I got three 1/2" thick quilt battings made of Thinsulate LightLoft on clearance a while back. I've made a quilt with 3 layers (so 1.5" thick) on one side and four layers (so 2" thick) on the other. Thinsulate's manufacturer says it insulates better than down.

Has anyone here made a sleeping bag or quilt with this? If so, How did it perform?

I went out on the Net to see if I could find any info. The only Thinsulate bags I could find were European models - they are very light and very expensive - starting about $330 US. From the user reviews I read, the material is roughly equivilent to 800 down oz for oz and fares far better than down in damp conditions. I may have met the perfect material for me. The male dino has a mild allergy to down.

I have a poncho liner with Thinsulate and a normal polyester filled one, I didn't notice a difference. I have a field jacket liner that is normal polyester and a thinsulate one, I think the normal one is warmer from my personal expereince because it is also thicker. My personal read is the claim it can insulate as well as thicker layers of material just doesn't hold up. Now I have seen some nice lofting synthetics on the other hand.

Good luck. I hope it works out for you, you may find you have to layer the stuff to make it as warm as you want.

Thanks for the input, SgtRock. I have made the quilt with multiple layers - it is 2" thick on one size and 1.5" on the other (I'm a colder sleeper than the male dino). Using the RJ formula for effective temp rating - 100 - (40 * inches of insulation) = temp rating (Fahrenheit) - I get 20F for my side and 40F for his side. In reality, I'm guessing this would about 30 F for both of us. Since I cannot safely hike on ice, we will not be doing much, if any, backpacking in really cold temps.

I had a 20d sleeping bag 13-14 years ago (mid-90's) with Thinsulate lite loft - it ended up losing loft after 1 year leaving me bitterly cold at 40d on 3 separate trips. The manufacturer, slumberjack sent me a new bag - A down one at that.

Yikes - that would not be good. About how many nights did you use the bag?

I'd say between 20-25 nights at most. I heard that both Lite-Loft and Micro-Loft, which back then were touted to be the closes to down, were both somewhat dissapointing. I recall the CSR at Slumberjack telling me that a lot of folks had returned or (complained about) bags with these fills. IIRC this was around 94-95ish time frame

Thanks for the honest review. I guess this quilt will eventually become a light-weight quilt for summer use. The project was still worth it for all I learned about how to make quilts and for the ideas it generated for my next quilt.

I had an experience much like Toolshed's. I purchased a LiteLoft bag from Sierra Designs around 10 years ago, the "Lighten-Up", rated at 20 degrees. This bag also lost its loft very quickly and I would conservatively estimate that its rating is around 40 or 45 degrees. I shivered every night in this bag during a Grand Canyon trek in Feb - Mar unless I added more clothes.

Afterwards, I used it around the house and as a summer quilt for my hammock (heavy for that purpose) until I bought a JRB down quilt.

If I recall, LiteLoft is actually Primaloft, made by Thinsulate, which is different than the actual thinsulate insulation itself. Not 100% sure about this though.

This may not lose loft quite as quickly because it is a top quilt instead of a bag. I also have made it a stuff sack that doesn't compress it too much. I am already planning to make another quilt with a more durable insulation.

I turned off the heat and we slept under the quilt last night - it is so comfortable - light as down and very warm.