Hooded Quilts and other Neat Stuff

[BOWSINGER]

To RenoRoamer, if he is still out there. I am with you-a side sleeper-on the ground. I once shared a tent with a back sleeper who didn’t move all night and sometimes slept with his eyes open. I couldn’t stand it and moved out. Solo shelters solve a lot of social problems.

This post is more about sleeping quilts so I am moving it from the “Climashield vs. Lamilite:” post. Hopefully, RenoRoamer and some of the other quilt builders will respond.

My LuxuryLite V Bag has become my 2-inch single layer top loft/60-inch wide at the shoulders/30.2 ounce/$125 down sleeping quilt. With its full-length center zipper, the hood is at top dead center and I can pull it over my top shoulder and tuck around my neck or cover my ear and the side of my head.

So I am very curious about the details on your quilt hood. And what cover and lining material you prefer to sandwich your Climashield between. What loft and overall weight are you looking for to handle all the different conditions? And what size quilt in relation to your own physical size?

My next project is to take two summer weight synthetic quilts and lay one over the other for colder weather. I would offset the quilts by about a foot. That will give me two layers over me but only one layer on each side where the now wider quilt drapes around me or I tuck it under. I intend to experiment with two cheap poncho liners and a handful of safety pins and build in some sort of a footbox. Then if it all works out, build two lighter quilts, hopefully, about a pound apiece. Or buy two different sized quilts to do the same thing.

[hammock engineer]

This sounds like something I would be interested in as well. I have been thinking about ways to put a draft tube/hood in a quilt for hammocking.

The only way I can come up with is to make a standard draft tube and have enough ripstop on the bottom to go down past your shoulders. This would help trap the heat in.

[RenoRoamer]

I posted in the other thread, but I'll repeat what I wrote there.

My quilt hood is really very simple. Let's suppose the quilt measures 54" inch wide at
the top. Then fold in half, so that the folded width is 27". Sew up the first 16" (nearest the side). That leaves a breathing hole of 20" circumference towards the center, or about 6.5" diameter. This breathing hole works great when lying on your back, and works okay when lying on your side (you have to pull the hole down near to your face).

To avoid drafts around the edges and hood, I added a 7" wide draft skirt.

I used 5 oz/sqyd Climashield XP (which actually weighs 6.5 oz/sqyd) and Momentum from Thru-hiker.com. I am a 71" tall male, weighing 165 lbs. The quilt is 88" long total, consisting of 42" tapering from 54" at the head to 52" at the middle, following by 46" tapering from 52" at the middle to 37" at the foot. Total weight is about 30oz. I like my quilts large enough that I don't have to worry about drafts, even that means heavierweight. I spend a lot of time in bed, after all, so I want to be comfortable.

I hesitate to give temperature ratings and loft ratings are misleading when comparing different types of insulation. But based on my experiences with Polarguard 3D quilts over the years, I see no reason why this Climashield XP quilt won't be comfortable down to near freezing for me, with just shorts and a light nylon shirt. I'm pretty accustomed to cold. To get to 20 degF, I would supplement with my polarguard pullover (Patagonia Micropull) and thermal bottoms. To go below 20 degF, I would add down pants and a down vest (Montbell inner pants and snap inner vest). I'm not too keen on temperatures below 20degF however.

I happen to have a custom-made hooded down quilt from Nunatak which is loftier than the Climashield XP quilt and lighterweight too, but it is something of a nuisance to keep dry and without drying, it tends to mildew, and I don't like sleeping in something that stinks. There is also the problem of the down falling off to the side when it gets damp and loses loft. So that's why I'm going back to synthetic, even if it weighs more and is less warm.

Hammock engineer: you can definitely cut way back on the quilt width versus what I used, since the hammock tends to hold everything in at the side, at least as I understand hammocks. For the same reason, down probably works much better in hammocks than for ground side-sleepers, since there is little possibility for the down to fall off to the edges.

[RenoRoamer]

BTW those dimensions that I gave are the cutting dimensions. The finished dimensions are about 2" smaller in all directions due to 1/2" seam allowances and insulation thickness.

Another thing I did was sew two short piece of gros-grain to one side of the quilt, separated by about 20", with snap pieces through them. That way I can snap the quilt around my neck so it doesn't fall off when used as a wrap while I am sitting up in camp.

In case it isn't obvious, I also have the usual foot pocket, about 12" deep, and there is no need for the draft skirt to extend past the foot pocket.