Hello,

My boyfriend and I are planning to start hiking from Springer on March 1st. We have our colder weather sleeping figured out, but need a quilt for once it gets warmer. I plan to make it myself as we are on a budget.

I am thinking about a 40-50 degree rating, or about 1.5 in to 2 in of loft. I figure I will be buying most of the materials from thru-hiker.com because they are well known and reputable. I was thinking about calling feathered friends about down. I cannot decide between sewn through or sewing in baffels. Would it really be a lot easier to do sewn through baffels? how much extra legnth will i loose because of them? Will i need to do any vertical baffels?

Also, I am not sure how to design the quilt. I was thinking about not sewing a foot box since the quilt will be used in warmer tempuratures. Or, I could make a food box that could be taken apart, it seems that a lot of quilts online are sewn that way. Would a simple rectangle be servicable, or can I take off weight by making it skinier towards the feet?

How wide/long shoud I make the quilt? We are planning to use two thermarests for groundcover, equating to 40 in wide, or the same as the twin bed we sleep on at home (sure more room might be nice, but the twin is free). Our quilt at home is 64 in wide, or the same size as the two quilts JRB has that they state can be used for two people. We are extremely small, I'm 100 lbs, he is 150 lbs. We don't need a whole lot of room, can the quilt be skinnier than that? Also, I am 61" he is 67", how long should we make the quilt? Will 70 in be more than enough? It will cover our heads all the way to our toes. Would 65 be enough, he would just be two inches short of being completely covered, and we normally sleep with our heads uncovered (hats are amazing).

I haven't used an actual quilt before when backpacking, just using my WM bag as a quilt a lot. Would a legnth of cloth we could tuck under us at the sides signigicantly increase the warmth? I sleep extremly cold, he sleeps warm. We comfortably sleep in our cabin at 50 degrees (we heat with wood) with a cheap quilt, mabey an inch to 1.5 thick, but we have a thick bed underneath us.

So in short:

1.5 in or 2 in?
Sew through or not for baffels?
Footbox or no?
legnth x width?
shape?

Thankyou for any suggestions,
Pink

I have sewn 2 ray-way quilts. I am satisfied with their performance. I found that ordering the kits was economical as well.
http://www.ray-way.com (http://www.ray-way.com/)

First, Ed Speers of Speers Hammocks( bottom of page) (http://www.speerhammocks.com/Products/PRODUCTLINK2.htm) sells high quality down cheaper than Feathered Friends. (900 fill power- 3 oz / $25)

Regular flat quilts like you use at home don't work well for backpacking. You will need a foot box or some way to keep the quilt from slipping off the feet. (some examples are at the links below)

I strongly recommend you baffle rather than sew thru because it makes the quilt warmer.

As to size, 64" may work if you are both small. Our quilt is 80", but we are old, fluffy dinosaurs :D. I would make the quilt at least 68 to 70" long. Remember, when the quilt is going over the two of you, it won't be as long or wide as when it across a flat surface.

Look at these designs: design from Hungry Howie for an explaination of baffles and a quilt pattern for one (http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/make-down-quilt/index.html), this design from Gleen Hecko for another quilt pattern for one (http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/make-quilt/index.html), Just Jeff's quilt design (http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearKidsHammock.html#Quilts), and Just Jeff's method for stuffing the down (http://www.tothewoods.net/StuffingDown.html).

On the length, remember that it will have to cover your feet with some room to tuck under. If you just make it your height, I don't think it will be long enough. You can check this easily, of course, with the quilt you use at home. Your idea for a footbox that can be undone is a good one, too -- you'll definitely have some cooler nights even in the summer. (Though I see you are from Alaska, and may not notice.)

Since this is a summer quilt, I'm going to go against the grain and suggest that sewn-through is fine. I've used two different sewn-through sleeping bags as my 45+ summer bags, and they've been fine. You also might consider using one or two layers of Primaloft instead of down, which would greatly simplify the whole project. Again, this is a summer quilt, you said you have your cold-weather solution already done.

Pat and I found that when we hiked together one person cocooned and the other was cold. I was the cold one. So we bought a zipper that mates to our LL Bean sleeping bags. Pat sewed it to rip stop material the same size as the bags. Our thermarests go on top of the rip stop material for the insulation from the ground. It all stays in place and both of us are warm. We usually use our 20 degree down bag or when it's warmer we use the 45 degree bag. This way we are only carrying one sleeping bag for two people.
I'm making a down quilt for when I hike alone. Today I went to one of those second hand clothes places and bought a down filled comforter for 50 cents. The comforter has more down in it than my LL Bean sleeping does. I took in to the laundromat and washed and dried it. The down is fluffier than the Bean bags also. They have down filled things that they throw away so they will gladly sell them to you real cheap.

