Beginner quilt project questions

[Casey Balza]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering how much it would cost to make a quilt rated to 30-35 degrees F and weigh under 18oz.

I have no sewing experience so I was also wondering if this would be an easy project?

Any good links out there?

Thanks

[Bruce Thibeault]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=47084&skip_to_post=403949#403949

http://www.lytw8.com/uploads/LytW8_Summer_Quilt_Instructions.pdf

[Chris M]

I haven't worked with down yet, but I have heard it isn't too bad. If you want to make it under 18oz, that is the easiest way. This would take say about 8 to 10 oz of down, depending on the size of the quilt and how confident you are to not lose any of the down in transferring. For my quilt size, probably 8.8oz would be the final weight of down. So this would cost about $60.

I personally really enjoy synthetic quilts. The 5oz Apex gets me down to 30-35 with proper layering. My quilt with just 30d ripstop nylon comes in around 19.5oz. The total for the quilt, including shipping, was $70, but this didn't quite hit your weight limit. You could fix that by upgrading to M50 or possibly a 5mm silk liner. The synthetic quilt is very easy to make in my opinion. I wrote a guide about it here

http://kringlelight.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/sin50/

Either project should be a good project, even for a beginner. You can accomplish it for less than $90 I would say regardless of which route you go.

One suggestion I would make is that for 30-35*, you should avoid sewn through baffles like in Jamie's design. I normally hear that there are too many cold spots in a sewn through design.

[Casey Balza]

Thanks guys those are some nice, clear, and simple to follow directions. I was planning on going with down so I can have a quilt that is more compressible. What type of baffles would you use to limit cold spots? Any instructions on a quilt with the different baffle type?

Also what other suppliers are there besides thruhiker?

[David Drake]

I notice DIY Gear Supply now stocks a limited amount of down 850 FP, $6.65/oz. On the other hand, it looks like the lightest shell fabric they have is 1.1 oz, so you'll need to look elsewhere for lighter stuff.

[Casey Balza]

Hey Chris how small does your quilt pack down? I did a little reading on other posts and I'm impressed how durable and warm the apex is. 20oz total weight will be fine. Better than my 42oz sleeping bag (my heaviest gear item on my list).

[John West]

Cool, I didn't know DIY Gear Supply had started selling down. Looks like I tried to order some too late though. I was going to put in an order for 12 ounces for my new M50 quilt project, but looks like he's only got 7 ounces in stock. If you we're making a summer quilt, that would be plenty though.

[Chris M]

I'm sure others on this forum have posted about how well the quilt will compress. I don't normally try to compress my quilt too much. I just toss it into the bottom of my pack and let it fill up the space. I have packed it in a bag that is a bit over 30L in the past and was able to carry everything I needed for a couple of days out on the trail for temps around freezing and just below.

I don't have the quilt anymore right now really. I turned it into a 2/3 length underquilt, so it is a bit smaller than normal. Otherwise I will stick it in a box and see. Others may have noted the compression better than me, so hopefully they will chime in.

As for a down quilt, you would want to actually insert baffle in rather than just sewing the two layers together. Most people with more of a budget do this using noseeum netting. this way the shell and the liner can loft apart, but down in contained in the channels still. I believe a normal loft for 30* is about 2", maybe just over. Thru-hiker has a guide on how to make a quilt like this on their site. It is good, but the pictures are just a bit small.

http://thru-hiker.com/projects/down_quilt.php

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