under quilt or as a sleeping bag around the hammock for a nice protective cocoon. I have my hammock setup with a structural ridge line for a comfortable hang. This fits around that great. Even when zipped, I can still get a decent diagonal lay due to it's size.CONS:There aren't many of these and one I am not sure how to best address all of them. The first would be the zippers. The zipper strength seems fine though I wonder at times when sitting in the hammock if too much stress is being put on the zippers. I don't like the zipper pull tabs. I am pretty sure they were picked to reduce weight so I cut some slack but I don't like the inside/outside semi-reversible pulls on them. I like that there are two pulls one to open and close that can be moved to either end of the "bag". I don't like that only the end of the zipper at the "foot" of the bag has slides for unhooking the zipper pulls from one side of the zipper "track". The "head" end of the bag has then velcro protective wrap for holding the bag together where the zipper gets to the end of the "track". That is OK but doesn't remove stress from the zipper. That end of the zipper track has zipper "stops" at the end of it keeping the zipper pulls attached to both ends of the "track". The best improvement that could be made to this item would be to change those to be slides like the other end of the zipper so that the zipper pulls could be removed from that end of the "track" as well. It would made it much easier to go from the simple hanging under quilt to the cocoon type hang while in the hammock. It would allow leaving the under attached while just sitting in it without putting stress on the zipper too. As it is, the only way to remove that extra stress and have it hang loosely is to unzip it to the foot of the bag which is a pain because you have to unhook the hammock and feed it thru or around the zipper pulls each time you change from one functionality to another instead of simply zipping/unzipping which could be done with slides on both ends of the zipper.The only other issue is with using the cocoon hanging method. If you have it hung up as an under quilt, it lifts the quilt from the around the zipper because that is where the attachment points are. The catch with that is that it also lifts the cocoon off of you when it is zipped. The cocoon would be much more effective if it fell down on top of you like a sleeping bag would. The issue is that disconnecting or loosening the under quilt suspension is challenging from inside the hammock. I would recommend some sturdy mitten clip style hooks for attaching the under quilt to the 1/8 elastic cord. The only other thing I can think of to improve how that hangs would be if the bag had additional attachment points lower on the sides. That way, the under quilt could stay lifted up and in position but the portion of the sides above those attachment points would be free to fall down on top of you keeping you extra comfortably warm. In around 20 degree temps, I would think that would probably be how it would need to be positioned for optimal warmth.Overall, this is a great product that I do not regret purchasing. I can just see a couple of things that could easily be changed to make this a truly exceptional item at a decent price.

I used as under quilt and as pod in 22° overnight, and on a very windy 32° day and remained warm. I was content with the insulation and ease of setup, as I was amazed with the wind resistance as I was buffeted and swung about by the wind while hanging snug and toasty in the hammock.The construction is good, the product is very warm, but very light and compacts very small! The suspension system is simple and effective as an underquilt or pod. The tabs sewn along the sides will allow attaching a shock cord to the hammock structural ridgeline to draw it near your legs if you have a big butt to contour to your shape. The tabs would also allow you to run shock cords along it's length so that you can slide the quilt along the hammock and adjust it from within the hammock if that's something you may wish to do.The drawstrings at each end does allow the quilt to conform to the shape of the hammock and prevent drafts. My hammock is 9' long and does not allow much of a diagonal lay, so I tend to leave the zipper attached at the corner of the quilt as if hooked up like a pod and cinch the bottom closed with the draw string. As I am 5'8" tall, I can lay diagonally and the quilt is still long enough to remain under my neck and shoulders. This way, I don't have to reconfigure, just sit up and zip up if I need to use it as a pod.This is replacing my old pod setup I made with a Surplus Military Modular Sleep System pair of synthetic mummy bags. They were warm, but without the bivy the wind would cut right through them, they were also heavy and bulky. They weighed 6 lbs and filled a stuff sack (with lots of stuffing effort) that was 9" diameter and 30" long! They were also stretched thin around me in a hammock and were likely equivalent to the 20° rating of this quilt facilitated in this manner. Worse, both bags around me and the hammock could best be summarized as twisting in the belly of a constrictor. The Aerie underquilt even as a pod was much more roomy and comfortable! It is 1/3 the weight, and packs to 1/5 the size! It's one hell of an upgrade! I may likely purchase a 30° version as a top quilt!

Comfy rating a little off butbsuoer comfy qnd versatile had to buy this on fly when other model form same company had string fail options and rendered unusable.

I just got back from a winter camping trip with my new Outdoor Vitals quilt. The ambient temperature at night was in the teens and inside my hammock it was 65 F. I’m a pretty warm sleeper so I was extremely comfortable. I was very impressed with the build quality of the quilt. I threw it in the dryer with some tennis balls to fluff it up a bit. I did not notice and down leakage. The stuff sack is appropriately sized. No additional lines or cords were needed for the setup. A couple of mitten hooks would have been a nice touch, but I had some so no worries. They weren’t needed, just convenient. I’m 5’11” and the regular size was about right. I don’t thing the large would have been too big either though.My setup: I have an Eno single nest with a home made Costco down underquillt. I also use a homemade Costco down top quilt. I wrapped the Outdoor Vitals “pod” around the entire setup with a rip stop nylon tarp. The wind on this trip was very minimal and I’m in Utah, so the humidity was fairly low. There was about a foot of fresh snow. I sleep in a base layer only with a beanie, keeping a pair of fleece pants on hand if it gets cold in the middle of the night. I also use my down jacket jammed into its own sleeve as a pillow. This trip I also experimented with a couple Zippo hand warmers tucked in my hammock. They don’t get as hot as advertised, but I think they definitely helped and were still going at 8am after lighting them at about 8 or 9 pm.I have slept in that setup without the “pod” down into the mid 40s with moderate comfort levels. With this “pod” set up I am very confident I could get down to 0 degrees and be comfortable.The only complaint I have is the zipper setup. I did have to fiddle a bit to get it unzipped a couple of times, but it wasnt major. Maybe a bit more backing could prevent that? I also need to figure out a better way to get my hammock threaded into the foot box of the “pod”. I unzipped the entire zipper and then zipped it up under my ridge line and over my hammock. I’m not sure what if anything could make it any better.