Nunatak Arc 30

First Impressions

My search for the perfect AT shoulder season/alpine summer quilt may have ended with my recent purchase of a Nunatak Arc 30 ultralight quilt. Ordered on March 22nd, delivered yesterday, total wait time of around 7 weeks. Nunatak had outstanding communication with me every step of the way. As my quilt entered each stage of construction, I was notified by email. The total cost was $445 plus $25 shipping.

This is my first foray with Nunatak, a company based in Utah that has long had an excellent reputation in the online ultralight backpacking community. You hear them mentioned, but you rarely find anyone who owns one of their pieces, which to me is strange. I guess the wait times (anything custom comes with a wait no matter who you order it from) and price (anything excellent comes at a cost no matter who you order it from) have something to do with it. My advice to you is to get over it.

I will preface this initial review by noting the obvious- this quilt hasn’t left the house, it hasn’t seen the trail, and I have no objective basis to evaluate its durability. I’ll have a better idea after some trips this fall and winter to Zion, Big Bend and the AT. But I CAN talk about just about anything else. And I will.

First of all, this is about as customizable of a quilt as you can get. Mine has a 74″ inside length, a shoulder width of 66″, and a footbox size of 44″. It’s rated at 30 degrees, and it employs a differential cut (new this year for their 30 degree quilts, standard in all colder models). The shell is sage green 15d quantum ripstop, and the liner is black 10d taffeta. It’s stuffed with over 15 oz. of RDS-certified 900 fill power Hyperdry goosedown. I selected the option to add overfill focused on the footbox region. Each side has almost 2 1/4″ loft when fully lofted.

My quilt weighs 24.2 oz. with the straps attached. By comparison, a Katabatic Gear Palisade in their largest size (78″ outer length, 58″ shoulders and 43″ footbox) weighs 21.7 oz. without straps. But it only has 12.1 oz. of down. Because of my size, my quilt is bigger and requires more down. Plus, I did overstuff the footbox. Given that we know Katabatic quilts are conservatively rated, I am quite confident that my quilt will be fine into the 20’s.

If you browse Nunatak’s website you’ll quickly see how many sizing and fabric options you have, enough to totally twist your melon.

I chose conventional straps only for my quilt, but they have an edge control system to prevent drafts that looked intriguing. Since drafts haven’t been an issue for me, I decided to forego that small amount of additional weight.

Just look at how pretty it is:

I pored over this quilt and every bit of stitching looks impeccable.

Notice the vertical baffles over the body (supposedly prevent down migration and cold spots), horizontal baffles at the foot end, the sewn-in footbox, and the draft collar.

I have struggled with cold feet when using a quilt with a drawstring footbox, and I’m hoping that this problem has been solved- this quilt’s footbox is sewn-in AND overstuffed. Just laying in it on the floor, it felt like a furnace.

Notice the nice snap at the head end, which doesn’t scrape my neck.

Here’s what the head end looks like when left “loose”

But on a cold night, employ the snap and use the drawstring to cinch down the draft collar. No heat will be escaping.

A small but much appreciated touch is having the toggle for this drawstring placed on the side. It won’t rub against your face.

The quilt comes with 2 pad straps, one conventional and one that has a loop that wraps around your pad and secures the quilt to the pad itself.

Obviously, I will have to play around with this and decide on how much to tighten them and which end each strap is better suited for.

What I’m most excited about though is this properly-shaped footbox, full of puffy warm down.

Intrigued? You can read more about Nunatak’s Arc quilts HERE I will post a long-term field report sometime this winter once I’ve put this quilt through some trials.