Wow, what a great grear review, Sintax77. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. It really outlines many of the highlights of using a quilt and specifically the Burrow. Very professsionally done.
Enjoyed the top quilt review sintax77. Really smooth well narrated information. Your videos always meet that higher level of expected refinement we've grown to anticipate when clicking on a sintax77 production. Even though I'm in my third hammock setup I still consider myself mostly to be a hammock rookie looking for that perfect system. Right now I'm waiting on the new 2015 Exped SynCell Mat 5 MW which is 72 x 25.5 if I remember correctly to try with my system. I'm absolutely adding this Hammock Gear top quilt to my wish list.
This past winter I ran down to 28 degrees in the high desert. I ran the incubater 20 with the burrow 40 up top. Just had somt socks and fleece pajamas on. It actually worked pretty well. Sintax, you might realize with the Hennessey Asym and the big under quilt that you get the feeling of laying in a trough. that helps so much in the wind. I love the system and good on you for making the vids. Keep it up!!
Good to know that you were able to run that combo down t 28°. Lower rating on the bottom seems to be the way to go if you only wanted to buy one or the other as an upgrade for winter use. I went with the 40 bottom for 3 season weight savings, and would like a Incubator 0 some day for winter (have a sleeping bag for now). Do you run your Incubator 20 year round and just adjust how tight you hang it?
I went with the Burro 30 top quilt, and the Premium 30 underquilt. Haven't had an opportunity yet to use them. Where I live the temperature is still pretty high on the misery index.
Thanks for the videos. I'm debating whether or not to return my big Agnes lost ranger and grab one of these. I'm liking the open foot box option. The whole system seems more versatile. Waiting on my Darien from dream hammocks. Making the leap from ground dweller.
Really nice layout on the video. Appreciate the very informative approach. I've been considering a quilt for some time now. I sleep on the ground. Did you ever consider the Jacks R Better quilts? Why did you opt for this quilt instead? Thanks you
+sintax77 I know you and your wife use hammock gear quilts but have you ever seen/used a enlightened equipment quilt? I'm tore between a hammock gear burrow and a enlightened equipment revelation. I'm not sure which one to get. I'll be using it hammock camping and tent camping. Any suggestions?
Excellent! I have 2 sets of quilts from Adam and Jenny, 30 and 0. This video is a great resource for people, well done. I just show it being used in my vids...you did the hard part here!
I've seen others reference the 30° Burrow / Incubator as well, but haven't see it listed on their site. Is this something that they used to offer standard, or did you reach out to them for a custom build? I bet that 0° is pretty nice too, would love one for deep winter trips (probably as bottom insulation)
The 30 are a custom order. They adjust all of the baffling and down amounts. My 3 season trips seem to bottom out around 30 for low temps and Adam made the recommendation to go ahead and get custom 30's. They work great in the Northeast from April to November (ish). I took my 0's to -8 last January and was fine, although I did learn about the need for a "frost bib" to keep condensation from my breath off my TQ.
12trysomething Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into the frost bib. I remember waking up during a winter tent trip in Vermont with the front of my Kelty Cosmic 0 _covered_ in ice, haha.
Feature length trip video? I'm just starting to dump and organize the source material now, then on to editing. It could be a couple weeks, depending what other things pop up in the "real world" between now and then.
Hey Syntax77, I've been scavenging the forums, but what's your two cents on Enlightened Equipment's quilts? As a fellow nearly obsessive analyzer, was is simply price or other factors?
I'm wanting to get into backpacking, and I'm thinking of getting a quilt rather than a sleeping bag cause I'm a fairly restless sleeper. To save money, I only want to buy one quilt for spring, summer, and fall. I am a fairly hot sleeper, so do you think I could get away with a 40 degree bag even in spring/fall? I live in Canada, so it can get below freezing quite often at night even in September. I have no idea how the temperature ratings translate to my personal comfort because I usually car camp in the summer with the comforter off of my bed.
sintax77 I do all of my backpacking at temps no lower than 45 degrees at night. With a 20 degree bag, think I'll need a underquilt? Hammock + (cuben fiber) tarp + underquilt is very pricey.
