AlphaLite 900+ Custom Made
Choose your Quilt temperature.
Our AlphaLite Custom Quilts are made to order just for you. You pick every detail so you get exactly what you want. Choose your Quilt temperature to get started.
Down, Loft & Fill
Goose Down Fill
900+
El Coyote Quilts is proud to partner with ALLIED Feather and Down. We use only the highest quality 900+ fill power, untreated goose down. All our down is RDS certified (Responsible Down Standard), and ethically sourced from supply chains that engage in best practices for animal welfare.
Track My Down
With your custom quilt you will receive a Track My Down card with a QR code. Scan this code to learn everything you need to know about the specific lot of down that was used to fill your quilt. Click here for an example. Information includes the exact region from which the down was sourced, down specifications, and the verified fill power.
Fill Power
Fill power is a measurement of the downs ability to fill and trap air within a given space (loft). More specifically, how many cubic inches of loft 1 ounce of a particular down will create.
For example, 1 ounce of our 900+ FP down will fill no less than 900 cubic inches of space. 1 ounce of a lower FP down such as 800 FP will only fill 800 cubic inches, requiring more down to get the same loft (warmth), increasing weight, and decreasing compressibility.
Higher fill powers have greater warmth-to-weight ratios. Fill powers are determined by the strength and size of individual down clusters. Larger down clusters will trap more air and thus have a higher fill power. When it comes to down quality, the Goose is a larger bird than duck and because of this, grows larger down clusters. The goose also has a different composition of fat and oil which leads to slightly better resiliency and durability than its duck counterpart
El Coyote Quilts only uses high quality goose down that is verified in laboratory testing to be rated between 900-950 fill power.
Loft
Loft refers to how thick or tall one layer of the quilt is while it is lying flat in its completely uncompressed state.
Loft is responsible for trapping the warmth your body creates to keep you warm.
Higher loft = more warmth trapped = you stay warmer.
Box Baffle Construction
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El Coyote Quilts are all built using a box baffle design.
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Quilts are divided into multiple, individual, down filled chambers called baffles.
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These baffles help to restrict down migration and encourage uniform warmth across the quilt.
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Inside the quilt an ultrafine mesh material is used to divide each baffle.
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The height of the interior baffle mesh, is what ultimately will determine how much loft the quilt will have and is different for each temperature rating.
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Thicker baffle (higher loft) = warmer quilt
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Each baffle is filled and overstuffed with a precisely calculated and measured amount of down fill.
Overstuff
What is overstuff?
Overstuff is simply additional down fill, beyond the minimum amount needed to reach a given loft.
For example, if it has been calculated that 1 ounce of 900 fill power down is needed to fill one baffle to a particular loft, then any amount beyond that is considered "overstuff". In this example 1.3 ounces would be 30% overstuff. All El Coyote Quilts include 30% overstuff standard.
The reason we differentiate this additional fill from the base fill amount is that it will be restricted somewhat from adding any additional loft by the height of the interior baffle construction.
So why do we overstuff our quilts?
There are a few benefits to overstuffing the baffles of a down quilt.
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First and foremost, the purpose of overstuff is to fill the baffles more thoroughly. This will help to reduce the movement of the down within the baffles and reduce cold spots. Down is a loose fill insulation however and is still free to move within each individual baffle. Even with overstuff, a down quilt will require some effort by the user to keep down evenly distributed from time to time.
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In the short term, overstuff will help to overcome the slight loss of loft (warmth) that may occur due to factors you may encounter on trail, such as moisture, compression, or as the down gets dirty on a long trip. High fill power, untreated down is exceptionally lofty, but over time, all down will degrade slightly and lose a small amount of loft.
Custom Overstuff
We offer additional custom overstuff for those who like a fuller quilt with an increase in the above-mentioned benefits.
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Active sleepers who toss and turn may benefit from overstuff to help reduce the movement of the down and maintain uniform loft throughout the night.
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Additional overstuff is very beneficial for those who expect long periods/heavy use between cleanings, common with long distance or thru hikes.
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Camping in moist environments can temporarily degrade loft between dryings. Overstuff can help compensate for this as well.
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Because each of our temperature ratings have a different internal structure and loft height, it’s important to note that adding overstuff alone will not “change the temp rating”.
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If making your quilt significantly warmer is your goal, we recommend moving up to a warmer temp rating that has the larger baffles needed to accommodate more down and then overstuff those larger baffles appropriately.
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While it is true that overstuff will boost temp ratings slightly, the main job of overstuff is to help prevent the loss of warmth by reducing things like down migration within the baffles that may cause cold spots as you toss and turn, and to help maintain adequate loft over time and use.
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Custom overstuff is available in 2, 4 and 6 ounce increments on checkout, depending on the size and temperature rating of the quilt.
Overstuff will ensure that over the years, your El Coyote Quilt will maintain necessary loft and give you the confidence to use your custom quilt down to the listed temperature rating.
Why Untreated Down?
Treated vs non-treated down, has been a bit of a Coke vs Pepsi debate in the past with opinions for both sides. Some companies still use hydrophobic treatments, but more and more are moving to untreated down for the list of benefits. Treated down will excel in situations of complete submersion and extreme wetness as seen in tests, but these situations are infrequent in real world scenarios.
At El Coyote Quilts, we prefer untreated down. The loft is superior, and because the natural water repellent oils found in goose down are left intact and untreated, they should last indefinitely if cared for properly. These natural oils do a very comparable job resisting the minor wetness that usually occurs with conditions such as condensation. Because of this, and the fact that our breathable shell fabrics have a quality DWR finish to repel light moisture or mist, we don't feel that hydrophobic down treatments enhance performance enough to warrant the negative effect they may have on the downs natural oils as they wear off over time.