Cross between Quilt and sleep bag?

[Paul Elliott]

Joe,

Yes, I like the habotai silk and would use it again. I don't think it's for everyone, though. I used 5mm silk, and 8mm would probably be more appropriate for a longer lasting quilt. I especially like the silk when not wearing sleep clothes.

Although this quilt was used down to 25F, I also use it indoors in roughly 60 degree temperatures very comfortably, but when indoors I like to sleep just below the sweat point. If I do any trips in warmer temps next year, I may consider going with a 2.5osy XP, and I'll stick with the 5mm silk. It's cheap enough that if I do have a problem, I'll just cut off the damaged silk layer and replace it.

If you get a sample and sew it to some shell material, you'll see that you can pull it off the shell, but it is difficult to have a catastrophic failure. The website link I provided shows a photo with the start of a failure at the stitching in the silk. That was after 10 days in the field and a couple months directly on me in bed at home.

[todd]

Nice Paul! Lots of creativity; and good skill, especially for your 1st MYOG sewing project!!!

[Paul Elliott]

Bill,
Thanks for the comments.

When I got the Momentum in, I was disappointed with the color since I thought it would be lighter. This coyote color has kinda grown on me, like an ugly dog with a nice personality.

I've been wondering about Quantum. That's interesting to me that you view Momentum as a direct replacement.

As for the camera, part of the reason I am interested in UL techniques is because I take a Canon 5D, 70-200L, and 17-40L lenses into the field. I couldn't find my cord for radio triggering the camera last night, so I worked in a dark studio, set the camera for a 30 second exposure, then popped the flashes from a radio remote. I did feel bad about your 10 seconds. It felt like I was cheating.

[Bill Fornshell]

I use a lot of silk and did this Silk and Climashield Combat Quilt to use inside a Bivy. The Combat weighed 2.46 ounces per squard yard. I have been warm with this combination down to 42 degrees (F).

Silk Quilt

or turn it into a Non-Insulated Bottom Sleeping Bag:

Silk Sleeping Bag

[Paul Elliott]

Bill,
What mm silk do you use? It's hard to tell on the web, but it looks like it's thicker than the 5mm I used, which would seem appropriate for an outer shell.

[Bill Fornshell]

Hi Paul,

The silk I used for the Silk Quilt and Silk Sleeping bag and most of the other things I make out of silk is from Thai-Silks, product number 021H-000, 4.5 mm per square yard. This silk is called "Paj", but is the same type silk as Habotai and listed on the same page.

The 4.5 mm silk came 54" wide and the 5 mm came 36" wide. I went with the 4.5 mm so I would not have to sew 2 pieces of the 5 mm silk together. The difference in strength between 4.5 and 5 mm per sq yard should be almost zero.

I have a Hammock made out of 8mm / 1.02 ounce per sq yard that I have been using for about 4 years.

[Author]

Posts