For the money and amount of research that has gone into his quilts, in my opinion, you can't beat ray-way quilts. He offers several versions, one or two person, and differing levels of insulation. I will be making another one.

The store is closed now but should be opening again soon since they reached the S. Pole yesterday.

Hello, thanks for all the great responses.

First on the Ray Way quilts - I don’t know why, but the guy creeps me out. I just don't like him, it’s a personal ridiculous thing, and so I'm not interested in trying his quilts. Also, his shop hasn't been opened again and we leave in less than two months. I've procrastinated too much as it is, and need to get moving.

Thanks for all the links frolicking dino, I will defiantly get down from speer. I think 64" should work fine for us, our current quilt at home is that wide and it is more than enough. How does the drawstring closure work for Just Jeff's quilts? I cannot seem to find it on his site. I also like the closure on Glen's quilt, I am thinking about trying it with some sort of removable closure, maybe a zipper or buttons. Incase the worst happens and one of the two of us end up leaving the trail I would like to be able to use the quilt inside a hammock (I figure in that situation I will be rushing an underquilt from Jacks R Better if I need one, I already have a hennesy that will be waiting). I was planning to hammock this attempt; it took me 200 miles of Maine on my last attempt to decide that. But, plans change, and with the two of us I decided that ground would be better. I could be completely wrong, but it seems as if a foot box wouldn’t be needed in that situation.

I am considering using synthetic materials, just because I don’t have a whole lot of time before we leave, but I really don’t want to deal with the weight penalties. When alone I have a 12 lbs base weight, with the two of us I am planning for a 10 lbs for me and 15 lbs for him. It is very critical for me to have a lightweight pack as I have had two back surgeries and my hips and knees bother me. I guess we probably would have room for synthetic in that range, since we will be sharing a tent and quilt and that adds up to more than double of my personal base weight. It would just be so much easier. Eventually I will make myself a personal quilt system, but down is hard to work with.

I really like the vacuum down idea, but unfortunately I do not have a vacuum. I don’t know what I am going to do with the down; I live in a 16x24 foot cabin with three people and four cats so I don't have ANY extra space. I've heard of using a tent before to contain everything, but all I own is a tarptent, so I don’t know. And I could never set that up inside, no room. Its fifty below zero outside so nothing can be done out there (its bad enough just running out to the outhouse).

That’s a really cool idea that you use superman, I considered doing the same myself. I don't really know why i dismissed it. I'm just really worried about being warm at the Spring March 1st. I really truly have no idea how to camp in spring conditions, and have no idea what to do about preparing for hiking. Being from Alaska, especially now Fairbanks, I have no experience in lower 48 spring hiking. I get cold easily, but I do have a very nice WM flight jacket that I will be borrowing from my mother so I have backup if I get cold.

Currently I am thinking about using my WM ultralight as a quilt and use this quilt over it to keep out drafts and add another layer of warmth. We have a sweetie pie, but its really heavy so I am thinking about selling it. Maybe I will try the zip thing, and add the quilt over. All the drafts would be stopped by the zipper and the quilt would add the last of the needed heat (if it is needed, the WM bag is pretty nice and two people create a lot of heat). This would have us carrying two bags for awhile until it got warmer, but I was originally planning to hike the trail alone, so I would be carrying my own bag anyway.

Where would be a good supplier of primaloft so I could price it out? I would much much prefer to have a down quilt, but primaloft would just be so much easier.

Thankyou,
Pink

Sorry about the super long post.

Considering that this is for a summer bag and you're in a hurry to get this done, I'd go with a sewn-through quilt and call it a day. I recently made one similar to what you're talking about in about 6-7 hours. It's really a simple project once you take baffling out of the equation. Put drawstring closures on the each of the short ends and call it a day.

I'd suggest just making a sewn-through down version of your Sweetie Pie and be done with it. Put your coupler underneith when it's cold, then flip it over during the summer. I'd be cheaper than a full quilt since you already have that sweet WM bag, and you can easily fill it by hand if you want. Just be sure to measure the down out carefully and you'll be fine. You might want to put the cats out of the house and wear a mask for that part though. I stuffed my quilt in the bathroom to contain the flyers. Primaloft would be fine too. Contact AYCE at thru-hiker.com and get his advice, and you can buy all your materials there as well.

I also agree with the sewn threw quilt. I made one for my wife and I to share. It's the same proportions as our queen size bed. It has velcro on the sides so for one person it can be used for colder weather. But should work great in warmer weather for two. 1.8 pounds and lofts a junk load (took the down [850 fill]out of a 10 degree MTN hardwear bag). Here are some photos for an idea of what it looks like http://picasaweb.google.com/rgaulden/NewAlbum1217061224PM?authkey=EfyvQj7j1z0

Hope this helps.