I've had nothing but good experiences in dealing with Addam and Stormcrow from HG. Just ordered my 4th TQ and I have 3 UQs and a Cuban Hammock fly with cuban snakeskins. There is a reason why I keep going back :) Also for hangers out there check out Dream Hammocks Papasmurf has some of the best UL hammocks IMO on the market. Love my Darien UL. Hammock, bug net, ridgeline, gear hang, TI Dutch whoopie hook suspension, TI UQ hooks, cuban stuff sack, and TI shepard hook stakes total weight 12.7oz Hennesy makes a great product my only gripe is that they are way to heavy.
sintax77 you well def notice the weight savings compared to your Hennesy. A little more on the delicate side but that goes without saying on the UL side. Woopie suspension def makes set up a lot easier. Looking forward to your gear review. I dont think there are many on TH-cam yet for the Darien.
sintax77 what made you choose the darien/dream hammock? I'm looking at cutting weight, i currently use a HH Expedition. You purchasing a new tarp as well?
Justin Smith while you are waiting for a response from Sintaxx77 I dont mind sharing my reason which may help. 1. Papasmurf aka Randy is well known in the Hammock community for his products. Reputation speaks volumes to me and being able to work with a person to get a product customized to your standards. 2. I had the HH expedition with an extended fly a long ago. When you add in everything if I remember my total weight came in somewhere between 4 1/2 to 5lbs. I realized this was way to heavy to be carrying for a solo shelter. Not UL by any means. 3. My Darien UL is around 13oz and I use a cuban HG fly. Just a little over a pound for everything. Compared to an expedition thats a savings of 3 1/2 to 4lbs. Huge difference. 4. At the time I purchased my Darien UL no other company had a hammock that was that light that would accomidate a person who is over 6 feet tall. I looked at every hammock option from comercial to cottage. It was the lightest option amd even to this day I think ot still is. 5. I called Randy prior to putting my order in and his customer service is bar none. After discussing things with him he made me feel confident that I was dealing with a person who not only wanted my business but would be willing to do whatever it took to make me happy. I have not been disapointed yet. Hope this helps
ha, pretty cool, I just ordered a quilt from Enlightened Equipment, 10 degree, duck down (which should be...interesting) but yeah, way light, can't wait to get it, been waiting 2 weeks already.
Rich Allfieldnohit Yeah, this one took my about 2 weeks to arrive, and my under-quilt about 3 weeks. I never realized how spoiled I was by the world of Amazon with 2 day shipping, haha. Totally worth the wait for hand made gear though!
I think it would be cool to have something like this, but as a cocoon! In stead of top and bottom quilts, design a sleeping system to run your hammock through it, where the hammock is encompassed by the quilt! Almost like a semi-rec bag that synchs on both ends and a face hole synched by micro bungi's! How do you get out, you ask? Good question, I just thought this ideal up, lol...
So you went with standard woodland camo under the selection box? Or did you ask for a custom camo option? I ask because the two colors seem different, yet the options on both quilts on the website is listed as "woodland camo."
lifeisgood070 Back when I bought my underquilt, they had a heavier Epsilon 1.5 Multicam option, prior to offering the darker green Argon 90 Woodland pattern used on my top quilt. If you choose "woodland" on the HG website, it will look like my top quilt. If you prefer the older stuff though, it may be worth a shot to reach out to them and see if them have a little bit left at the shop. It's 50% heavier than the Argon, but has a really nice feel to it and is probably a bit more abrasion / wind resistant.
Excellent review. Thank you. I'm in the market for a top quilt and am comparing quilts from Warbonnet, Jacks r Better, and Hammock Gear. Any feed back is welcome. :)
I know this is an old video but I am about to buy one of these and wanted to know if you recommend selecting the overfill option? thank you for your time
+justin vandenbroek My wife and I have 4 different temp models of HG top quilts at this point: 40, 30, 20, and 0. I've never overstuffed any of them, so I can't really speak to the difference. My advice though, would be to go with the next temp range down, rather than doing an overstuffed if warmth is the desired result. As far as I know, too much down in the same size baffle isn't going to have room to loft anyway, so that kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion. To the best of my knowledge, the purpose of overstuffing is to future proof against down getting damaged over the course of use - that way you kind of have down in reserve to replace it's function, I suppose. Personally, I'd rather have more room for warm air to be trapped in between the appropriate amount of down, but I could be wrong.
