>>1707570Long time quilt user and athletic sleeper (I move around a lot).
I've owned a quilt with vertical baffles the the one in your pic and didn't like them at all. That quilt was made by EE and the baffles were connected by little 'gates' this meant that over years of use the down was able to migrate from the baffles in the middle to the ones on the edges. A problem that was made worse when I washed it. Shifting the down back was possible but took f o r e v e r. My EE quilt was rated to 30 and I slept down to the mid/high 20s in it by wearing extra layers and a simple fleece beenie. I paired it with a light summer quilt, rated at 50, to sleep down into the teens. I wore a patagonia thermal weight cap balaclava and a fleece beenie and was fine.
The image you posted seems to be of a zpacks quilt and I'm not sure if their baffles have the little gates in. But IMO it's worth checking.
I sold the EE quilt and bought a western mountaneering astralight quilt which is rated at 25 and has baffles that run horizontally. I love it. I havn't had the issue that you describe with the "sharp edge". But WM are known to over stuff and use very high loft down, so maybe this has prevented this issue.
I know people who much prefer the down balaclava/quilt route as the balaclava moves around with your head. I havn't used one as I have got on fine with the fleece headgear I already own. I prefer hoodless jackets as well as the hoods that come with a lot of down jackets aren't great and don't have enough down in. I would be tempted to look at APEX synthetic balaclavas as the synthetic inuslation so if it gets wet (breath, condensation from your shelter wall, splash, whatever) drying will be much easier.
>>1707735A winter sleeping bag is the last thing you won't to try and save money on. Save up and get a good one.