As for the length when it fluffs up. I added 5 inches to the length to make up for the loft. Seemed to work out fine.

Thanks for the pictures chicote, you have a nice looking quilt. And thanks for the timescale Johnny, I believe I should be able to finish a down quilt in a long day without problems. I do have previous sewing experience and a nice sewing machine that I am borrowing from my mother (and an clunker I found at the dump and fixed for $17 when that one goes home). I think a rectangle should be pretty easy. I am planning to do all the material sewing up here at home, then stuff the quilt down at my parents house where I have will have more room, less cats, and a vaccum to clean up after myself.

So my plans so far are:

A sew through rectangular quilt.

60"x75" adding 5" to the long way for lost of length due to loft. I decided on 60" wide because that is how wide the fabric is and that way I dont have to deal with adding width. So, in reality it would be a couple inches skinier. I'm not to worried, we are used to sleeping on a 39" bed, so this still allows us to have 20 in to accomidate the height the quilt must gain to cover us (that was horribly stated) and I am adding draft extentions that we can lay on to keep the quilt over us, so we should be fine with the width. I am considering, but probably won't, extending the quilt by 5" so that we can be certain to have it long enough. 5" should not add a whole lot of weight.

I believe I am going to stuff the quilt for 1.8". I just ordered three bags of 900 fill down so evenly spread out it should loft to about 1.8", mabey a little less, but it will be over 1.5". I don't see any reason to buy another bag of down that we dont really need.

Add draft flaps to the side to lay on to keep the quilt centered over us and drafts out. I am planning to make them of the same material as the quilt seeing that I need to buy just over two yards and the supplier I am currently looking at, thru-hiker.com sells only by the yard.

I am going to make the footbox very simply, by turning in the corners of the bottom of the quilt into a triangle shape and probably buttoning them into place. I just want something lightweight that can be undone easily. I plan to use this quilt on a full size bed (gonna sell or lend the twin when we leave) once we get home. It will be a bit short, but we can deal with that. Mabey I will attatch a fleece footbox bottom by buttons for home use.

The one main question I have left: How long should I make the baffels? Most of the instructions I have seen are for actual baffeled quilts, so I dont know how long is ideal for sewn through baffels.

Thanks
Pink

Thanks for the compliments. I have a total of 9 baffles in mine. I find the down doesn't shift much but I used much more down than you are going to. You might consider more baffles closer to 12 (divisible by three so it's easier to manage your 3 bags of down). This way the down will have less room to shift from side to side. Just make sure you can get your hand in the baffles — it will make it easier for stuffing. Took me a total of 9 hours to put this thing together from cutting to stuffing and finishing up — and I hadn't sewn since my home ec class in middle school. I imagine you have more sewing exp. than me and this should be a cake walk for you. GL and post your results.

Chicote....your quilt looks awesome. How many ounces of down went in? I like your idea of recycling the down.

For everyones info, I called Feathered Friends and they no longer sell bulk down. They referred me to their supplier and that supplier referred me to a Seattle Company called "All About Down". They quoted me $95 per lb for 800 fill plus $12 shipping to Portland. Their @ 888 289-3696.

I'll measure my stiching on my quilt when I get home, but I think I used about a 7" spacing on mine, maybe 8". That's works well, but then again, I stuffed a bunch of down in it. I haven't weighed it, so I'm just going to say that quilt weighs 3.23 oz total :)

If I were cutting it close with the down, I'd probaby go with a 6" spacing. You'll lose more length that way, but I think the down will stay put better.


60" is probably going to be pretty narrow. You might want to buy some cheap 60" wide fabric and try it out first. You're also going to lose a little width due to the down puffing up, seams, etc. In the worst case scenerio, you could always sew a quick 12" X 75" "mini quilt" from materials you can buy at any fabric store and sew it to one side. If you wanted to get super-slick, you could run velcro up each side and attach a 6" mini-quilt to each side to make it bigger, then remove the sections for solo trips.

You can always put in drawstrings on each of the short ends of the quilt to make a footbox and snug it up on cooler nights.

I've got some photos that I'll post of the sewing process if you want.

Chicote....your quilt looks awesome. How many ounces of down went in? I like your idea of recycling the down.

For everyones info, I called Feathered Friends and they no longer sell bulk down. They referred me to their supplier and that supplier referred me to a Seattle Company called "All About Down". They quoted me $95 per lb for 800 fill plus $12 shipping to Portland. Their @ 888 289-3696.