So I was curious.... do you have a under quilt, a top quilt AND a pad? I've yet to actually use a top/under quilt but was unsure if you needed to have the pad (I'm sure it would help if super cold but, curious is you always use one or not?
Blacklist Now that I have both an under quilt and top quilt, I just used them and save the pad for ground sleeping trips. I've heard of guys using a pad + under quilt to boost the rating, but it can cause condensation issues, so most seem to avoid using both.
For the sake of disclosure do you pay retail for the products you review or is there a discount involved in exchange for the review? Not that it would matter much, just wondering.
njsurfer78 I've had a few products sent to me by reps - battery chargers, water filters etc - but I'll mention it during the video if it that was the case. Both of my HG quilts were purchased on the website just like anyone else though.
I like your name man... I'm a language nerd and a programmer, so syntax... and I program casino games, so sin tax as we call gaming taxes in my state....
Wow, what a great grear review, Sintax77.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. It really outlines many of the highlights of using a quilt and specifically the Burrow. Very professsionally done.
Hammock Gear Thanks, it's my pleasure. Always fun to review a quality piece of gear that I truly enjoy using!
Enjoyed the top quilt review sintax77. Really smooth well narrated information. Your videos always meet that higher level of expected refinement we've grown to anticipate when clicking on a sintax77 production. Even though I'm in my third hammock setup I still consider myself mostly to be a hammock rookie looking for that perfect system. Right now I'm waiting on the new 2015 Exped SynCell Mat 5 MW which is 72 x 25.5 if I remember correctly to try with my system. I'm absolutely adding this Hammock Gear top quilt to my wish list.
This past winter I ran down to 28 degrees in the high desert. I ran the incubater 20 with the burrow 40 up top. Just had somt socks and fleece pajamas on. It actually worked pretty well. Sintax, you might realize with the Hennessey Asym and the big under quilt that you get the feeling of laying in a trough. that helps so much in the wind. I love the system and good on you for making the vids. Keep it up!!
Good to know that you were able to run that combo down t 28°. Lower rating on the bottom seems to be the way to go if you only wanted to buy one or the other as an upgrade for winter use. I went with the 40 bottom for 3 season weight savings, and would like a Incubator 0 some day for winter (have a sleeping bag for now). Do you run your Incubator 20 year round and just adjust how tight you hang it?
I went with the Burro 30 top quilt, and the Premium 30 underquilt. Haven't had an opportunity yet to use them. Where I live the temperature is still pretty high on the misery index.
I have a set of 20 degree quilts, and echoing everyone else, great products from some great people over at HG.
Thanks for the videos. I'm debating whether or not to return my big Agnes lost ranger and grab one of these. I'm liking the open foot box option. The whole system seems more versatile. Waiting on my Darien from dream hammocks. Making the leap from ground dweller.
Really nice layout on the video. Appreciate the very informative approach. I've been considering a quilt for some time now. I sleep on the ground. Did you ever consider the Jacks R Better quilts? Why did you opt for this quilt instead?
Thanks you
+sintax77 I know you and your wife use hammock gear quilts but have you ever seen/used a enlightened equipment quilt? I'm tore between a hammock gear burrow and a enlightened equipment revelation. I'm not sure which one to get. I'll be using it hammock camping and tent camping. Any suggestions?
Excellent! I have 2 sets of quilts from Adam and Jenny, 30 and 0. This video is a great resource for people, well done. I just show it being used in my vids...you did the hard part here!
I've seen others reference the 30° Burrow / Incubator as well, but haven't see it listed on their site. Is this something that they used to offer standard, or did you reach out to them for a custom build? I bet that 0° is pretty nice too, would love one for deep winter trips (probably as bottom insulation)
The 30 are a custom order. They adjust all of the baffling and down amounts. My 3 season trips seem to bottom out around 30 for low temps and Adam made the recommendation to go ahead and get custom 30's. They work great in the Northeast from April to November (ish). I took my 0's to -8 last January and was fine, although I did learn about the need for a "frost bib" to keep condensation from my breath off my TQ.
