The Therm-a-rest Vesper 20F quilt is a pack-down-to-nothing, ultra-lightweight down quilt that will keep you warm and comfortable during your thru-hike.
Product Overview
Therm-a-rest Vesper Quilt
Price: $459.95-$489.95
✅ Ultralight
✅ Water-resistant down
✅ Packs down into a tiny package
❌ Expensive
❌ No hood
KEY SPECS
I recently used the Therm-a-rest Vesper 20F/-6C quilt on my thru-hike through the Pacific Crest Trail. It kept me toasty from cold desert nights to camping on snow in the high Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Weighing in at just 19 ounces, it is incredibly light and packs down easily, yet its 900-fill Nikwax Hydrophobic Down combined with the design of an insulated foot box, and snap neck closure provides exceptional warmth to its user. Even when condensation swarmed my shelter, it provided me with the comfort that I needed for a good night’s sleep.
Before I thru-hiked the PCT, I was a novice in backpacking gear. I have done several climbing trips. But even with sleeping in a tent, those trips did include a car and the option trips usually ended when it rained and the rock got wet. So, when I started researching my gear for a thru-hike, well I devoured throughout all the gear videos and reviews I could.
I went for a quilt as they are lighter, and also because I sleep quite warm and wanted to have the option to use it as a blanket. Here is where the Therm-A-Rest Vesper came into play. It won the best gear award from TheTrek in 2023, the user reviews praised it and yes, it is a super stylish quilt to show off to your fellow hikers.
Performance Test Results
How I Tested:
I completed my Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike recently in 2024. It traveled with me from the starting point in Campo, California, all the way to Ashland, Oregon. Where I parted ways with it, but not far. It went to my girlfriend who needed something lighter but still super warm. The vesper went through a series of tests from cowboy camping in the desert to getting soaking wet in Washington after a shelter fail, and still, neither of us shivered throughout the PCT.
Comfortability
The reason I bought my first quilt was quite simple. I wanted to save some weight and be able to use it more as a blanket than a sleeping bag. Generally, I sleep very warm or I would say hot, as I actually didn’t cinch the quilt closed that many times during my five-month thru-hike. Another reason I hardly cinched it was that I am a very active sleeper and switch positions about a hundred times a night. Not so good for my girlfriend, who woke up from the rustling the Vesper gave me space to do.
Temperature
The first time someone asked me about the Vesper. I said it was a 30F degree bag. I don’t know why I said it. Probably because I had originally thought about getting a 30-degree bag. However, the fear mongrels of all the PCT Facebook groups had made me rethink my approach to the PCT.
At the start of the PCT, the Vesper treated me well. The cold nights of going through the desert in March made me very comfy in the quilt. The Sierra Nevada range offered breezy nights that made the Vesper a perfect companion. But then came the heat of Northern California.
This was the point where I had to change my gear. It was just too hot for me, and I went and bought myself a 50F-degree quilt instead. But my girlfriend was more than happy to change her mummy bag for the lighter Vesper, and she enjoyed it all the way to Canada.
Features
It is versatile. For a hot sleeper like myself, I can leave the quilt wide open and enjoy the possibility of sticking my leg out once I get too warm. For others who tend to get a bit cold, there are two loops that can be used to cinch the quilt closed.
Therm-A-Rest only gave one cord with the purchase, but I replaced even that with two pieces of bungee cord that made cinching the bag easy. For those who want even more comfort and warmth – the snap neck closure and insulated foot box are welcomed features of the Vesper.
Care
I also want to add that this quilt is pretty bomb-proof. 143 days on the trail, several bushy cowboy camping nights and I have to admit I didn’t treat it very well in the mornings when I made coffee while wrapped around it and sitting on dirt. Of course, it had to be washed after the trip, but there were no tears or rips on it.
Once I got home, the Vesper got a good old washing machine treatment with NikWax Down Wash and another cycle with NikWax Down Proof I didn’t use a dryer as the instructions said, so the drying process was several days long.
Now my Vesper is comfortably in my closet in a large cotton bag that came with it. It is tempting to store it in the stuff sack as it wouldn’t take up any space. But to keep it better for longer it is good to store it in the larger bag so the down isn’t compressed all the time.
650-Calorie Fuel
