The ZenBivy Ultralight Mattress 10 consists of a sheet and quilt that combine right into a bed-like system that’s draft-resistant, supremely comfy, versatile, and non-restrictive, particularly for “rotisserie” sleepers who change positions regularly within the night time.
For a backpacking sleep system, one has traditionally had to decide on between a quilt and a sleeping bag, every with its advantages and disadvantages. A sleeping bag is draft-free however heavy and has a hard and fast girth, so it’s both restrictive or has a lot of dead-air house to heat up. A quilt is lighter weight and has variable girth (which means you’ll be able to comfortable it round you to heat up or drape it loosely to chill off). However this flexibility makes it susceptible to drafts. In distinction, ZenBivy combines the advantages of quilts and sleeping baggage whereas minimizing their drawbacks. The answer is outstanding.
Specs
- Product examined: Ultralight Mattress Ultralight Quilt + Ultralight Sheet) on the 10F temperature score, with a daily width (20” large) Ultralight Sheet.
- Producer’s Weight Complete: 2 kilos, 0.7 oz. (Ultralight Sheet: 6.7 oz + Ultralight Quilt: 1 pound, 10 oz.)
- Examined Weight Complete: 2 kilos, 1.3 oz. (Ultralight Sheet: 6.6 oz + Ultralight Quilt: 1 pound, 10.7 oz.)
- Producer’s Dimensions, UL Quilt: (the producer provides the size for lower cloth, with the be aware that “crammed, lofted quilts can be a number of inches smaller in each size and width.”): 72” x 54”
- Examined Dimensions, UL Quilt: Roughly 68” x 52” semi-rectangular form, coming collectively into a hard and fast foot finish panel
- Examined Dimensions, UL Sheet: Half-length (39” lengthy), usable for brief, common, or lengthy mattresses as much as 20 inches large.
- Cloth (each quilt and sheet): 10D Pertex Quantum 280x250T, fluorocarbon-free DWR
- Insulation: 900 fill-power ExpeDRY fluorocarbon-free water resistant 90/10 goose down
Sheet and Quilt Integration
How does it work? The ZenBivy sleep system contains two items:
- a fitted, hooded half-sheet with flaps and plastic hooks on each side
- and a quilt with loops that clip to the hooks on the half-sheet
The loops are set about 25 cm in from either side, so the flaps overlap the sides of the quilt and block drafts. Not like pad attachment straps that pin the edges of a quilt tightly to the pad, negating the good thing about variable girth, these flaps, when connected to the quilt, go away the sides of the quilt free. This lets you comfortable them round your self for heat whereas additionally allowing the quilt to maneuver and broaden with out letting in drafts.
You may clip all the loops and hooks collectively to batten down the hatches, however my favourite approach to make use of the system is to go away two or three of the hooks on one facet unclipped (the facet I’m going through when mendacity on my facet) and wrap that facet of the quilt tight round myself whereas leaving the opposite facet clipped to stop drafts on my again. Leaving one facet largely unclipped additionally makes it straightforward to exit in the midst of the night time–as straightforward as pushing apart your comforter at dwelling.
Outsized Hood
Utilizing the outsized hood is far much less claustrophobic than sporting a separate balaclava-style down hood with a quilt system. You may toss and switch with out getting smothered by a mummy-style sleeping bag-attached hood. You place the pillow contained in the hood and slip the hood excessive of your head. The lower of it means that you can transfer backward and forward with out restriction and helps be sure that your breath all the time exits the bag.
As of 2024, all ZenBivy Sheets, together with the Ultralight Mattress, have “Headboard Clips” contained in the hood, permitting you to clip 2024-and-beyond fashions of ZenBivy pillows in place in order that they don’t transfer round. My ZenBivy pillow is from the older system and doesn’t have the attachment factors for clips, however I discover the hood alone does simply fantastic for protecting the pillow from shifting round an excessive amount of.
Quick Footbox
The 10F Ultralight Quilt has a “Quick Footbox,” which is a hybrid of a hard and fast (completely closed) footbox and a convertible one. Their totally convertible footbox might be opened flat and closed in a few completely different configurations, which created some shopper confusion, particularly since one needed to dig into the ZenBivy movies to grasp how one can configure them.