12trysomething Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into the frost bib. I remember waking up during a winter tent trip in Vermont with the front of my Kelty Cosmic 0 _covered_ in ice, haha.
When is your next video going to be uploaded I enjoy watching your videos and was wondering
Feature length trip video? I'm just starting to dump and organize the source material now, then on to editing. It could be a couple weeks, depending what other things pop up in the "real world" between now and then.
How has the top quilt hold up after 7 year sintax77. I am look for a top quilt and I am leaning towards buying one.
Hey Syntax77, I've been scavenging the forums, but what's your two cents on Enlightened Equipment's quilts? As a fellow nearly obsessive analyzer, was is simply price or other factors?
I'm wanting to get into backpacking, and I'm thinking of getting a quilt rather than a sleeping bag cause I'm a fairly restless sleeper. To save money, I only want to buy one quilt for spring, summer, and fall. I am a fairly hot sleeper, so do you think I could get away with a 40 degree bag even in spring/fall? I live in Canada, so it can get below freezing quite often at night even in September. I have no idea how the temperature ratings translate to my personal comfort because I usually car camp in the summer with the comforter off of my bed.
sintax77 I do all of my backpacking at temps no lower than 45 degrees at night. With a 20 degree bag, think I'll need a underquilt? Hammock + (cuben fiber) tarp + underquilt is very pricey.
I've had nothing but good experiences in dealing with Addam and Stormcrow from HG. Just ordered my 4th TQ and I have 3 UQs and a Cuban Hammock fly with cuban snakeskins. There is a reason why I keep going back :) Also for hangers out there check out Dream Hammocks Papasmurf has some of the best UL hammocks IMO on the market. Love my Darien UL. Hammock, bug net, ridgeline, gear hang, TI Dutch whoopie hook suspension, TI UQ hooks, cuban stuff sack, and TI shepard hook stakes total weight 12.7oz Hennesy makes a great product my only gripe is that they are way to heavy.
Shonryu B Just ordered a Dream Hammocks Darien at the beginning of the month! Patiently waiting... ;)
sintax77 you well def notice the weight savings compared to your Hennesy. A little more on the delicate side but that goes without saying on the UL side. Woopie suspension def makes set up a lot easier. Looking forward to your gear review. I dont think there are many on TH-cam yet for the Darien.
sintax77 what made you choose the darien/dream hammock? I'm looking at cutting weight, i currently use a HH Expedition. You purchasing a new tarp as well?
Justin Smith while you are waiting for a response from Sintaxx77 I dont mind sharing my reason which may help. 1. Papasmurf aka Randy is well known in the Hammock community for his products. Reputation speaks volumes to me and being able to work with a person to get a product customized to your standards. 2. I had the HH expedition with an extended fly a long ago. When you add in everything if I remember my total weight came in somewhere between 4 1/2 to 5lbs. I realized this was way to heavy to be carrying for a solo shelter. Not UL by any means. 3. My Darien UL is around 13oz and I use a cuban HG fly. Just a little over a pound for everything. Compared to an expedition thats a savings of 3 1/2 to 4lbs. Huge difference. 4. At the time I purchased my Darien UL no other company had a hammock that was that light that would accomidate a person who is over 6 feet tall. I looked at every hammock option from comercial to cottage. It was the lightest option amd even to this day I think ot still is. 5. I called Randy prior to putting my order in and his customer service is bar none. After discussing things with him he made me feel confident that I was dealing with a person who not only wanted my business but would be willing to do whatever it took to make me happy. I have not been disapointed yet. Hope this helps
Justin Smith Yup, Shonryu B nailed it. That pretty much covers it :)
DWR fabric and down? Do you use Nikwax and anything else to maintain that?
Its kinda like my Army Poncho liner, only a bit thicker. Will have to look into it - thx.
BTW, do you get a referrers bonus? :)
ha, pretty cool, I just ordered a quilt from Enlightened Equipment, 10 degree, duck down (which should be...interesting) but yeah, way light, can't wait to get it, been waiting 2 weeks already.
Rich Allfieldnohit Yeah, this one took my about 2 weeks to arrive, and my under-quilt about 3 weeks. I never realized how spoiled I was by the world of Amazon with 2 day shipping, haha. Totally worth the wait for hand made gear though!
