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is this bag a good candidate for a quilt conversion?


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) is this bag a good candidate for a quilt conversion?

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  • #1240016
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    I see that Tim M offers a bag -> quilt conversion service and got me thinking a little :)

    I have a circa late 80's NF down bag- rated at 35 degrees iirc- one of the lighter bags at the time- right at 2 lbs (maybe a oz or two more)- I'm thinking probably 650 fill (pure guess)- it's a continuous baffle design.

    my main objective in considering this option is to get a quilt/bag that would work well w/ a small pack (Ion)- so it will need to be pretty small when compressed- in it's current state it certainly wouldn't do the trick- I have a Marmot Hydrogen that is a bit closer, but looking for something smaller yet.

    this would be a summer only bag/quilt used in conjunction w/ a breathable bivy – something rated at around 40 would do the trick

    if this were a newer (better) bag I'd just try and sell it and buy a new quilt, but thought this might be a way around spending a bunch of doe ray me on a new lightweight quilt

    I can send Tim an email as well, but thought he might pop in anyways and maybe someone else was considering something similar

    thanks in advance

    Mike

    #1534088
    Tom Caldwell
    BPL Member

    @coldspring

    Locale: Ozarks

    Send in the Hydrogen, if it is long enough Probably one of the best bags to be converted, with it's continuous baffles, matching color sides, and ultralight pertex shell.

    #1534090
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    I'd rather put my circa late 80's bag under the knife :)

    does the donor bag need to be a little longer than normal to convert to a quilt?

    both bags fit about just right currently- not too long, not too short

    #1534225
    Tim Marshall
    BPL Member

    @marshlaw303

    Locale: Minnesota

    removing the hood and zipper/draft tube will reduce some oz but it won't take too much bulk out. 650down is pretty bulky compared to the 800+ stuff.

    -Tim

    #1534317
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    Tim- thanks for replying to the thread

    I'm thinking this still might be a viable option as dropping some weight and some volume (albeit maybe not a lot) combined w/ more willingness on my part to compress an older bag a little more than I might not normally- might (lots of mights :) ) got me to where I want to be.

    Obviously w/ a small pack, trip length isn't going to be long- 2-3 days and probably not a lot of trips in the year- most of my trips will be done w/ my wife where I'll be toting a bigger pack (and bag)- so I don't think much undo harm will come of the bag.

    If I'm missing the mark (or anything else for that matter)- please feel free to correct me :)

    #1534329
    Tim Marshall
    BPL Member

    @marshlaw303

    Locale: Minnesota

    i compress the utter hell out of down gear. If you aren;t going to compress down it is a waste of money i say, just go synthetic. I really stuff down hard.

    -Tim

    #1534336
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    that's very good to hear :)

    I think I had better first give the old bag a good washing (found some great tips on the site) and see how it responds- it's definitely loss some loft, but has never been washed either- so hoping it "bounces back" a little.

    Tim- if the bag currently fits just about right- do I have any worries on length once it's a quilt? w/ just the hood alone coming off it seems like I should be good to go, but may be missing something as I've never used a quilt

    #1534561
    Tim Marshall
    BPL Member

    @marshlaw303

    Locale: Minnesota

    it will get shorter as i need to make a new top edge to cleanly remove the hood and tie it all together.

    -Tim

    #1534595
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    Tim- ballpark on how much shorter?

    thanks

    #1534651
    Tim Marshall
    BPL Member

    @marshlaw303

    Locale: Minnesota

    should only be an inch or so. On the Apache conversion i was able to keep the liner length fully intact.

    -Tim

    #1534717
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    danke

    #1569919
    Mike M
    BPL Member

    @mtwarden

    Locale: Montana

    I should update this thread- some time ago I found a real steal on a used marmot Atom long, I had Tim do a conversion on it and it came out beautifully! the original weight was 25 oz, it's now a svelte 18 oz :)

    I'm sure it packs a little smaller, but not noticeably so

    thanks Tim

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