Feathered Friends - Flicker Ultralight Quilt Sleeping Bag

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.

I paid $1k for a -40 degree sleeping bag. Because the -20 degree sleeping bag I bought the year before wasn't warm enough. Feathered Friends. They are $1,200k now. Alaska is cold in March.

That's a great deal. I haven't used that one. I really love the Feathered Friends Flickr quilt personally, but it costs a lot more. I hope it's a great time camping in the national parks!!

I'm gonna dodge and parry the question. Personally I need a quilt, I'm a whiny little bitch and a mummy bag is too constricted for me, but it's pretty fine for normal people like you So my advice instead is three things: In the North Cascades (PNW) most people think a 20 degree bag is just right for 3 season backpacking. I've camped sleeping in my base layers and even a down jacket in October. If you're worried this bag won't be quite enough, you can get down booties and whatever to push it a little. An air mattress has insulation, and it's messed in R Value. You can also make up for a not quite warm enough bag with a warmer pad. So, I don't know what's right for you, but I know you have angles to work with if you like this one but aren't quite sure.

I've always had a problem sleeping cold. For the past few years, I've been using the Feathered Friends Flicker 20 degree and an X-Therm. That combo works for me down to a little over freezing. Below freezing, I have to add a Nemo Switchback foam pad on top of the X-Therm, a Nunatak over-bag around the FF Flicker. I also have an EE Torid jacket and insulated pants to use as needed. The combination of the Flicker, X-Therm, Switchback, Nunatak over-bag, jacket and pants works, but it's a lot to carry. I recently purchased an El Coyote 10 degree quilt to see if the extra down could take the place of the over-bag, but it still wasn't warm enough just a few degrees below freezing. What would be the lightest and most compact way to stay warm in the winter? I have thought about selling the El Coyote quilt and getting a super warm bag like the Western Mountaineering Antelope instead, but the weight is identical to the Flicker and Nunatak over-bag combo (which is extremely warm, btw). Is there anything else I should consider?

I have a Zpacks brushtail possum beanie, which is really warm, plus the hood from the Torrid. My head is plenty warm. The over-bag is like a zipperless sleeping bag, so my entire quilt goes inside of it. That combo of the Flicker plus over-bag is the only thing that works for me, but it's heavy (40oz total). Yeah, I'm leaning towards a 0 degree or -10 degree bag. That might be my only option.

Yes, I've always been a cold sleeper. I've had the Feathered Friends Flicker for a long time. It's a great bag / quilt for most of the year, but hasn't worked for me below freezing. Last weekend, I went out with a new 10 degree El Coyote quilt and it was cold below freezing too, until I added the overbag.

We've got two, a single from Feathered Friends and a double from Nunatak. Happy with both.

I'm a restless sleeper and my Feathered Friends quilt was a gamechanger. However, I've never tried a *really nice* sleeping bag - the quilt I got was the first sleeping solution in that price range.

I also have a Flicker, but the lack of a hood and draft tube gives me a similar experience as yours in colder weather. I use a Western Mountaineering Alpinlite (also rated 20 degrees) for those conditions, it's \*much\* warmer. It's a "roomy mummy", not constrictive, won't compress layers, a pretty good way to transition from a quilt if that's your jam. I think efficiency is more than the oz. of down, it's also the design and cut, which makes comparing bags difficult. The Flicker was OK to about 30, I've been warm cowboy camping in the Alpinlite to well below freezing.

For sleeping bags I do Feathered Friends. PHENOMENAL products. Carefully selected down feathers and they don't have to kill the animals to get them. I've got 3 different Feathered Friends sleeping bags for different temperatures, including an ultra thick one that I've used alone sleeping in no-tent self-dug snow trenches in the middle of Yellowstone in January. The outer layer of the sleeping bags is synthetic, but the primary ingredient is natural feathers. I also have one of their down packable jackets, but it's too hot, even in -20F. Last time I camped in deep snow for a week, alone, on cross country skis, pulling all my gear on a Fairbanks siglin pulk sled behind me, I found I didn't need much during the day, because I was working so hard I was always hot. At night I would dig a trench, lay a tarp across the top, supported by my ski poles, and sleep in my FF down bag on top of a thermarest. I'd keep my boots in the bottom of the sleeping bag so they didn't freeze overnight. Wool socks, wool long underwear, wool sweater, synthetic wind-and-snow protecting pants and jacket. Wool hat, neck gaiter, and gloves. Synthetic outer-layer for gloves to keep my fingers drier. Smartwool makes merino wool boxer briefs. You need less than you think. (Except calories, holy f- do you need a lot of those.)

