Katabatic Gear
Katabatic Palisade 30 Quilt
No citable owner-review average published for this one, so no stars.
Katabatic's three-season quilt, and the one most of its customers should probably buy: 30 °F, a sewn differential-cut footbox, 19.8 ounces and a 4.5-litre packed size. The footbox is closed rather than zippered, which is lighter, warmer and smaller-packing than the Flex — the price is that it cannot become a blanket. For summer and shoulder-season trips in the mountain west it is the quilt that shows up most often on gear lists, and the loft figure (2.25 inches per side) is published so the rating has something behind it.
Label against lab
No ISO or EN rating is published for this one — the 30 °F is Katabatic Gear’s own figure, with no lab test behind it. Where a maker publishes loft or fill weight instead, those are the numbers worth comparing. What the standards measure
At that temperature the pairing table wants at least an R 3 pad underneath it.
Size run
One product, 5 sizes. The headline numbers on this page describe the Regular (850fp).
| Size | Weight | Approx. price | Length | Shoulder girth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (850fp) | 1 lb 2.6 oz | ~$379 | 66 in | 54 in |
| Regular (850fp) | 1 lb 3.8 oz | ~$389 | 72 in | 54 in |
| Long (850fp) | 1 lb 5.2 oz | ~$399 | 78 in | 54 in |
| Regular Wide (850fp) | 1 lb 5.6 oz | ~$409 | 72 in | 58 in |
| Regular (900fp) | 1 lb 2.9 oz | ~$459 | 72 in | 54 in |
Specifications
Highlights
Features
- Hydrophobic down
- RDS down
- Pad attachment straps
- Wide option
- Overfill option
- Made in USA
What it does well
- Packs to 4.5 litres — small enough that it changes what size pack a summer kit needs.
- 19.8 ounces with the same attachment system as the heavier Flex.
- Sewn differential-cut footbox is warmer and lighter than a zippered one and has nothing to fail.
- Overfill is an order option if 30 °F is a degree or two optimistic for you.
What it costs you
- 30 °F from a maker that doesn't lab-test means planning for high-30s nights rather than freezing ones.
- The closed footbox cannot be opened, so there is no venting on a warm night beyond sticking a foot out the top.
- $389 before options for a 30-degree quilt.
- Made to order; lead times are weeks.
Those two lists are drawn from Katabatic Gear’s published specifications and from reviews that measured them. They are not owner sentiment — anything owners said appears under its own heading below.
What owners say
Distilled from owner discussions and long-term published reviews, not from anything measured here.
The Palisade generates the most specific owner evidence of any quilt here, in both directions. One owner with five years of use describes rolling over every thirty to a hundred and twenty minutes and rarely getting a draft — which is exactly the claim the attachment system is supposed to support. Another, taller owner found the regular width too snug, got drafts and cold feet below freezing, and sold it.
Those two reports are not contradictory. They are a width story, and the useful lesson is that the wide option is not optional for everyone.
The other recurring argument is about whether a quilt is worth it at all: owners point out that a full hooded bag from a premium maker weighs only a few ounces more than a wide Palisade, which is a fair challenge to the whole category at this price point.
What owners like
- An owner with five years on one describes rarely getting a draft despite rolling over every half hour to two hours, which is the strongest draft-management report in this catalogue.
- Owners treat its 30 as a genuine comfort rating, and use that to argue it is equivalent to a 20 from makers who rate to limit.
- It is small and light enough that owners building minimal summer kits name it specifically.
- The long version is available without needing the wide version, which suits tall, slim sleepers.
Common complaints
- One tall owner found the regular width too snug, drafty and cold at the feet below freezing, and sold it for a wider quilt from another maker.
- Owners point out that a full sleeping bag with a hood, draft collar and zip can be found for only a few ounces more, which undercuts the weight argument.
- It is expensive for a 30-degree quilt, and owners say so even while recommending it.
Questions owners ask
Do I need the wide version?
Is a 30-degree quilt enough?
Why not just buy a hooded bag?
Katabatic Palisade 30 Quilt, head to head
Others in the same band
More from Katabatic Gear →
Katabatic Gear
Katabatic Flex 22 Quilt
Katabatic's pad-attachment system is the thing the rest of the quilt world copies, and the Flex is the model built around it: the quilt clips to two cords that run under the pad, and it can slide and roll with you while the edges stay sealed. That is the whole answer to the standard complaint about quilts. The Flex adds a zippered footbox to the formula so the same quilt opens flat into a blanket on a warm night, at the cost of an ounce or so over the sewn-footbox Alsek. Katabatic publishes single-side loft (2.75 inches here) and exact fill weights per size, but no lab rating.
Best for: Quilt sceptics — the attachment system is the reason to try one
Full spec sheet
Katabatic Gear
Katabatic Alsek 22 Quilt
Same temperature and nearly the same fill as the Flex 22, with a sewn footbox instead of a zipped one. That saves about six-tenths of an ounce and a litre and a half of packed volume, and removes the only moving part on the quilt. If you have never wanted to open a quilt flat — and most people who own one never do — the Alsek is the better of the two.
Best for: Three-season backpacking where the quilt never needs to open flat
Full spec sheet
Exped
Exped Ultra Quilt 30
The quilt version of Exped's Ultra bag: 850-fill RDS Muscovy down, a recycled 10-denier shell, 18.5 ounces in the middle size, and — unlike the bag — no ISO figures at all, just a 32 °F number of Exped's own. That is worth knowing, because the hooded bag it shares a shell with tests to a 43 °F comfort rating, and a quilt is if anything harder to stay warm in. A 58-inch wrap width is generous by quilt standards and the three lengths cover most people.
Best for: Summer quilt use where a wide wrap matters more than a lab number
Full spec sheet