The Ultralight Quilt’s Quick Footbox can’t be opened utterly flat however has a sewn-in panel on the finish and open sides. The edges might be closed up for heat across the decrease legs with a single clip or opened up for extra width. On a typical quilt, the footbox is sewn up the edges to the consumer’s shins or knees.
Temperature Ranking
ZenBivy names its quilts by their Decrease Restrict Ranking. The Decrease Restrict is the bottom temperature at which the common heat sleeper will really feel comfy. The Consolation Ranking is the temperature at which the common chilly sleeper, like me, will really feel comfy, usually 10 levels larger than the Decrease Restrict. So, in case you are a chilly sleeper, add 10 levels Fahrenheit to the named temperature (i.e., the Ultralight Quilt 10F could be heat to 20F). Word that these scores are contingent on you utilizing an appropriately rated mattress.
Modern Neck Cinch
Most backpacking quilts have a drawstring cinch and snap on the neck to maintain out drafts. Nevertheless, this function is greatest for non-moving again sleepers. For those who sleep in your facet, it will probably really feel restrictive and let in drafts as you progress. The ZenBivy quilt solves this with an progressive neck cinch they name the “Kylie-Curve.” It’s a drawstring that cinches solely within the middle of the quilt to curve the highest round your neck and shoulders whereas leaving the sides of the quilt free to tuck round you or into the Quick Sheet’s hood for heat.
Mixing and Matching Items and Further Equipment
The quilt and sheets have standardized placement of hooks and loops, which means that any ZenBivy quilt can be utilized with any ZenBivy sheet, whatever the 12 months made, width, or dimension. I admire that Zen Bivy is protecting the attachment factors customary and never altering them from 12 months to 12 months or from one dimension to the opposite, to pressure customers to purchase a whole new system in the event that they get one new piece. The one gadgets you must coordinate are the sheet and mattress sizes: you should use any mattress, together with closed-cell foam, that matches your sheet’s dimensions, together with tapered ones.
Pairing a third Celebration Quilt with a ZenBivy Sheet
SectionHiker not too long ago acquired an e-mail concerning our final ZenBivy evaluation, asking if it was potential to pair a non-ZenBivy quilt with a ZenBivy sheet. Michael Glavin, the founding father of ZenBivy, shares that one might lower patches of Tenacious Tape with a slit within the center with a loop of twine pushed via and stick them on the quilt to match the location of the hooks on the Sheet. There are two keys right here for correct integration: utilizing 1.8mm-2.0mm twine that may snap securely into the hooks, and putting the loops away from the sting of the quilt (Glavin recommends no less than 25 cm away from the sides) in order that the sheet and the quilt create a draft-free seal.
Advice
For those who discover sleeping baggage too heavy and claustrophobic, quilts too drafty, and pad straps too fussy, the ZenBivy Ultralight Mattress may be your Goldilocks sleep system. As a particularly gentle and delicate sleeper who spent years resigned to getting unhealthy sleep within the backcountry, the ZenBivy system supplies the perfect sleep I’ve ever gotten on the bottom. The load discount as a result of supplies and development of the Ultralight Mattress makes the system much more compelling for weight-conscious backpackers. Extremely really helpful!
Professionals
- Supreme consolation: no restrictiveness or drafts for an energetic sleeper
- Lowered weight from earlier variations
- Shade-coordinated clips and loops make setup quick
- Modularity/potential to share items throughout completely different techniques (mattresses and sheets are the one items that must be the identical dimension)
Cons (Room for Enchancment)
- Make it simpler to check the specs of various combos of things on the web site
Disclosure: Zenbivy donated a UL mattress system for evaluation.
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Concerning the Writer
Greg Pehrson is an ultralight backpacker who was bitten arduous by the MYOG (make-your-own-gear) bug. He repairs, tinkers, and builds gear, usually in search of to upcycle throwaway gadgets or repurpose issues from outdoors the backpacking world.
