Mt Washington 3 20°F Three-Season Hammock Underquilt
10.35 oz of 850FP down where 7.6 hits the 20°F rating — 36% optimized fill, standard. It doesn't add loft; it stops the down shifting and holds the rating for years. Dual differential cut, suspension included.
The Mt Washington 3 is JRB's 20°F three-season hammock underquilt — full length, and filled 36% over what its chambers need to hit 20°F, at no extra charge. Dual Differential Contoured Radial Baffles — the construction we invented — plus the JRB Suspension System and a storage bag, handmade in the USA.
Built for Hammock Campers Who Want to Sleep Warm from Below, Not Just on Top
Sleeping in a hammock introduces a problem ground campers never face: every bit of insulation beneath your body gets compressed flat by your weight, losing its loft and nearly all of its insulating value. A sleeping bag used underneath is simply not doing what it was designed to do. An underquilt solves this by hanging freely below the hammock fabric — it never touches your body, never gets compressed, and the down stays fully lofted all night.
Without an underquilt, no amount of insulation on top of you will keep you warm below 50°F in a hammock. The Mt Washington 3 is the solution for three-season temperatures down to 20°F, full length at 77 inches, head to foot.
How It's Built: Dual Differential Cut — The Construction We Invented
The Mt Washington 3 uses Dual Differential Contoured Radial Baffles — a construction we invented at Jacks R Better and have been sewing underquilts with since 2004. It is the thing that separates a purpose-built underquilt from a top quilt repurposed underneath. The inner shell is cut smaller than the outer shell, so the quilt conforms to the curved underside of a loaded hammock instead of the two shells pulling together at the edges and compressing the down between them. A flat-cut quilt compresses the down exactly where it matters most as it curves around the hammock. The baffles run radially to follow the contour of your body, which is what holds loft height constant from head to foot as the hammock changes shape under you.
Suspension is by adjustable shock-cord loops at each end, included — and you cannot hang it too tight. Because the outer shell is cut larger, it keeps its slack no matter how far you pull the suspension down, so tightening seals the edges against draughts instead of crushing the loft. Ease those same cords off instead and the quilt eases away from the hammock, letting air move across your back — we call it opening the windows, and it is handy on the nights you climb in hot. You also cannot be too warm underneath — the same reason you sleep on the same mattress in July as in January. An underquilt warms only your back; the rest of you stays open to the air, so there is no sealed pocket to trap heat the way a sleeping bag does. Carrying more rating than the night calls for costs you nothing — here is how to pick between 40°, 20° and 0°F. Setup takes under a minute on all gathered-end and bridge hammocks — ENO, Hennessy, Warbonnet, Dutchware Chameleon, and most DIY builds.
Every Mt Washington 3 ships in a storage bag that does not compress the down.
Optimized Fill: 10.35 oz of Down Where 7.6 Would Do
Everyone else calls it overstuff and sells it by the ounce. We call it optimized fill, because a quilt filled only to its base rate fails two ways. The down has slack to move in, so it drifts to one side of a chamber and leaves the other side thin — and a thin chamber is a cold spot. And down loses loft as dirt, body oils and dust work into the plumules, so a quilt with no fill to spare drops below its rating within a season or two.
This quilt's chambers require 7.6 oz of 850FP down to reach 20°F. Every Mt Washington 3 ships with 10.35 oz — 36% over. Not an upgrade, not a dropdown, not priced separately. That extra 2.7 oz is what takes the slack out and supplies the margin — which is why we'll still call this a 20°F quilt in its fifth season.
Here's our arithmetic. Check it against anyone else's.
- 42″ × 77″, 11 chambers × 2″ baffle walls, lofting to 2.5″ = 6,468 cu in internal volume
- 6,468 ÷ 850 fill power = 7.6 oz base fill rate — the down this quilt needs to reach 20°F
- × 1.36 = 10.35 oz of down actually in the quilt (293.4 g, if you'd rather weigh it)
Those are the three numbers to ask any maker for. Matching this much fill elsewhere runs $27 to $41 on top of the listed price, and it is built to order. Ours is in the price and on the shelf. How the base fill rate is worked out, and how to run this comparison on anyone else's quilt.
Named for the Trail
Mount Washington, at 6,288 feet, is the highest peak in the northeastern United States. The summit weather observatory has tracked temperature swings, icing, and wind events that make the Presidential Range the most exposed section of the entire Appalachian Trail in shoulder seasons. The trail crosses above treeline for miles with no shelter. Spring comes late and fall comes early. What looks like a three-season trip to the White Mountains can turn into something far colder by nightfall.
The Mt Washington 3 is named for that mountain because the principle is the same in a hammock: bottom insulation is not optional once temperatures drop. This underquilt was built for the kind of nights where you're glad you planned for worse than the forecast.
Handmade in the USA by Jacks R Better, sewn in Pennsylvania — making quilts since 2004. In-stock quilts ship the same or next business day. If it's sold out, order anyway — that puts you in the build queue, and we'll sew yours and ship it in about 2–4 weeks. Finished quilts go to the people already in line, so waiting for one to reappear on the shelf usually means waiting longer.
Specs
| Weight | 19.5 oz (0.55 kg) |
|---|---|
| Length | 77.0 in (1.96 m) |
| Width | 42.0 in (1.07 m) |
| Temperature rating | 20°F (-7°C) |
| Down fill power | 850+ |
| Down weight | 10.35 oz |
| Loft | 2.5 in |
| Shell | 1.1 oz Taffeta w/ DWR |
| Construction | Dual Differential Contoured Radial Baffles |
| Features | Underquilt – 3 Season |
| Includes | Zippered storage bag, JRB Suspension System |
| Made in | Hulmeville, Pennsylvania, USA |