Reader Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5

I purchased the Jack's R Better Mt Rogers because I was looking for a light solution for a couples quilt. Choices are slim in this category but it seems to be a logical choice. The 27 oz Mt Rogers equals 13.5 ounces per person, which for 2.5 inches of down loft is a great solution.

I chose the Mt. Rogers over the Nunatak Back Country Blanket(BCB) for a couple of reasons. According the Nunatak website the BCB is 1 ounce lighter. Although this seems an obvious advantage, the BCB was smaller than the Mt Rogers and since I was using it as a couples quilt I chose the larger of the two. Another significant reason involves cost. The BCB runs around $399 for a near similar size whereas the Mt. Rogers is about $275.

I've used the quilt comfortably to around 30 degrees and felt that with additional clothing I could push it a little more. If you end up using it as a solo bag, I'm sure you could get more out of it as well. Jack told me over the phone that with the right sleeping pad arrangement his customers are seeing use down to 0. While I haven't been able to do this personally, I find the statement reasonable with my experience.

One addition that I would recommend for couples camping is the Jack's R Better hoodie. While I think it was designed for use with the popular No Sniveller, I use it as a baffle for draft control in the shoulder space between us. Whether you use the hoodie or not, something is needed for draft control in that space if you really want to use the quilt a full 3 seasons.

All in all it's a great product. At 27 ounces and $275 it fits my needs well. After all, per person it's 13.5 oz and $137.50 which, as a combination, blows away any other product that I am aware of. I unreservedly recommend this product.

Edited by Rymnel on 04/03/2007 06:29:39 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

I purchased the Jack's R Better Mt. Rogers Quilt in large part based on the review by Shane above. I'd been looking at the possibility of using a quilt to cut weight for some time, and when Jack's R Better had their sale this spring, I took the plunge and got this quilt.

At this point my wife and I have used it on a 3 day and a 4 day trip in the Yosemite high country, and we're very satisfied. My wife and I use a rather small 2 person tent (A 3.5 lb Coleman Cobra from a few years back). It's tight for two, but the quilt tucks in very nicely around the edges so there's no draft. It has an all mesh top so you can see the stars and still not have bugs. It's really nice to have the freedom of movement and the space the quilt allows. To date we haven't encountered temperatures at night below about 40 degrees, but it has been plenty warm just sleeping in a light shirt and pants or just a shirt. There is velco along the sides of the quilt so you can fold it over to make a small footbox for your feet.

My wife thinks this is a fantastic addition to our backpacking gear. It cuts the weight of our sleeping gear almost in half. I would rate it a 5, but would like to see how it is in colder temperatures before doing so. The only other nitpicking details are that I'd like to see some baffles to keep the down from migrating all the way to one side and maybe velcro that attaches a bit tighter, but all in all it's a great product. I can echo Shane's unreserved recommendation.

My wife and I just came back from a 7 day trip in the Yosemite high country. Night time temperatures ranged from 25 to 50 degrees. On the 25 degree night we had hard ice (from condensation) in the tent, but the quilt kept us plenty warm without having to put on any additional clothing. I'm raising my rating to a 5. This is a great piece of gear.

Edited by rgless on 08/15/2007 01:09:20 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

My wife and I just bought one of these quilts as a 5 year anniversary gift to ourselves and used it on a 16 day, 200 mile road-to-road traverse of the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. Evening temps were mainly in the 40's, though it did drop to the upper 30's one night; it rained 15 of the 16 days and regardless we were sometimes damp/wet from packrafting. We like to camp on ridgelines to keep mosquitoes at bay, so there was almost always a breeze, and we were squeezed into a Big Agnes Fly Creek 2 tent. We slept on one full length ridgerest (my wife's side) and one 1/2 length ridgerest supplimented by pack, clothes, etc (my side). I typically would have brought a one pound down sleeping bag, slept in all my clothes, and on some nights would have probably been a little chilly in the wee hours; my wife would have brought a 2 pound down bag and still been cooler than preferred. With the JRB quilt, we were toasty warm--warmer through the night than we've been on a trip in quite a while--without needing to wear all that much (which was nice in a shared sleeping system)... I'm sure the quilt would have been fine down to below 30, and as shoulder season fast approaches we'll test that theory.

One useful feature that I wasn't aware of before sleeping under the quilt is a center line marked on top; this helped us police any hogging of too much quilt. The quilt gave us more than ample coverage, and within a day or two we had sorted out how to tuck the quilt here and there to stop all drafts. It also allowed much more tossing and turning than one can easily do in a traditional sleeping bag, which provided a better nights sleep.

We got the additional wings (sewn on), sewn in footbox, and 2 ounces of overstuff (did I mention that my wife typically sleeps COLD?), and it still came it at less than 2 lbs. It's a bit long (we're a bit short), so we're going to get one baffle section cut off. I love the concept so much that I've already ordered the 1 person version of this quilt for the rare solo trip, though the shared body heat will be sorely missed.

We had looked at Nunatak's tandem quilt, but the price and 8 week lag time sufficiently deterred us. I'm sure the Nunatak quilt would have been wonderful, too, but given that the Jack's R Better quilt was cheaper and faster, the quality is great, and the customer service was superb (seriously, I talked to "Peter Pan" for more than an hour one weekend morning about sleep systems, trips, etc, then for another half hour later that night, and he was incredibly helpful and personable... he was the one who called me after I sent him an email), I'm really glad we chose to go with the Mt. Rogers. If you're thinking about getting one, stop thinking and order it! You might just find yourself hiking faster so you can camp earlier and get in more warm-quilt-goodness.