GoLite Ultra 20 on sale, my review

I've been looking for a winter quilt and I had wondered about the Ultra 20 down quilt from GoLite. It's always been reasonably priced but Prolitegear currently has an amazing price on this quilt ($168.75).

http://www.prolitegear.com/golite_ultra_20.html

I got one for myself and tested it out last night (it was 22 degrees when I got in the quilt). I'm happy to report that it did very well. I was toasty sleeping under the stars. Of course I sleep pretty warm anyway and I was dressed pretty warm but still I was impressed. I was closer to too warm than too cold. But of course YMMV.

I thought others on the board might be interested since the sale is still going on.

P.S. I recently started keeping a blog of my hikes and other musings about gear. I never thought I would become a blogger and I have no aspirations to be a well-read blogger but it's a convenient way to store my pictures and record my memories of hiking trips. I put a full review with pictures there for those who are interested in a very wordy review aimed at newbies.

http://heberhiking.blogspot.com/2008/11/review-of-golite-ultra-20-down-quilt.html

Is there enough bag so it can br lifted over the head and made into a makeshift hood?

This is the area where I usually get cold with quilts.

I totally sympathize with the "cold face" issue. I know Ray Jardine talks about wrapping the part of his quilt he calls the gorget around your head. If you bought a size longer then you need then it might work. But to me this seems sort of awkward. Also there is the concern that your breath will cause moisture to condense in your bag if you cover your head, especially with a down quilt like this one.

Let me recommend an alternative strategy that I have used. First of all wear a hat or a balaclava to bed. If that isn't enough then I put my fleece jacket over my face and make sort of a tunnel for air. That works great for me.

Thanks for the review and the heads up on the sale.

How is the length of the bag for your height? I'm 5 feet 7 1/2 inches and was wondering if i could get by with a small bag, which is suggested for people up to 5 foot 6. However, one reviewer claimed that he was 6 foot 2, and with the large, he could pull the bag all the way over his head. I just need it to be able to get it up and around my shoulders. How much length leeway are you finding on the bag size you have?

Looking for something warmer than my 35 degree wall creeper for the late fall. Found myself in the grand tetons in sub freezing temps this last season, and wasn't so comfortable.

I'm a little shorter than you are at 5'5" so I was just inside the height range for a short. But in the end I decided on a regular and I'm happy with it. I was worried that if I went with the smaller quilt I might have to stretch it to full length to fit and that that might compress the down slightly. The regular is probably a little longer than I need but not so you'd notice. When I sleep in it it seems just right.

Thanks Heber,

I think I'll err on the side of caution and get the regular size. I guess a little extra length couldn't hurt, and 1.7 extra oz isn't much. Thanks again.

I've been watching that sale for a while. May have to pull the trigger.