http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Backpacking-Sleeping-Bag-Reviews/Katabatic-Gear-Palisade

High praise for katabatic. I must say, i have to agree.

It's a quilt.

Yes Doug. You are correct. I still prefer a bag.

I'm biased.

Edit: Tried to better explain myself. Doing this before coffee was a mistake.

Edited by kthompson on 11/24/2012 08:57:27 MST.

"But it is considered a quilt. They have it compared to traditional sleeping bags. Great quality ,but not a sleeping bag."

Actually, they compared it to both sleeping bags and quilts (enLIGHTened equipment, ZPacks and Nunatak, as well as JRB, were also in the mix). And while the Katabatic was 'editor's choice,' they also chose a Feathered Friends bag as a top pick, and a Sierra Designs bag as best bang for the buck.

I don't think they were biased, they simply had an opinion on what they liked best after trying them all out.

If the Palisade is anything like my Sawatch wide, then i agree. Superb attention to detail. Katabatic is a premier gear manufacturer.

Personally I think the WM Megalite is the best backpacking sleeping bag. If there is a Feathered Friends equavalent size and temp rating it would qualify as well.

The Western Mountaineering Megalite has enough room for wearing your down sweater and pants inside if temps are expected to be around 10 F. to 15 F. but will keep you warm at 25 in my experience.

I had my Megalite overfilled and now it's truly good to 20 F. wearing light poly long johns and a light balaclava. With insluated pants and jacket it may be good to 0 F. - just maybe... I'll test it (in a tent or snow cave) this winter and get back on that.

BTW, that WM Megalite bag is wide enuf to be fully unzipped and used as a quilt in warmer weather. (Stick the foot of a regular length pad in the foot of the bag. My Theremarest ProLite mattress works great this way.)

Edited by Danepacker on 11/26/2012 15:21:01 MST.

It comes down to your preference really (quilt vs bag), but I have to agree with Eric on this one. I'll stick with my WM bag.

I just bought my WM Megalite from a member here and man I LOVE the bag. Looked into the quilt thing but just couldn't take that step.

I sold my two Western Mountaineering bags to buy a Palisade. Best gear decision I've made. A quiver of one, it'll perform year round in the Pacific NW. All quilts aren't created equally but the Palisade is like a dream, even when compared to WM bags

One thing that pops up in reviews like that one, and commentary on sites like this one, is commentary like this: "At only $100 the Kelty Cosmic Down 20 offers the best bang for your buck. "

So, while I continue to lustily gaze upon fine gear, I'm stoked to see that those who have the luxury to sample and review a wide variety of gear still think the Cosmic Down 20 is "good gear". At less than 1/3 the price of a Katabatic...this is dead-center on target for Boy Scouts.

Strange that the "best ... bag in the world" they rated a 5/10 in warmth. An expensive, cold, light quilt/bag doesn't sound that impressive to me.

I'm fairly certain that's due to the 30 degree rating compared to the other bag's 20 degree rating...I'd actually read the review instead of looking at the cheat sheet.

"Strange that the "best ... bag in the world" they rated a 5/10 in warmth. An expensive, cold, light quilt/bag doesn't sound that impressive to me."

The score you repeat is accurate, but your comments are a bit misleading when judged against the article. Not sure why they rated it 5/10 when they go on to say: "The Palisade is the warmest 30-degree sleeping bag we've ever tested. It weighs 18.8 ounces on our scale, making it three ounces shy of the lightest sleeping bag we've ever tested. While wearing only a 7 oz. down jacket, the Palisade has kept our testers warm into the low teens."

So I'd hardly call it a 'cold' quilt/bag. Sounds pretty warm to me. Well, since I have one, I can easily say that it IS pretty warm, and easily bests its rating.

Has anyone any idea which type of Dwr down is being used?

The old 'quilt versus bag' debate raises it's head constantly on this board, and I find it is always an interesting debate. But my personal experience for best weight-to-warmth sleeping setup is a *top *bag* which IMHO combines the best of both worlds. The addition of a zipper and hood to what would otherwise be just a quilt greatly extends the functional temp range of the materials used. I have never had much success with a quilt when the temps drop or the wind blows through the shelter.

However, if i was wanting to buy just a quilt, the Katabatic would be near the top of my list. At the very top would be my custom designed Enlightened Equipment cuben quilt that converts into a top bag.

From an email with them: "We are using Resist-Down from Allied Feather. Made in the U.S. and third party approved to be safe for the environment and human health."

Cheers Greg

I agree with pmags on this one: http://www.pmags.com/best-gear-fallacy. There is no best gear.

It looks like a great bag/quilt to me and I would love to have one as I'm sure I'd find it a great bag under many conditions. But to say there are no "cons" to the bag? There are cons to every piece of gear made, cons depending on who is using it and under what conditions. Just the fact that the Hummingbird is warmer is a con if it's cold enough.

" So I'd hardly call it a 'cold' quilt/bag. Sounds pretty warm to me. Well, since I have one, I can easily say that it IS pretty warm, and easily bests its rating."

Given your opinion and reading the article it sounds like a great quilt. I would be reluctant to throw down that kind of cash for a bag 'rated' so poorly in warmth. I would expect a high end bag with a mediocre warmth rating to be light. The rating and review don't seem to match here.

It seems like you're putting too much stock in the "5" they gave it. Again if you read the review they thought it was the warmest 30 degree bag. However if you compare it to the two other bags rated at 20 degrees I would expect it to have a lower "warmth" rating...so it's a bit of a misunderstanding of their chart to claim it is a "cold" bag

"The rating and review don't seem to match here."

Agree. It's confusing at the least. Perhaps if they said how they came about their rating it would help. Most people would read the chart as you did - a 5 out of 10 isn't a great rating.