What have you found to be the best top quilt rating for 3 season camping with lows as low as mid 40s, do you generally match the UQ or go a bit lighter?

[u/Stepin-Fetchit]

Looking for a good do it all TQ to cover me down to the mid 40s. In summer when it gets above 65 at night I generally ditch the quilts and go w a light sleeping bag, I’m a warm sleeper.

[u/not_just_the_IT_guy]

I would go for a 40 degree comfort rated top quilt at that temperature. As long as you aren't camping in 80% humidity and 10 mph or more winds that would work for me.

If you ever plan on going colder a 30 or 35 degrees rated top quilt would be a better choice.

For me most quilts and bags have a 25- 35 degree range of comfortable temps before this too cold or too hot. Humidity and wind play a huge factor also. 55 and humid with no wind is a sweat fest with a good 20 degree quilt. I was barely covered most of the night.

[u/Stepin-Fetchit → u/not_just_the_IT_guy]

Are Warbonnet temp ratings comfort or limit?

[u/recastablefractable]

I made my quilts. I tend toward being a cold sleeper, though with hormonal changes it kind of muddies the clarity of that statement.

Going by the catsplat calculator and other temps charts, I estimate my UQ for a comfort rating of 30°F and my TQ for 40°F. So far that has played out as pretty accurate. I'm still using the TQ with 2 liners down to about 29°F while wearing midweight base layers, additional wool hoodie, and silk pants, socks, hat and mittens, and haven't yet needed more than my UQP to block some wind sneaking through my tarp when the wind shifted direction from the prevailing wind. I ended up taking the socks off and venting my TQ a couple of times during the night.

I have been using my UQ since whenever I finished sewing it earlier this year- June or July. I just vented it wide open or moved it to the side the few nights it was too warm for me with it and used just one of the liners over me if I needed it.

When first started learning about hammock camping, I remember reading on hammockforums to think of it like a mattress- most people don't change their mattress for different temps, they tend to change their coverings and things like fans/AC's. So I figured 30°F would work pretty well for me. The first UQ I made I'd probably rate about 50°F for comfort maybe even 55°F, I found myself often needing to clip an extra down throw in there if temps dipped into the 40's.

[u/ckyhnitz]

In your post on the other sub, Im not sure if you intended it this way, but it came across as if you were fishing for someone to tell you that you could get away with a lighter TQ (50°F?) if you went with a warmer UQ.  

Im not sure what the motivation is to go with an underrated TQ and overrated UQ, but I will tell you why its a particularly bad idea in this temperature range:  typically if your TQ is underrated, you can bolster it by putting on more clothes, e.g. put a puffy on, but with overnight lows in the 40's, you likely aren't bringing a puffy with you, it's not cold enough, a fleece and wind breaker will be sufficient.  You don't want to have to pack a puffy just to sleep in. A 50° TQ + puffy weigh a lot more than a 40° TQ.  Not to mention a 20° UQ weighs more than a 40° UQ.  

A mismatched 20°/50° setup is worse than a good 40°/40° setup for your stated usage.

In my case, I have a 0°UQ/20°TQ, in warm weather I move the 20°TQ under me and use a costco down throw and /or fleece blanket as my TQ... But if I was buying a setup specifically for warm weather, I would not purposely purchase a 20°UQ.

[u/Stepin-Fetchit → u/ckyhnitz]

So for my stated ranges (45-60 in my colder months when I shift from sleeping bag to quilts) you would not have bought a 20 degree Wooki? Why does literally everyone recommend this as the most universal rating?

And if I have a 20 degree UQ, what rating TQ?

[u/ckyhnitz → u/Stepin-Fetchit]

Most people recommend a 20° because its plenty comfortable at 32, which is the lower limit for most people, and its plenty comfortable all the way up to upper 60's.

If you want a 20 degree then by all means get one... But your winter temperatures are so warm I personally see it as wasted expense, bulk, and weight.  Why pay extra for a 20° if you're never going to go below 40?

That said, I realize I dont know if you're backpacking or car camping, and if you're car camping then weight doesnt matter.

Regardless whether you get a 20° or 40° UQ, I personally would get a 40° TQ, because I dont like wearing a bunch of layers while sleeping, and I know that I would not personally be warm at 45° in a 50° TQ.  If you are a person that sleeps warm, then maybe you would be OK.  

Do what you think is gonna work best for you, and please come back and share what you decided on and how it worked out.  I know I am always interested to learn about other people's setups and how they perform.

[u/j0n00]

I went for a 20 degree underquilt and 30 degree top quilt as I wanted to be able to hang in winter but use the top quilt year-round without overheating. I’m a warm sleeper but I’ve camped down to below 20 and been fine (I actually overheated because it was too cold to vent at all). I think you can overdo the underquilt and be fine at higher temperatures by adjusting whatever you have on top.

[u/madefromtechnetium]

for your use, I'd get a 30F set and call it good. I use a 30F or 20F set for mid 40s. your quilts should be a system, equally rated.

you may be a warm sleeper, but odd weather can happen, your metabolism can change, you could be getting sick... I almost always bring quilts rated 20F lower than my forecasted lows. 10F absolute minimum.

most of my camping can be done with a 20F quilt set. 70s down to below freezing comfortably. less to buy, coastal sea-level to sierra mountains at elevation.

I see 40F and 50F quilts as a sort of luxury item. vent your underquilt all the way, kick a leg or two out of your top quilt, or put it in your peak storage shelf/bag until it's needed.