View Full Version : MYOG Synthetic Quilt
mangus7175
07-02-2012, 20:01
This past Saturday, I decided to try my hand on making a quilt to replace my regular mummy bag. Since I didn't have any down, I had to settle using loose polyfill for insulation - I found a local fabric source that sold these and it's the same synthetic fill used on those inexpensive sleeping bags.
I loosely followed the design taken from www.lytw8.com (http://www.lytw8.com) as well as other sites. I think it came out ok but the true test will be determining what temp range this would be good for.
Time for some pictures...
Top view of quilt
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h223/mangus7175/2012%20MYOG%20Quilt/IMG_6280.jpg
Inside view of quilt
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h223/mangus7175/2012%20MYOG%20Quilt/IMG_6281.jpg
Loft (~2.5 inches)
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h223/mangus7175/2012%20MYOG%20Quilt/IMG_6282.jpg
Total weight (not too bad I think considering it's not down)
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h223/mangus7175/2012%20MYOG%20Quilt/IMG_6283.jpg
Hopefully I can get some down soon so I can make another quilt with better insulation and lower overall weight.
jakedatc
07-02-2012, 20:50
O, that is why it was 2lb.. you can take a seam ripper to the sides and refill it with down, re-sew that side and save yourself a lot of sewing and good materials. depending on what temp you are aiming for you can put 6oz, 9oz or 12oz of down in there and get down to either 45 or 30ish degree rating and cut your total weight almost in half.
you can find down at www.Thru-hiker.com
most people use Climashield Apex for synthetic insulation now. it is a flat sheet of varying thicknesses to get different temp ratings. it also does not need baffles so you only need to sew the perimeter.
like mine with Apex 2.5
16429
mangus7175
07-02-2012, 20:59
O, that is why it was 2lb.. you can take a seam ripper to the sides and refill it with down, re-sew that side and save yourself a lot of sewing and good materials. depending on what temp you are aiming for you can put 6oz, 9oz or 12oz of down in there and get down to either 45 or 30ish degree rating and cut your total weight almost in half.
HA! You read my mind. That's actually what I plan on doing once I have some down...or even better, just make a new one. This was really just a test to see how difficult it was to make a quilt to better prepare myself when I'm ready to make one with down insulation.
How does your Apex quilt compress when in a stuff sack or in your pack? Reason why I want to go with down for my next quilt is it's ability to compress to really small size.
jakedatc
07-02-2012, 21:48
mine is 2.5 with M90 fabric so it goes smaller than my REI Sub kilo 20 degree down bag. but it is only good to like 45 degrees...
Ya, you can always use the one you made for car camping and whatever. or if the material is nice then you can reuse the shell and just refill the baffles.
Rocket Jones
07-03-2012, 06:11
Very nice! A question about that strap midway up the quilt, does it bug you to lay on it? I have the Jardine quilt with the wings and don't have the understraps. I was just curious.
Looks great. It was very smart to do a prototype with less expensive materials.
With 2.5 inches of loft it theoretically should be good to around 0 degrees. From Jardine and consistent with other sources:
ETR = 100 - (40*T) where ETR is est temp rating and T is thickness
ETR = 100 - (40*2.5) = 0
As Yogi Berra said, in theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they are not.
Whatever the temp rating turns out to be, you have a very nice quilt.
mangus7175
07-03-2012, 12:27
Very nice job!
Thanks!
Very nice! A question about that strap midway up the quilt, does it bug you to lay on it? I have the Jardine quilt with the wings and don't have the understraps. I was just curious.
Thank you, the webbing is actually positioned right behind my knees when laying flat under the quilt so it doesn't bother me. I've also tested it while laying on my side and I haven't felt it much. I was planning on using snaps or even velcro, but I forgot to pick those up from my local fabric store.
Looks great. It was very smart to do a prototype with less expensive materials.
With 2.5 inches of loft it theoretically should be good to around 0 degrees. From Jardine and consistent with other sources:
ETR = 100 - (40*T) where ETR is est temp rating and T is thickness
ETR = 100 - (40*2.5) = 0
As Yogi Berra said, in theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they are not.
Whatever the temp rating turns out to be, you have a very nice quilt.
Thanks for pointing that out. I was reading some articles on this but with the insulation that I used, I highly doubt I could trust this quilt down to that temperature. I would guesstimate that this would be a good summer quilt where night time temps are above 40 degrees. With worn clothing or if double with a silk liner, I am sure I can get down to a lower temp. I do plan to use this on a weekend hike coming up but I don't expect the night time temps to hit below 50 degrees. In any case, it should serve as a good test. I really can't wait to get my hands on some M90 and some down soon!