Waratah

Both quilts share the same core design, but the best choice comes down to your preferred temperature range, durability, weight, packability and price.

The Waratah uses a slightly heavier 10D, 24 gsm fabric and 850+FP Ultrasonic Muscovy Down. It is a little more durable, slightly heavier and a little less compressible, but also comes in at a lower price. It is also available in slightly different temperature ratings, so for some users the Waratah may simply offer the range that better suits their needs.

The Waratah Pro uses a lighter 7D, 19 gsm ripstop fabric and 950+FP Ultrasonic Muscovy Down. This saves weight and reduces packed volume, making it the better option if you are trying to minimise both pack weight and bulk.

The trade-off is slightly reduced abrasion resistance compared with the 10D fabric. That said, the 7D is still plenty durable for normal backcountry use. It is the same fabric we use on our down jackets, and early testers (Courtney Eve White and Grant Munn) have already worn the down jacket while hiking through large sections of the PCT without issue.

In short, start by choosing the temperature rating that best suits how and where you sleep. From there, choose the Waratah if you prioritise slightly more durability and value, or the Waratah Pro if you prioritise the lowest weight and smallest packed size.

Don’t panic if you notice some uneven loft in your quilt. Down can naturally shift within the baffles over time, particularly from repeatedly stuffing and unpacking the quilt in your pack.

Start by allowing the quilt to fully re-loft, then check for any areas where the baffle looks slightly lower or less filled. If needed, gently use your hand to massage the down along the baffle and redistribute it into those areas.

If most of the down has collected toward one end of the vertical baffles, you can also pick the quilt up and give it a few gentle shakes in the opposite direction to help move the down back into place. Once you’ve redistributed it, you’ll be set for the night. The down shouldn’t move around enough while you’re sleeping to make any noticeable difference.

P.S. You can actually use this movement to your advantage in warmer weather. Grab the top of the quilt and give it a few more vigorous shakes to intentionally move some of the down lower through the vertical baffles and away from your torso. It gives you another way to fine-tune the warmth of the quilt and adds even more versatility to the design.

Ah yes, the age-old question: should you choose a quilt or a sleeping bag?

The short answer is fairly simple. If maximum warmth-to-weight efficiency, adjustability and versatility are your priorities, a quilt is hard to beat. If you'd rather have a complete sleep system that you can simply climb into, zip up and go to sleep, then a sleeping bag may be the better choice.

The longer answer comes down to a few key differences.

Tossing and turning

Down only insulates effectively when it is lofted. Once compressed, it provides very little warmth.

With a quilt that is properly secured using pad straps, the insulation remains centred over your body regardless of how much you move during the night. When you roll from side to side, your body moves underneath the quilt while the quilt itself largely stays in place. This keeps the lofted insulation positioned where it is most useful and helps prevent compressed sections from rotating into exposed areas.

A sleeping bag works differently. Because the bag wraps around your entire body, it naturally rotates with you as you move. When you roll onto your side, some of the insulation that was previously compressed beneath you can rotate towards the side of the bag and become exposed to the cold. That insulation will re-loft, but there can be a short period where it is providing less warmth.

For people who regularly change sleeping positions, a well-secured quilt can therefore be a particularly thermally efficient system. The trade-off is that quilts require a little more setup and familiarity to get the most out of them.

Variable girth and layering

One of the biggest advantages of a quilt is its adjustability. Using the pad straps, the effective girth of the Waratah can be increased or reduced depending on your body size, sleeping position and the conditions.

On warmer nights, you can loosen the system and allow the quilt to sit more openly over you for additional space and ventilation. As temperatures drop, the quilt can be drawn in closer around your body to reduce drafts and create a more thermally efficient sleep system. The Waratah can also be opened up completely and used more like a blanket, giving it a much broader usable temperature range than a fixed sleeping bag.

This adjustability becomes particularly useful when layering. If you wear a large down jacket inside a sleep system that is too tight, the jacket and sleep system can compress against one another, reducing the loft and therefore the warmth of both. A quilt gives you far more freedom to increase the available space around your body, allowing additional insulation layers to loft properly underneath it.

Ease of setup

This is where sleeping bags have the advantage. With a sleeping bag, setup is virtually non-existent. Roll out your pad, climb in, zip up and you're ready for bed.

A quilt requires a little more involvement. Pad straps need to be positioned around your sleeping mat and the quilt adjusted to your preferred girth. Once you're familiar with the system, this becomes quick and intuitive, but it is still an additional step compared with simply climbing into a sleeping bag.

We've designed the Waratah's pad strap system to keep this process as simple as possible, using just two conventional straps with our offset attachment points and easy-snap hardware. There are no mattress sheets or complicated additional components to set up.

Hood

Unlike a traditional sleeping bag, a quilt does not have an integrated hood. This allows you to choose the head insulation that best suits the conditions rather than carrying a hood as part of the sleep system every night. In milder conditions, this might simply be a beanie or the hood from your existing insulation layer. In colder temperatures, a dedicated insulated hood or balaclava can be added.

A sleeping bag, on the other hand, integrates the hood into the bag itself. This provides an enclosed, cocooned feeling and requires less thought when temperatures drop, but also means carrying that additional insulation regardless of whether you need it.

So which one should you choose?

If maximum warmth-to-weight efficiency, adjustability, layering flexibility and versatility are your priorities, the Waratah Quilt is likely the better choice. If you value simplicity above everything else, prefer an integrated hood, or simply want a sleep system you can climb straight into with virtually no setup, a sleeping bag may suit you better.

