Budget backpacking quilts are worth buying to make your camping trip successful and enjoyable. Hikers face difficult tasks to find the perfect backpacking quilt for their trip. In this article, we made a list of the budget backpacking quilts. These quilts are tested and used by millions of hikers on their trips.
Before buying your first backpacking quilt, the hiker should have a piece of knowledge about the insulation of the quilt and the weight of the quilt. These are the important part that every hiker should know about. To make your task easy to decide and buy a backpacking quilt. We have listed down how to choose the best budget backpacking quilts which will fulfill your every need.
Best Budget Backpacking Quilts
Sierra Designs Nitro 800 Quilt: 35 Degree Down
Weight: 1 pound, 4 ounces
Packed size: 7 by 13 inches
Quilt size: Fits up to 6 feet, 3 inches
Temperature rating: 35 degrees Fahrenheit
Fill power: 800
What’s great about it: The Sierra Nitto 800 quilt offers premium quality as it is made up of real duck feathers. This makes it one of the warmest budgets down backpacking quilts.
Unlike other down quilts which are of no use when they are wet, the Sierra Nitro 800 provides insulation even if it’s wet too. If you are wondering, after being wet does Sierra Nitro 800 loses its insulation? No, it doesn’t, but if the quilt gets wet multiple times, it starts to lose its insulation power.
Sierra Nitro 800 is made up of a polyester blend known as nylon ripstop that makes it super durable and versatile.
Also, 800 fill power provides a warm night in cold/ harsh weather conditions. Although the packed size is 7 by 13 inches, it is packed in a small size with a compression sack.
Some quilts reduce their insulation power after being highly compressed, but Sierra Nitro 800 doesn’t have this problem.
Best Budget Synthetic backpacking quilt
As Lucas – Sestrals Apex 167
Weight: 1 pound, 4 ounces
Packed size: 7 by 13 inches
Quilt size: Fits up to 6 feet, 3 inches
Temperature rating: 35 degrees Fahrenheit
Fill power: 750
What’s great about it – The advantage of this budget synthetic backpacking quilt it’s warmth ratio. This quilt will keep the hiker warm in harsh cold weather conditions.
Also, if the quilt is wet due to rainfall, this quilt will not decrease the warmth ratio. In wet conditions, this budget backpacking quilt will still be able to keep you warm.
Another positive feature of the budget backpacking quilt is the materials used inside. After compression, this Quilt will not reduce the insulation as other cheap quilts do.
Economy Burrow
Weight: 1 pound, 4 ounces
Packed size: 7 by 13 inches
Quilt size: Fits up to 6 feet, 3 inches
Temperature rating: 40 degrees Fahrenheit
Fill power: 700
What’s Great about it – This budget backpacking quilt has custom-made temperature variants and starts from 140$ for a 5°C / 40°F quilt. If you buy a premium variant could go up to 220$ for -17°C / 0°F.
Although this is one of the budget backpacking quilts under 150$, but it’s a little heavier. On Average, if you take this quilt on a camping trip, you’ll feel no difficulty but your hiking trip includes high altitudes of trekking, you’ll have a big problem.
The quilt is about 20% heavier than a Sierra Nitro and that’s too much extra weight on your shoulders. Another great aspect of this budget backpacking quilt is that the drawcords used to attach it to the pad are a bit fiddly, but the overall quality and design are good.
UltraLightweight backpacking quilt
Big Agnes Kings Canyon UL Quilt
Weight: 1 pound
Packed size: 4 by 9 inches
Quilt size: Fits up to 6 feet
Temperature rating: 45 degrees Fahrenheit
Fill power: 650
What’s great about it: The best budget UltraLightweight backpacking quilt in the world. Although it’s not the lightest quilt, still it’s the only one that is a budget backpacking quilt.
Hikers could buy it for less than $150 and if you buy in the United States, you could get a discount. Despite its average fill power, the quilt never lets down from the overall experience in cold weather.
From my personal experience, I have used this UltraLightweight backpacking quilt on my trip to the mountains near Charlotte NC.
The budget backpacking quilt could fit in small size and lightweight material made it very easy to carry. On my whole hiking trail, I didn’t feel the weight of the backpacking quilt.
