For all you folks out there with Nunatak bags/quilts, how does the level of craftsmanship in terms of sewing, symmetry, etc compare to other bag makers such as Western Moutaineering, Feathered Friends, Zpacks, etc? And how would you describe your eye for detail?

Don't know what "eye for detail" means, but I have bought a few in my time. Not to slight the others, but Nunatak and WM are the gold standard for quality in my opinion. Currently my go-to 3 season items are made by enLIGHTENed (Tim Marshall) and zPacks (Joe Velasco). In snow my Nanatak/WM are first choice. Different tools for different conditions. I have never owned a FF.

Thanks, Nick. "Eye for detail", IMHO, would be the level one thought they could discern the differences in sewing, symmetry, etc.....or in other words, how anal they are. To some people, something may have excellent quality whereas to another, when they inspect carefully, the details are shoddy...like that of something I have sewn. :-)

EDIT. BTW. Hope no one slights any company. As long as the design is sound, crooked stitching and the like isn't that important....particularly if the product is priced accordingly...at least to me. But, if a poor sucker, like me, is to pay a premium price, they might be a bit more picky. ;-)

Feel free to PM me if you don't wanna post publicly.

Edited by rustyb on 01/01/2013 21:16:10 MST.

My experience would put Feathered Friends at the top with MLD and Enlightened Equipment just below with Nunatak. Then WM. Marmot below that, etc. I have found WM UL fabrics to leak too many feathers for my taste.

I've found Valandre to be at the very least equivalent to Nunatak and Feathered Friends, with Western Mountaineering and MLD a mere notch below.

The quality of workmanship and materials used in making Katabatic quilts is 2nd to none, just to put one more option out there.

Edited by thomdarrah on 01/02/2013 09:28:59 MST.

I own both a Katabatic Sawatch and a Nunatak Backcountry Blanket. Both are well made, but edge goes to the Katabatic. I have a good eye for detail FWIW :) I consider my Katabatic quilt to be the single most well-made item of my kit.

Having owned, used, and praised Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, and Nunatak for many years, I wouldn't distinguish among them. Top quality workmanship from all. Because of its use of lighter weight fabrics, Nunatak quilts leak a bit more down and require a bit more attention when exposed to brush, the ground, etc. A reasonable tradeoff for the weight savings.

Another Katabatic fan here. I have a Nunatak Specialist, and a Katabatic Sawatch.
The finishing on the Sawatch is flawless. I couldn't pick a single fault with it. The cotton storage sack that comes with it is also top quality.

I have owned many FF, WM, one Nunatak and 4 Katabatic bags, and would rate all very high in terms of workmanship with an almost tie between FF and Katabatic.

Overall I'd give the nod to Katabatic but it will be some time before I have more bag nights in anything other than a FF bag. I have spent well over a thousand nights in FF bags and only hope to have that many more the rest of my life.

+3 on Katabatic. My Palasaides is an absolutely gorgeous piece of gear. I am amazed at the loft for a 30 degree bag and the design all around is stellar.

I've had 3 from Feathered Friends, one each from Valandre and Nunatak, and 4 from Enlightened, among others. I'd put Valandre at the top and Feathered Friends is amazing to work with (all the bags have been custom). Tim at Enlightned is amazing too (all 4 of these have been beautiful custom kids bags. You know, these are all stellar.

By pure accident, I got to inspect a Nunatak quilt in person this wkd. I'm impressed. Good stuff!

Rusty

Indeed as i told you in the PM - quality in the nunatak bags is high...It might have to do in part to the years of experience and to the fact that Tom is a one man show doing custom premium stuff so he mostly (AFAIK) does the bags as they are ordered (as opposed to building to stock) so i guess that means he is able to put more time in each one..dunno

I havent seen stuff from all the others (only a couple) but his work is very good.
Mike