Neither system is inherently right or wrong. They simply approach the same problem differently. For us, the appeal of the Waratah is that a small amount of additional setup gives you an exceptionally lightweight, adaptable sleep system that can be configured around the way you actually sleep.

Choose the quilt length based on your height and sleeping position. If you’re up to around 6'½" and mainly sleep on your back/side, the 6' length should generally work well. If you’re taller than that, we recommend sizing up to the 6'6" length for a little more room.

If you’re a stomach sleeper, you may also want to size up if you’re close to the height limit. Sleeping on your stomach with your toes pointed away from you effectively increases your sleeping length, so the quilt can feel shorter than it would for a back or side sleeper.

As a general rule, if you’re close to the maximum height for a size, especially if you sleep on your stomach, we recommend going up a length.

We’ve gone with a 15 mm elastic pad strap, giving it enough stretch and adjustability to work with a wide range of sleep systems, including inflatable mummy pads, wide rectangular pads and even DOC hut mattresses.

Each quilt comes with two adjustable pad straps, allowing you to fine-tune the fit to suit different pad widths and shapes.

Our temperature ratings are determined by a few different things. Loft is an important starting point, as generally speaking, more loft means more warmth. But we don’t base our ratings entirely on a calculated number in a spreadsheet or on peak loft alone.

We start with our calculated fill targets, build the quilt to those numbers, and then adjust from there based on how the finished product actually looks and performs. Sometimes that process is very technical. Sometimes it’s as simple as, “that doesn’t look poofy enough, add more down.”

From there, we rigorously field test our gear in the conditions it was designed for, and often beyond them, to see how it performs in the real world. There are a lot of Govee thermometers involved in this process.

We base our comfort ratings on real-world conditions and the way people actually sleep in the backcountry. This assumes going to bed well fed, hydrated, warm and dry, wearing appropriate long-sleeved base layers or Alpha Fuzzies, using a sleeping pad with a suitable R-value for the conditions, using the pad straps correctly, and sleeping inside a tent with the doors closed or with a solid inner to help reduce wind and drafts.

The end result is a temperature rating that combines calculated design targets with hands-on refinement and real-world testing.

A sleeping pad is a critical part of an effective backcountry sleep system. It helps trap the heat your body creates and reduces cold transfer from the ground.

Pad warmth is measured by R-value, which is especially important when using a quilt, as your back relies on the pad for insulation.

Recommended R-values

• Above 5°C: R3

• Around 0°C: R4

• Below −5°C: R5 or higher

Sleeping pad R-values are additive, meaning you can combine pads for extra warmth. For example, an R3 inflatable pad paired with an R2 foam pad creates an R5 sleep system.

With that being said, R-value doesn’t always tell the full story in real-world conditions. Some sleeping pads are known to perform colder than their advertised rating due to design flaws, construction, or heat loss around the edges.

We always recommend doing your own research and choosing a pad that is proven to perform true to its rating. For inflatable pads, our personal recommendations are the Sea to Summit Ether Light range, Nemo Tensor range, and Therm-a-Rest X range.

• 1 Quilt

• 2 Pad Straps

• 1 Compression Sack

• 1 Large Breathable Storage Bag

Store your quilt uncompressed in its storage sack in a cool, dry environment when off the trail. This helps maintain the down’s loft and prevents moisture build-up.

Avoid leaving your quilt compressed in its dry bag for extended periods. Air it out regularly between trips to help maintain loft and performance, particularly in humid conditions.

Our recommendation is to only wash your quilt when you notice it isn't lofting as fully as it used to. Washing down unnecessarily can shorten the lifespan of the materials, so there's no need to wash it on a regular schedule.

When it is time for a wash, we recommend following the excellent guide from our friends at Garage Grown Gear: How to Wash Down Ultralight Gear.

Yes. The variable girth and width of a quilt suits a wide range of body shapes across both men's and women's proportions.

Fill power measures the loft and insulating quality of down, or how many cubic inches one ounce of down occupies. Higher fill power generally means larger, higher-quality down clusters that can trap more air for less weight, while also compressing down smaller.

The Waratah Pro uses 950+FP Ultrasonic Muscovy Down, while the Waratah uses 850+FP Ultrasonic Muscovy Down. Both offer excellent warmth-to-weight performance and packability, with the Waratah Pro taking this a step further for users chasing the lowest possible weight and packed volume.

The down we use is independently tested by IDFL (International Down and Feather Testing Laboratory) to verify that our stated fill power ratings are accurate.

Yes. All fabrics used across our down products are treated with a PFAS-free DWR.

Like many of our customers, we care deeply about the impact our products have on the environment and the animals involved in their production. That’s why we source our down only from RDS-certified suppliers.

The Responsible Down Standard helps ensure that the down and feathers used in our products come from ducks and geese raised in accordance with strict animal welfare principles. This includes no live plucking, with down collected only as a by-product of the food industry.

The Waratah does not use hydrophobic down. Through our testing, we've found that there is a marginal increase in performance with hydrophobic down (at an added cost) versus untreated down when it comes to real world testing.

As hydrophobic down technology continues to evolve, we’ll keep assessing its performance and consider incorporating it into future products where it delivers a clear, real-world advantage.

Because we don’t use hydrophobic down, the down in our sleeping quilts is completely PFC and PFAS free. The DWR finish used on our outer shell fabric is also PFC and PFAS free.