Firebelly Underquilt Review
The Firebelly keeps the underside of the hammock warm, though the down feels thin for a quilt at a $300 price point.
An underquilt is the piece of a hammock kit that people skip, and I skipped one too. On my first hammock night, near Lake Aloha in Desolation Wilderness in 2014, I had a borrowed hammock and no underquilt. With nothing insulating me from below, the breeze off the water stripped the heat out from under me all night. Every hammock night since has had a quilt hanging underneath.
The Firebelly hangs under my Kammok Mantis and weighs 28 ounces on my lists. I bought the Firebelly to replace an ENO Ember underquilt, because I wanted a warmer night in the hammock, and I found the Firebelly on a good deal at $150. The Firebelly hung under the Mantis on the first leg of the Tahoe Rim Trail in July 2026.
The quilt does a good job, and I had still hoped for more. For a quilt that sells closer to $300, the down does not feel as generous as I expected, and I believe mine is an early version that carries less fill than the newer ones. In hindsight the ENO Ember was already doing the job.
What works
- Does a good job under the hammock.
- Good value at the $150 I paid.
What does not
- The down fill feels light for a quilt at a $300 price point.
- Early versions may carry less fill than the current model.
Open the Firebelly in Backpackers Friend
The link adds the Firebelly to Backpackers Friend as a small gear bundle with the weight filled in, ready to apply to the gear list of your next trip.
The trip kits in Backpackers Friend
The Firebelly appears in five of my trip kits. Each kit is a real trip and opens in Backpackers Friend as a gear bundle with every item, weight, and quantity.
- Tahoe Rim Trail, Leg 1, July 2026The first leg of my loop around Lake Tahoe, with the hammock as my shelter. 70 items on a 19.7-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Solo near Mammoth Lakes, September 2024A solo trip out of Mammoth Lakes. 80 items on a 21.5-pound base weight, including the only iPad I have ever carried.
- Ediza and Thousand Island Lakes, September 2024Two nights in the Ansel Adams Wilderness with my backpacking partner. 79 items on a 20.5-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Ostrander Lake and Buena Vista, July 2024A Yosemite loop with a guidebook shortcut through an old burn. 75 items on a 21.2-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Young Lakes, June 2024One night at Young Lakes out of Tuolumne Meadows in peak mosquito season. 77 items on a 21.9-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
More sleep system reviews
Keep your own gear list with the trip
The gear checklist in Backpackers Friend weighs every item by category, charts the pack as you build the list, marks each item packed, and saves a list as a reusable bundle for the next trip. The checklist lives on the phone next to the route, the camps, and the offline map. The gear checklist is part of Premium, and planning a trip, drawing the route, and tracking the walk are free with no account.