I think it would be cool to have something like this, but as a cocoon! In stead of top and bottom quilts, design a sleeping system to run your hammock through it, where the hammock is encompassed by the quilt! Almost like a semi-rec bag that synchs on both ends and a face hole synched by micro bungi's! How do you get out, you ask? Good question, I just thought this ideal up, lol...
+hoobilly 65 People do this by just cutting a hole in the bottom and hood of a sleeping bag.
OR, why not use a long mummy (or what ever length works) and have a seamstress cut a slit on both ends. THat way you could utilize the hood still! ??
So you went with standard woodland camo under the selection box? Or did you ask for a custom camo option? I ask because the two colors seem different, yet the options on both quilts on the website is listed as "woodland camo."
lifeisgood070 Back when I bought my underquilt, they had a heavier Epsilon 1.5 Multicam option, prior to offering the darker green Argon 90 Woodland pattern used on my top quilt. If you choose "woodland" on the HG website, it will look like my top quilt. If you prefer the older stuff though, it may be worth a shot to reach out to them and see if them have a little bit left at the shop. It's 50% heavier than the Argon, but has a really nice feel to it and is probably a bit more abrasion / wind resistant.
Oh just connected the dots. Gotcha. Thanks for the comment.
Excellent review. Thank you. I'm in the market for a top quilt and am comparing quilts from Warbonnet, Jacks r Better, and Hammock Gear. Any feed back is welcome. :)
I know this is an old video but I am about to buy one of these and wanted to know if you recommend selecting the overfill option? thank you for your time
+justin vandenbroek My wife and I have 4 different temp models of HG top quilts at this point: 40, 30, 20, and 0. I've never overstuffed any of them, so I can't really speak to the difference. My advice though, would be to go with the next temp range down, rather than doing an overstuffed if warmth is the desired result. As far as I know, too much down in the same size baffle isn't going to have room to loft anyway, so that kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion. To the best of my knowledge, the purpose of overstuffing is to future proof against down getting damaged over the course of use - that way you kind of have down in reserve to replace it's function, I suppose. Personally, I'd rather have more room for warm air to be trapped in between the appropriate amount of down, but I could be wrong.
sintax77 thank you for the detailed response I appreciate it
Very cool and thanks for the review.
You're very welcome :)
So I was curious.... do you have a under quilt, a top quilt AND a pad? I've yet to actually use a top/under quilt but was unsure if you needed to have the pad (I'm sure it would help if super cold but, curious is you always use one or not?
Blacklist Now that I have both an under quilt and top quilt, I just used them and save the pad for ground sleeping trips. I've heard of guys using a pad + under quilt to boost the rating, but it can cause condensation issues, so most seem to avoid using both.
sintax77 Thanks...
What advantage do a top quilt and an under quilt have over a normal mummy sleeping bag?
smaller in pack and weight. for hammock users it makes a lot more sense to do a tq. on the ground is debatable
Have you taken this below 40?
For the sake of disclosure do you pay retail for the products you review or is there a discount involved in exchange for the review? Not that it would matter much, just wondering.
njsurfer78 I've had a few products sent to me by reps - battery chargers, water filters etc - but I'll mention it during the video if it that was the case. Both of my HG quilts were purchased on the website just like anyone else though.
Is there a reason you didn’t get the wide (55”) version for the better coverage on the ground?
I've gotten several more quilts in the years since this video, I always go wide now for that very reason.
I have some stuff by Adam he's a great guy and makes a great product. Nice review man!
I just bought one that's a 30 degree and I'm wondering how low I can really go.
I've taken it into the 30's. I wouldn't be surprised if your 30 degree takes you into the 20's, depending how you sleep.
Great video..
Thanks for the video
Link for this and your hammock ?? Please
Raymond Morrison HG Burrow Top Quilt www.hammockgear.com/burrow-40/
Dream Hammock Darien www.dream-hammock.com/Darien.html
Thanks so much 👍
I like your name man... I'm a language nerd and a programmer, so syntax... and I program casino games, so sin tax as we call gaming taxes in my state....
"I just realized my wife drinks a lot of lemonade," hahaha
I’m not a fan of the first person video. It’s just hand holding a bag most of the time. It may as well be a podcast.