Quilt or mummy bag for stomach sleeper

[Hunt_fish_Hawaii]

Looking for a bag for my early season hunt. I am a stomach sleeper. I have a good pad, but want a bag that will keep me warm. It will be synthetic either way. Are quilts the way to go for a stomach sleeper, or should I be leaning more towards a mummy bag?

 

[Graves14]

I toss and turn a ton in my sleep but usually end up on my stomach or side. Nothing has made me more comfortable in the woods than switching to a quilt. Do it and don’t look back

 

[jolemons]

Quilt. Go Warner than you think you'll need and have good pad. I use my WM when it's really cold and Im reminded how uncomfortable i am in a bag.

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[gabenzeke]

Quilt is the way to go. Stomach sleeper as well and it's a game changer. There's a bit of a learning curve to eliminating drafts, but those never really bothered me enough to care about it unless it's super cold.

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[Pn8hall]

I am a stomach sleeper as well. I have no experience with a quilt but I did research them quite a bit. I wasnt willing to make the leap for fear of freezing in lower temps. I move around too much. If you have a bag that is wide and long enough you can be quite comfortable sleeping on your stomach. You have to be careful its not crazy big though so you can actually heat up the space within the bag efficiently. I have a couple different bags. I have an older Big Agnes Hog Park 0 degree. Its a huge bag and I can roll around in it all night long. When temps really dip it is not the warmest bag due to its size. I love the pad sleeve though. I recently picked up a Nemo Sonic long in 0 degree and it is wide enough for me to sleep on my stomach with knee bent to side and arm above my head under pillow. I am 5'10" and 200 lbs. I choose long bags so that my arm can tuck into the bag's hood when I am splayed out. For me I think if I had a quilt my hands would freeze since there is no hood on them and I am sure I would not be able to manage drafts as much as I move around.

 

[MtnMuley]

^ Great post above. You experience the same problem I do and explained it well for guys like us.

 

[CiK01]

I choose long bags so that my arm can tuck into the bag's hood when I am splayed out. For me I think if I had a quilt my hands would freeze since there is no hood on them and I am sure I would not be able to manage drafts as much as I move around.

Can you tell us more about how a long bag helps with the arm tucking part? I do the same thing (arm above the head) and have struggled to figure out how I am going to fix that in the field. Does a longer bag just let you scoot down in the bag more so you have more headroom for the arm to go up there? Thanks!

 

[Pn8hall]

That is exactly right. I can scoot all the way to the bottom of the bag and the extra room allows me to keep my arm inside the bag when I extend it out under my pillow. My head is inside the bag rather than sticking out the normal opening. Also should note that you might want a wide long pad so all your parts stay on the insulated surface. I use an Exped Downmat UL7. Its 25” wide and 78” long if I recall. I also use a thermarest cot if camping next to the truck. It’s large size also.

 

[MtnMuley]

^Great post again. I ditto everything said.

 

[jolemons]

That is exactly right. I can scoot all the way to the bottom of the bag and the extra room allows me to keep my arm inside the bag when I extend it out under my pillow. My head is inside the bag rather than sticking out the normal opening. Also should note that you might want a wide long pad so all your parts stay on the insulated surface. I use an Exped Downmat UL7. Its 25” wide and 78” long if I recall. I also use a thermarest cot if camping next to the truck. It’s large size also.

Only issues ive had with with this method are 1) condensation if my mouth is below mummy opening 2) can't get good seal on draft collar with arm up behind pillow. I have a terrible time sleeping without my arm beneath my head and haven't found a good solution

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[Pn8hall]

I have not had any issues with condensation personally and I never really zip the bag all the way closed so for me the draft collar issue doesn't play a role. That may be why I don't have an issue with condensation also though.

 

[Poser]

I toss and turn a ton in my sleep but usually end up on my stomach or side. Nothing has made me more comfortable in the woods than switching to a quilt. Do it and don’t look back

Same here. In sleeping bags, I get twisted up from tossing and turning.

 

[Hunt_fish_Hawaii]

Solid advice, thanks guys!!

 

[FlyGuy]

Stomach sleeper here too. I can sleep pretty well in either, but the quilt is a bit more comfortable. It has a learning curve to it, but once you figure it all out (took me about 3 nights) it’s the bomb.


You can’t cheat the mountain

 

[Mike7]

Stomach sleeper here, and with arms overhead sometimes or beside head at least. I like a quilt much better (never tangled up).

I don't use a quilt to save weight. I don't need a warmer rated quilt to stay warm, but for how I sleep, I definitely need a quilt that is "at least" one size if not two sizes wider than recommended by the manufacturer. I think this is key for some people. I have only awakened cold briefly a few times,
and just when sweating because I have the extra wide quilt edges wrapping under me and don't have enough ventilation for the outside temps.

I use a small pillow under my chest. Go longer in the quilt as stated above if you will have your arms up near your head and you are near the upper end of manufacturer recommended length.

I never put my head inside the quilt to avoid increased moisture, but do use the puffy hoods with strap under arms for temps below 25 degrees. A fleece hat is just not enough.

 

[CiK01]

Quilt. Go Warner than you think you'll need and have good pad. I use my WM when it's really cold and Im reminded how uncomfortable i am in a bag.

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How cold does it have to be for you to go to your WM bag? I am looking for a solid winter bag now and am either going with a WM Sequoia (5*) or a UGQ XL (wide long 0*) fill. Just worried about a quilt at below freezing temps.

 

[Mike7]

If I was a person who could sleep on my back, it wouldn't matter what system I had.

But I fail to see much of a difference between an extra wide quilt with a puffy hood and a mummy bag with respect to warmth. I can sleep on my stomach with the quilt, and I don't get tangled up, so those are differences. I can open a quilt up fully to dry in the sun, or wrap it around myself while glassing without having to climb in. Maybe the quilt takes a little more getting used to in order to properly vent to avoid overheating and sweating?...at least for me.

Maybe at 10 degrees F below zero a quilt becomes less effective?...I don't know, I have not used it in those temps. But I (warm sleeper) can certainly sleep comfortably at 5-10 degrees above zero with my 20 degree above quilt along with some clothing...and of course a puffy hood designed for quilts.

 

[Poser]

I’ve had my 20 degree quilt down into some low temps, a few degrees below zero. I slept in my puffy as I had to put it on to get up and pee and it was too cold to take it back off, but I was comfortable. I’m a warm sleeper and I like to be a little cool when I sleep.
On other cold nights, I’ve stuffed my puffy in the foot box of the quilt to use up a little volume, stuff my feet in if they get chilly to and keep my jacket warm for the morning. That seems to work effectively.