An innovative and well designed sleeping system for lightweight adventurers who appreciate a good night’s sleep!
When it comes to lightweight sleeping systems, the Zenbivy Ultralight Bed system is one of the hottest designs on the market at the moment. Zenbivy have done their best to combine comfort, low weight, and design all in one neat system. They do an excellent job on keeping their sleeping system extremely lightweight, while providing you with a comfortable, and warm night’s sleep. The system consists of a down quilt, and an attachable upper sheet with a hood to keep the system more draft free. It’s ideal for those who really need to keep the weight down on their back for those longer or more serious mountain adventures. But the system does come with a hefty price tag, as well as some features that might not suit everybody’s needs. So, let’s dive a little deeper into the details and see if it’s the sleeping system for you.
Zenbivy Ultralight Bed: The stats
| Best for: | Bivvying, summer alpine adventures, lightweight backpacking |
| Limit / comfort rating: | 25°F (-4°C) / 35°F (2°C) |
| Insulation type: | Down |
| Weight: | 558g / 19.7oz |
| Size: | 198 x 137cm / 78 x 54in |
| Shell fabric: | 10D Pertex Quantum |
| Overall rating: |
Features of the Zenbivy Ultralight Bed
Insulation and outer fabric
The quilt insulation is made from 900 fill power ExpeDRY goose down. The down is provided from a company called ALLIED Feather + Down, who specialise in the production of high quality down, from responsibly sourced suppliers. ExpeDry is their chemical-free water resistant treatment to the down, to help evaporation so the down dries faster, especially in humid conditions. Remember it’s still down after all, so it’s going to take much longer to dry out than synthetic insulation. The outer shell and lining is made from 10D Pertex Quantum, which provides a protective layer for the down, but it’s also soft to touch, making it more comfortable against the skin for us softies. It feels like real bed fabric, and not a plastic bag of insulation. Like the down, the shell is also fluorocarbon-free.
Sheet
The sheet is a lightweight draft excluding system that provides a wrap around the top half of your body and head, and easily clips to the quilt. It comes with an insulated hood, for extra warmth. The sheet straps and slides onto your ground mat to help keep the whole system together and prevent your sheet from blowing away, especially as it’s only 153g! Like the quilt, the hood of the sheet is insulated with 900 fill power ExpeDRY DWR treated goose down, keeping your head toasty on those cold nights. I found the hood to be adequately wide, so plenty of room to hide away inside on the colder nights. Keeping the sheet clipped to the quilt allows the quilt to have a cosy wrap around feel around your upper half, and keeps the draft out. It’s also very spacious, and feels more like a real bed rather than being constricted in a mummy type sleeping bag.
Clips and hooks
I was skeptical at first of the clip and hook system, but it actually functions quite well. It’s a really neat way of attaching the sheet to the quilt. Each hook on the sheet has a corresponding colour-coded loop on the quilt it hooks into. It’s easy to figure out, and they don’t unhook themselves during the night. It’s an alternative solution to zippers, which can often rip the delicate fabric of down quilts and bags.
Shape and fit
Because it’s a quilt shape, it’s comfortably wide in the top half. This means you can use it almost as a normal bed quilt on warmer nights, providing an unrestricted sleep. This is one of my favorite features of this system, as sometimes I find mummy bags less roomy and more restrictive. On colder nights, you can clip your quilt into the sheet, and wrap it around your body for a warmer, more snug night. The Kylie Curve draw string on the top of the quilt doesn’t go from one side of the quilt to the other, like other quilt brands. Instead, the Kylie Curve draw string only cinches in the center of the quilt, allowing you to maximize the width of the quilt and tuck it comfortably around your body.
Footbox
The Zenbivy Fast Footbox system allows you to unclip the footbox, so it opens up wider, providing you with a more roomy than normal footbox. It works well on warmer nights, but I fins it is a point of the system that lets drafts in on colder nights.
Packability
As expected with a lightweight down quilt, it compresses down to a small size, making packing your backpack stress free. The quilt doesn’t come with its own compression sack, you must buy this separately. It’s worth buying a good quality compression sack, as the cheaper ones tend to slightly self-inflate after a while.