The backpacking quilt uses synthetic insulation, so we didn’t have an issue when it rained. Bottom line, this budget backpacking quilt is a perfect choice for hiking trips with high altitudes as it is UltraLightweight.
Related: Are Quilts better than Sleeping Bags?
How to choose a budget backpacking quilt?
Backpacking quilts are like sleeping bags, but they could be packed in small size, lightweight, which makes them easy to carry on high altitudes and also warm in cold weather conditions.
There are two types of Backpacking quilt
- Synthetic Backpacking Quilt
- Down Backpacking Quilt
Now, you’ve decided to buy a budget backpacking quilt, the next part is to determine the important factors to consider which helps to buy the best budget backpacking quilts for the money.
These include:
Weight:
Quilts are filled with lightweight material, which makes them easier to pack and carry in high altitudes.
The average weight is between 1 pound to 2 pounds. Never consider buying a heavy Quilt of more than 2 pounds.
Packed Size:
It is represented as the amount of space taken after folding the backpacking quilt. The smaller the packed size, the easier it is to carry. The best-packed size of the backpacking quilt is 6 by 6 inches and it can be only achieved by compression sack.
Quilt Size: The bigger the size, the better it is for comfort. The length of the quilt has to be bigger than the person’s height as when we roll up the backpacking quilt above his head, the feet are also covered.
Also, the backpacking quilt should be wider, as it will make the hiker more comfortable to move. Always make sure that the Backpacking quilt doesn’t lift from the sides of the hikers sleep on either side.
Temperature Rating:
The temperature Rating depicts the minimum temperature at the quilt that will provide the perfect insulation. If the temperature drops in your trip than the temperature Rating of the quilt, the quilt will not be able to provide insulation to fight under cold.
Insulation Type:
There are two types of insulation down and synthetic. Both of them have pros and cons but you have to choose the insulation type that suits your needs. Both insulation types are the best in their categories. To know more about which is better synthetic or down insulation types see below.
Related: When to replace hiking boots?
Down vs Synthetic Budget Backpacking Quilts
Both Backpacking quilts material provide insulation and are suitable for use during camping and hiking. Confused which one is the best and fulfills your every need. Let’s check out.
Down Budget Backpacking Quilt
In the early years, down quilts were made from feathers of ducks and geese and consists of soft and fluffy filaments. But now, manufacturing companies switched from geese to ducks, but it’s doesn’t decrease the insulation of the quilt. Budget backpacking quilts are made from ducks whereas the premium backpacking Quilts are made from grease.
This is because the fill power of budget backpacking quilts made from ducks has 600 – 700 fill-power down means that one ounce of that down fills 600-700 cubic inches of space.
On the other hand, a backpacking quilt made from goose has a fill power of 900 – 950 cubic inches of space.
Advantages of Down budget backpacking quilts:
- Higher warmth-to-weight ratio than synthetic insulation
- Lightweight and Very compressible
- More fill power ( above 900)
Drawbacks of Down budget backpacking quilts:
- Expensive than synthetic Backpacking Quilt
- Reduced insulation power when down Backpacking Quilt is wet.
- Not Hypoallergenic (person with allergies to ducks and geese should avoid it)
Synthetic Budget Backpacking Quilt
The Backpacking Quilt is made from polyester material, which is less expensive. The important part about synthetic backpacking quilts is it is hypoallergenic, which is very beneficial for people who have an allergic reaction to ducks or goose.
Also, synthetic backpacking quilts tend to quickly dry and also provide insulation if the backpacking quilt is wet.
Advantages of Synthetic Budget Backpacking Quilts:
- Water-resistant and suitable for the rainy season.
- Hypoallergenic
- Less expensive than down
Drawbacks of Synthetic Budget Backpacking Quilt :
- Heavier and bulkier than down backpacking quilts
- Less warmth weight ratios as compared to down Backpacking Quilt
- Less durable than down backpacking quilts as insulating power keeps on reducing.
Given these qualities, here are the best backpacking quilts. We have arranged the best backpacking quilts in their respective categories.