\+1 for Feathered Friends. Got one of theirs for our daughter to take to Pakistan

I'd been using a Marmot for 30 yrs, what they called a 10-20 30. Don't remember the price but it was the most expensive thing I bought for a very long time and glad I did. There were not as many choices back then and I don't think they are the same now. Point is it was annoying when it was warm. Couple of years ago I got a Feathered Friends Flicker 40. It's a hoodless sleeping bag that can also open all the way to a quilt. (no it doesn't attach to a pad) Had that down to mid 30's cowboy camping in the desert and was fine with a puffy on. I had wanted a 30 but out of stock. This year sold the 40 and got a 30 for a trip to Iceland in July. I'm very happy with it; works well across temps. Combined with the Marmot gets me down to 0. Since it is a bag when I want it's less fuss than a lot of the quilts out there. (love the draft collar and the foot closing completely). You can rent one and they will credit up to 2 nights rental cost toward a similar purchase. May help but likely incur some extra shipping costs unless you're in their area.

There are many full-zip quilts on the market. The Feathered Friends Flicker for example. The big advantage is temp range as you can use it as a blanket or a bag. But the big disadvantage is weight of that full zip -- and then you lose having a hood. So often quilts come with a short zip or just snaps at the foot, with a way to cinch up the bottom -- a nice compromise.

I've had this exact bag in Orange since 2017, the color makes me smile and also is very visible when laid out on snow. I don't have a Durston but the orange has always popped in every pic I've taken of it FWIW. I went with 2 oz of overfill because I sleep cold, has done well down to about 25º for me. Lower than that I prefer true sleeping bags anyway, but I toss and turn a lot. [https://imgur.com/a/TapZOGv](https://imgur.com/a/TapZOGv)

Fellow rotisserie sleeper here. Mostly camp in my hammock but also go to the ground when I have to, e.g. routes above treeline. I've done quilts and mummy bags on the ground, and I don't like either in their traditional forms. A third viable alternative is what basically amounts to a hoodless "bag" of some sort: a false bottom bag (Timmermade Serpentes/Wren), a zipperless bag (Nunatak Sastrugi), or a fully zippered quilt (Feathered Friends UL Wide Flicker). You have the option to select from a variety of sizes to suit your needs especially with Nunatak and Timmermade, but be aware of the lead times and specific ordering windows that will require some patience and diligence on your part. I find I sleep less interrupted in these types of bags on the ground, while traditional top quilts do just fine in a hammock system with an underquilt.

I have a FF quilt I could not be more satisfied with. FF for life.

FF Flicker UL 20F owner here. They're all great. The inside is grey, so you can unzip it to "duvet style", point the grey to the sun, and have it dry faster. Get something hi-vis - blue, green, or orange, but not grey - since in an emergency, it's easier to spot non-natural colors from a helicopter 200ft in the sky than others. AMA you like; it was my quilt on trail, and 4 seasons later, it looks at good as on day 1. ----- - Pack a beanie. - Learn to use the TOP drawstrings to change how much warm air you keep inside vs. vent. - The warmest configuration (for me), was to "button up" with the zip "up". More down migrates to the side rather than the middle (which gets compressed under your back. It's just an fantastic bag. Zero issue recommending it. You'll figure out how to dial it in.

Super cold sleeper here too. (Colder than you - I have a 20 degree Flicker I almost never use because I can only take it down to around 40-45.) I LOVE my Versalite and would highly recommend it.

I have a feathered friends flicker 30 degree and lark 10 degree. Those cover all my bases. I do have a zen bivy 25 which is nice but heavier.

I'm 191cm 190lb, have the feathered friends flicker long+wide and can definitely recommend it. You can definitely get away with the standard length version, but if you turn a lot the wide would be a good idea. I hate sleeping bags that constrict my legs too much but the flicker is great. It's a little heavier than some quilts but it's more versatile - can fully unzip for warmer weather, and completely shuts for colder weather, and everything in-between.