Zenbivy Ultralight Bed review
There are a select few in the world who love hiking with heavy backpacks. I’m happy to put my hand up and say I’m not one of them! For the rest of us, we are always doing our best to keep our packs as light as possible, whether we’re out for a day walk in the hills, planning a multi-day adventure sleeping out in the mountains, or following a trail from one side of the country to the other. I always seem to end up sacrificing something during the packing phase of a multi-day mountain excursion, trying to keep the weight and space down. Well, let’s introduce a new outdoor sleeping system that takes the weight off your shoulders, and frees up more room in your pack for other essentials.
The Zenbivy Ultralight Bed is hands down a really great quilt and sheet setup that lives up to the effort that went into its design. Once you get used to how the whole setup works, it’s very versatile, allowing you to adjust your one sleeping system to your preferences and conditions. On warmer nights I really enjoy opening it up and using it like a real quilt, and having that freedom of movement, allowing me to spread out and not have my elbows and arms restricted in a tight space. I turn alot in my sleep, and because the quilt, sheet, and ground mat are all secured to each other, you can rotate without everything sliding away or losing your quilt in your sleep. Additionally, the materials of the quilt and sheet are soft, and provide a real cosy snug feeling around your body.
It’s lightweight, and packs up nice and small, making it ideal for trimming down on weight for an alpine summer bivvy, or a longer journey in the mountains where every gram counts. I think over winter in serious conditions I would opt for a mummy bag that I can get into and totally disappear from the harsh temperatures. I found the quilt system does let in some draft and around lower half so I’d rather stick with the tried and tested mummy-style sleeping bag when the temperature really drops out in winter camping conditions.
What I love the most about the Zenbivy Ultralight Bed
My favourite part of the system is the flexibility in the setup, allowing you to open up and spread out on warmer nights. The semi-rectangular design and the extra wide top half means there is very little restriction, and it’s actually like sleeping in a real bed. It’s lightweight and very warm, meaning I can pack light, and not compromise on comfort and a good night’s sleep. The 25° bag has a comfort of 2°C, and weighs in at 482g.
What I don’t love so much about the Zenbivy Ultralight Bed
If you are normally used to traditional mummy sleeping bags, it takes some figuring out how the setup works. There are a couple of stages to setting it up correctly, and it’s initially not as straightforward as you think it might be. So, it’s definitely worth practicing the setup a few times at home before you head out to the hills. On colder nights it does feel a little more drafty than a traditional mummy bag, especially if it’s windy. Using a bivy bag solves this problem, but then compromises width in the upper half which limits the wide quilt feel you get with the Zenbivy design.
I don’t like that you have to buy the sheet and hood, the quilt, the compression sack, and Zenbivy pillow all separately. You really need both the sheet and the quilt to make use of the design. So buying just the quilt or just the sheet is not much use without the other.
The price is also worth considering. For their 25°(comfort 2°), The sheet ($149), the quilt ($409), and pillow ($65) comes in at $623, which only gets you to comfort 2°. A price range for the select few.
Verdict
The Zenbivy Ultralight Bed setup is a fantastic piece of kit, but only for those with a big budget for outdoor gear. If you have the cash, it’s ideal for those who are looking for a lightweight sleeping system in non extreme temperatures. Ideal for summer alpine journeys that require a lightweight bivy setup, or folk who are venturing on a multi-day trek and need to take as much weight off their shoulders as they can. Putting the price aside, it’s a top quality setup, and each inch of the quilt and sheet has been beautifully designed and engineered. It’s a pleasure to sleep in, and really does transform bivying to a much more comfortable night’s sleep. Testing out the Zenbivy has provided me with the best night sleep bivvying out in the mountains so far!
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Disclaimer: Cool of the Wild received this product free in return for an honest review. We only recommend gear that we love from companies we trust and we are under no obligation to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are that of the reviewer and we are in no way influenced by the brand or company.
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