Fabric Color and overstuffing for DIY quilt

[Jeff Patrick]

I'm going to be making a 3 season quilt once the school year is done and I have a couple questions.

How important is it to have a light color on top and a dark on bottom for radiated heat? Its a lot cheaper if I get the fabric all in black as opposed to black and blue. (anybody have a picture of the royal blue momentum from thru-hiker?)

For over stuffing, does it make the quilt warmer or does it just make sure there aren't cold spots?

So if I want 2.25 inches of loft do I make the baffles that big and put in the ordinary amount or do i shorten the baffles and overstuff?

Thanks.

[Tim Marshall]

if buying from thru-hiker get the kit, you can get 2 colors and save money over buying things separate.

I cut my baffles to the width of the loft (2.25" in your example) then i sew them to the shell with a 1/8-1/4 seam allowance which takes it to 1.75 or 2" tall (maybe 3/16" is more what i do) This gives better down control than baffles 2.25 tall with 2.25" loft. I also calculate loft to 2.3" to give a slight over stuff.

-Tim

[Jeff Patrick]

If I get momentum in black I'm going to go through titanium goat since its cheaper.

I'm just trying to decide if its worth the extra 20 to get a lighter color on top instead of all black. I'm also making an underquilt and already bought the down for both so the kit wouldn't really be worth it.

Thanks for the information on the baffles. I'm definitely going to have to do more research on that as well as figure out a ratio for top/bottom layer for a differential cut.

sounds like fun.

[Jim Colten]

How important is it to have a light color on top and a dark on bottom for radiated heat?

This is offered at the risk of Richard Nisley coming back with an answer based on measurements (which always trumps amateur theorizing).

Fabric darkness is unimportant from a nighttime warmth point of view. Radiant heat transfer can be large but only if there is a reasonable temperature difference between the yourself and the liner fabric or the shell and surrounding objects. That will only happen if there is significant conductive heat transfer happening (too little insulation) … in that case you will already be cold while failing to sleep.

However, a dark color can be a good thing when drying the quilt/bag in the sun.

However, I also feel obliged to point out that one of your premises is faulty. The "darkness" that your eye sees results from how the fabric reflects visible light. Radiant heat transfer happens via infrared (longer) wavelengths. Choosing material for more or less radiant heat transfer requires knowing the material's thermal emissivity. The archtypical example is snow which reflects visible light like crazy but emits (and absorbs) infrared very very well.

For over stuffing, does it make the quilt warmer or does it just make sure there aren't cold spots?

I believe it helps in both ways. Richard has posted some info about warmth vs density of down fill and it makes a noticeable difference. Unfortunately, that one has not (yet) made it into my collection of useful Nisley bookmarks.

[Nicholas Miller]

No comment on radiant heat, I just don't have a clue. I like a dark color somewhere, top or bottom, for drying in the sun if necessary. I personally like to have a color on top just because I like colors. Here's a pic of royal blue momentum stuffed with white goose down (got slightly lighter with the down it seemed):

[Tim Marshall]

make sure the savings is true vs the kit, not just the fabric. The kit is still cheaper than getting the materials from OWFinc.com separately. Not saying it isn't cheaper just want to make sure as all the ways i have looked at it the kit is still the best deal.

-Tim

[Jeff Patrick]

Thanks for the pic Nicholas. Now I just have to decide if I want that or read.

Tim- yeah, the kit is a great deal. But since I'm making a matching underquilt out of the same fabric I think this is going to be cheaper.

This is my first MYOG project so I'm pretty excited. I taped up a blanket to my quilt specifications and slept in it last night. I think I bought way too much down though. Oh well, probably good to have for the future.

[Nicholas Miller]

I'd cast my vote for red. The red momentum is a nice rich true red that I just love. I used it in the liner of a jacket, highly recommended. Here's a pic for reference:

[Jeff Patrick]

Girlfriend ruled out the red. So it looks like blue it is.

Its too bad they don't have a nice green color.

[Michael Davis]

Jeff,

I personally don't think the colors make any real difference in warmth but, certain colors may make you psychologically warmer or just make you feel good about your quilt because it looks good. Of course, as has been stated, if Richard Nisley jumps in here, just ignore what I said.

I do think black is practical on at least one side for sun drying. I once made a two color quilt using my college colors; because of that, I think it's the best looking quilt ever … orange & blue … Go Gators :-)

So, the "red" got vetoed. Just goes to show you, us guys have to answer to a higher power. lol

Good luck with your project. Looking forward to some pictures!
Cheers.

[Jeff Patrick]

I read up on some of Richard's posts about colors. Didn't exactly have to do with sleeping bags but I guess blue has a shorter wavelength than red and green which means less radiated heat goes through it so it looks like a good choice.

….or I have that completely backwards.

[James Klein]

Fabric color will make no difference to the amount of heat you radiat to the surroundings. The heat your body radiates (based on your body temp) is in the infrared frequency. Radiation transmission, absorbtion and reflection are uneffected by "visible" fabric color at any frequency outside of the visible range. Therefore a black quilt will radiate the same as a white one or blue one.

Fabric color is important when there is light available. Here color does make a difference in the transmission, absorption and reflection charecteristics of fabric. Black absorbs all radiation in the visible frequency (i.e. light), white reflects it and clear transmits it. Thus you can use black to help dry out a wet quilt b/c it will absorb light energy.

[Nicholas Miller]

I was looking forward to a flash red quilt! The blue is nice too ;)

[Jeff Patrick]

Well if color doesn't help any at night it will probably be all black now to save money.

Or I might weight till OWFINC gets some 20d DWR ripstop in cause that will only be a dollar more.

[JM Addleman]

I got my kinsman kit in aegean blue, and it's a great color, fwiw.

[Jeff Patrick]

Its pretty light right? Not much different colorwise from the royal blue?

I know the color on the sight looks dark but I saw it on a roll and it seemed like a light blue to me.

[David Franzen]

>>>Richard has posted some info about warmth vs density of down fill and it makes a noticeable difference. Unfortunately, that one has not (yet) made it into my collection of useful Nisley bookmarks.

maybe this is what you are refering to:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=16189&startat=20

to briefly summarize it: you can overstuff down to up to 2.5 times minimum down density (=800cuin for 800 FP down) without loss of warmth/weight efficiency.

[Jeff Patrick]

Little out of my league, but I think I might do 2inch baffles and overstuff to get 2.25 inches of loft.

[JM Addleman]

No, the website color is very close. I don't have a camera but it's a rich dark blue, but not navy.

[Jason L]

Hi Jeff, I think you are really going to enjoy making a quilt. Have a great time!

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