NEMO
NEMO Pulse Quilt
No citable owner-review average published for this one, so no stars.
1000-fill down is the highest fill power available at any price, and the Pulse is the only item in this catalogue that uses it. The result is a 2.3-litre packed volume — smaller than a one-litre bottle and a bit — and 18 ounces for a quilt with a published ISO lower limit of 23 °F. It is also $550, second only to the Feathered Friends Flicker UL among the quilts here, and one of four quilts in the catalogue with a lab figure attached. Whether 1000-fill is worth the money over 900 is the sort of question a spreadsheet answers better than a salesperson does; the honest answer is that the last hundred points of fill power buys about an ounce.
Label against lab
NEMO publishes an ISO 23537 lower limit of 23 °F but no comfort figure. The comfort rating typically runs ten to twelve degrees warmer than the limit, so plan around the low thirties rather than the number on the label. Comfort against limit
At that temperature the pairing table wants at least an R 4 pad underneath it.
Size run
One product, 2 sizes. The headline numbers on this page describe the Regular.
| Size | Weight | Approx. price | Length | Shoulder girth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | 1 lb 2 oz | ~$550 | — | — |
| Long | 1 lb 5 oz | ~$600 | — | — |
Specifications
Highlights
Features
- ISO or EN rated
- Hydrophobic down
- RDS down
- Pad attachment straps
- Recycled fabric
What it does well
- 1000-fill down, the highest grade in production, and the only use of it in this catalogue.
- 2.3 litres packed, less than half the volume of most 20-degree quilts.
- 18 ounces with a published ISO lower limit of 23 °F — almost no quilt publishes any lab figure at all.
- 10-denier recycled shell, and the whole thing is designed for NEMO's take-back and recycling programme.
What it costs you
- $550 is $9 short of the Feathered Friends Flicker UL, the most expensive quilt here, and the gain over 900-fill is roughly one ounce.
- The pad attachment is designed around NEMO's own pads and is fussier with other brands' baffle shapes.
- 10-denier shell on a $550 quilt means a snagged branch is an expensive afternoon.
- Two sizes only, no width options, and no overfill — the cottage makers all offer both.
- As with NEMO's bags, the comfort figure is not published, only the limit.
Those two lists are drawn from NEMO’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
No owner discussion has been collected for the NEMO Pulse Quilt yet. The pros and cons above come from NEMO’s published specifications and from reviews that measured them — nothing on this page claims owners said anything. How that works.
NEMO Pulse Quilt, head to head
Others in the same band
More from NEMO →
Feathered Friends
Feathered Friends Flicker UL 20 Quilt
The Flicker answers the quilt-versus-bag argument by refusing to pick: a full-length centre zip and a drawcord footbox mean it closes into a hoodless bag on a cold night, opens as a quilt on a mild one, and lies flat as a blanket in a hut. Because the zip runs down the middle rather than the side, the closure sits over your chest where you can reach it, and there are no pad straps to fight. Sixty-two inches of wrap width is generous, and 14.7 ounces of 950-fill down sits inside a 25.5-ounce total.
Best for: People who cannot decide between a quilt and a bag
Full spec sheet
Zpacks
Zpacks Solo Quilt 20F
The Classic bag with the back panel and its bottom zipper taken away and pad straps added — the same 13.7 ounces of down, the same 950 fill, half an ounce lighter. That half-ounce is the most useful single data point on this site about what a closed back actually costs on a Zpacks bag: almost nothing, because the Classic already puts no down under you and carries no draft tube. Neither has a hood. What you are really choosing between is a sewn-closed back that cannot gap, versus the freedom to stick a leg out and a strap system that holds the quilt to any pad.
Best for: Side sleepers who move all night and want nothing pinning them
Full spec sheet
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 draft problem quilts are known for. 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