Western Mountaineering - UltraLite

It's almost certainly the low r-value pad and quilt combo. 40 degrees is where I really start to notice lack of ground insulation, I've been cold in a 25 degree bag on a 3.2 r-value pad at that temp. Get an Xtherm or similar and stick with the quilt if you like it, or maybe look towards something like the WM Ultralite.

192cm here. Long versions of Feathered Friends, Western Mountaineering, or Enlightened Equipment bags. For your temp range I use 20F EE quilt. For a tent, you can also get something longer. I use Tarptent Rainbow which leaves me with almost 30 cm to spare length wise.

Western Mountaineering is the benchmark. Their bags really are great. In addition to WM, I also own a Gryphon Gear quilt and can say that their quality is top notch as well and they make both bags and quilts. For a few hundred less than a WM bag, you can get a Gryphon Gear Taurus bag. They are a small cottage shop so you get to deal directly with the owner and he'll make it custom to your liking if you want it a little more roomy. I think there are so many better choices than the EE quilts.

I own a WM Ultralite. It's a great bag and WM is the benchmark. I also own 2 Gryphon Gear quilts. I think their stuff is very high quality and a great bang for the $$$. They also make bags. Take a look at the Taurus 20\* bag. It's a bargain compared to the Ultralite and it's fully custom so it can be made any width you like.

My western mountaineering ultralite bag. My first one lasted 15 years, a season with the forest service, thousands of miles of backpacking, and countless river trips.

A couple of notes on Western 1) their temp ratings are the comfort ratings, not lower limit. 2) the Ultralite is narrower than the Alpinlite, but if you look at comps the Ultralite can generally be considered a standard width. 3) if Megalite is of interest the Sunmerite is the narrower (again standard by industry norms) version.

Are you a warm or cold sleeper? I use a Western Mountaineering ul bag (no clue specific model) likely rated to 40 down to below freezing comfortably, but my wife uses my WM Antelope in the same temps. The entire sleep system is critical, I would spend more time picking out a pad…I am partial to the insulated Tensor or Exped models.

I like to reference the PCT gear guide for the best backpacking gear, according to PCT thru-hikers: https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/pct-gear-guide-2024/#sleeping-bags-quilts You'll want to decide between a mummy bag (typical sleeping bag) or a backpacking quilt. Western mountaineering makes arguably the best mummy bags (I have their ultralite and I love it) and the best quilts right now are probably Katabatic or Enlightened Equipment. Quilts have become very popular recently, so it's worth reading up on pros & cons of going that route over a typical sleeping bag.

Loving my WM Ultralite (rated to -7°C) and my NEMO tensor all-season mat (r-value of 5.4) set up. The bag is a bit warm for me / needs to be unzipped above 20°C, and I found my set up to be a bit chilly one -25°C night when sleeping in a very drafty kitchen shelter once our fire died back. I’m not sure I’d recommend this exact set up for consistent -10°C trips, but I’ve appreciated the quality and low weights of both products and, as others have commented, I would encourage you to check out other products by both WM and NEMO.

I liked my quilt when I was doing shorter trips. Once I started doing months at a time I grabbed a western mountaineering bag and I have no regrets. Helps me extend a bit more into shoulder season

Western Mountaineering mummy bag. I do a lot in shoulder season and these are very warm for the weight

There isn’t really an absolute best, but I like Katabatic for a quilt and western mountaineering or feathered friends for a bag. I prefer quilts down to around the low 20s, bags below that. Having a pocket in your quilt for a sleeping pad seems silly to me.