Thanks. I'm not exactly sure about the amount of down I used. I guess I'll have to measure exactly how much fabric I used and subtract the weight from there. I could have used less down I think if I wanted to keep it a summer weight. But the weight isn't all that bad at 1.8 pounds and being that large. I'll take some measurements and see what it comes out to be.

sorry, double post, i dont know how

Wonderful news:

The guy (sorry, dont rememeber his name) from thru-hiker.com is going to start offering colored Momentum90 0.9 oz Downproof Ultralight Taffeta next week. This fabric has apparently been a huge sucess for him over the last year, and so he is getting a few colors. I forget exactally what colors he said, but it was five of them including grey, purple and red. I was planning to use this fabric for my quilt, so unfortunatly I am having to wait a week to order it, but I think the weight savings will be worth it.

So, i am expecting my quilt for two to weigh 1 lbs 1 oz, 9 oz of feathers and 7.7 oz of fabric, plus a little for error. I'm extremely excited! I will be doing 12 baffels of just barely over 6in. I will post final weights when I am done with the quilt (end of feb).

Thank-you everyone for your help
Pink

Sounds like you got it under control. But just for reference, my wife and I used a Western Mountaineering Mitylite. We made our own coupler for it since WM coupler was heavier than sin. The bag is 1 lb 10 oz. With coupler and stuff stack it was right at 2 lbs. Kept us warm to about freezing, but we prefered not to be below 40F with this set up.

Gravity (and Danger) GAME 2005

That's about what I was going to post gravityman. I think you might be happier with a smidge more down in that quilt to make it worth your while.

1) You can make a simple envelope (flat) foot section if one of you is taller than the other. That will save lots of trouble. Just put in a zipper and draft tube from the center of the foot and for 30-36 inches down each side.
An easy way to check shape and proportions is to partly zip a single semirectangular bag and lay it out like a quilt over your sleeping pads, then both of you get under and tuck the edges under the pad. If you fit (maybe in a very friendly manner) the size and shape will be about right.
2) Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics (owfinc.com) has 3D at good prices. The RayWay quilt is easy to make and is a fine piece of gear.
3) It is almost as easy to make a down quilt with baffles as to make one sewn-through. And it will be much warmer. Just fold the shell along a baffle line, stitch 1/4 inside the fold, stitch the baffle on the fold. You can do a perfect job the first time.
4) Thruhiker's nonoseeum netting is good for baffles and the lightest around, but any soft noseeum netting will work. OWF has it cheap.
5) The main problem with double quilts is the draft at the shoulders. Frito and I use a 100 weight fleece collar about 14 inches wide with 2 slits in it.

Chicote....I was looking at your quilt photos again, can you tell me why the top drawstring in the middle of the 2nd baffle from the rear? Is that to form a more insulated foot box? And are you saying it's sewn thru? I can't tell from the photos. It's very lofty and appears baffled?

Speyguy,

You are correct about the insulated foot box. My quilt is sewn threw. It has about 3 inches of loft. The drawstring is placed in the middle of the second baffle if my wife wants to take the quilt out for herself. She is 5 feet tall as I'm just over 6 feet. Also you can wear the quilt as a cape and look like a puffy Count Dracula with a super big collar!

So, after a bit of thinking (I work as a reseach assistant and am left with a lot of time to think while the hands are working), I have decided to baffel my quilt to 2in and buy another three ounces of down. This will leave me with about a 10% overstuff. It will also make the quilt more viable for alaskan backpacking after we return from the AT. I'm figuring it will add about another 5 oz to the quilt, but it will add a lot of warmth. Thanks a lot for all the input I have recieved here.

Pink

Have fun with the project Pink. Take your time and do the prepwork. It'll pay off in the end. And post some pictures. We'd all love to see your project.

Chicote

Nameless, et al,

Good luck with the project.... It will be rewarding.

FWIW, JRB currectly has its large Biker/Hiker quilt, 84x64, baffled, 1.5 loft, 800 pf down on clearance sale for $ 179... Works as a double quilt... separately available wings increase tuck control....just a few left.

Pan

Man, that's really tempting on the Biker quilt. Even though it's a little wide for what I want it's still tempting. It would almost be worth it to slide all the down to one side and take about 14-16 inches off the width and sew it back together. That would give you a quilt 84" x 48" with 10.5 oz of down. Should get you close to s 2" loft. Mmm........

Man, that's really tempting on the Biker quilt. Even though it's a little wide for what I want it's still tempting. It would almost be worth it to slide all the down to one side and take about 14-16 inches off the width and sew it back together. That would give you a quilt 84" x 48" with 10.5 oz of down. Should get you close to s 2" loft. Mmm........

speyguy,

That would be slick... the price almost beats the retail cost of materials alone... That said, you have probably sparked the economy minded DIY group...there are just 5 of these 2006 models left....For you and you alone because of your keen powers of observation, if you order one of them, and send me an identifying PM confirmation we will include a spool of color cordinated Gutermann's 100 % poly thread for the project.;)

Pan