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Fast packing Quilt

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Jun 25, 2012 at 9:22 am #1291369

Garrett
BPL Member

@sope0021

I'm looking to make a super light, but even more importantly, small and super packable quilt, mainly for summer use in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm looking at nighttime temperatures in the 60s. I will be using the quilt inside a bivy. I have some experience making synthetic quilts, but I'm thinking to go with some amount of down and M50.

I have two questions. First, how little down can I use and still create an advantage over a few layers of M50? I'm doing one to two night trips where covering a lot of miles quickly and easily is more important to me than being totally comfortable, but if I can make a quilt that will pack down small and still be warmer than a sleeping bag liner, I'd love to do it. Second, how small can I expect a very light down/M50 quilt to pack down to? I've been carrying a Lafuma 40 degree down bag that when in its stuff sack is somewhere between a softball and a football. How much smaller than this is possible in a quilt?

Thanks

Jun 25, 2012 at 9:37 am #1889932

Jerry Adams
BPL Member

@retiredjerry
Locale: Oregon and Washington

I think maybe if you use less down, you want the baffle width to be less.

Like, if you wanted a loft of 1/2 inch, you'de want the baffle width to be 1 or 2 inches.

I'de like to know if someone more knowledgeable has an opinion.

Jun 25, 2012 at 9:51 am #1889936

Steve C
Member

@smit
Locale: sierra nevada

If it is that warm at night and space is that big of a concern, how about sleeping in your clothes along with a space blanket? Save you some money also.
Steve

Jun 25, 2012 at 9:57 am #1889938

Garrett
BPL Member

@sope0021

I've thought about doing that. Honestly, I had to ask about making a quilt just because I like the process of MYOG as much as the actual running/backpacking.

Jun 25, 2012 at 11:27 am #1889973

Dustin Short
BPL Member

@upalachango

Down is great but only provides a true weight advantage on more heavily insulated projects. The extra fabric and thread needed for baffles (even sewn through) negates much of the benefit. If you can get a 2.5oz APEX synth quilt down to around 12-14oz and a ~50F rating then a down version at the same weight may give you a 10F benefit but with a lot more build time and hassle. It will probably pack smaller but again you're approaching the limits of light and tiny already so gains are incremental, not phenomenal.

Maybe you could get a down bag to the 10oz mark but unless you have the time, money, and desire a synth quilt seems a lot easier of a project.

Despite all the naysaying, a nice sewn-thru 10oz karo stepped down quilt would be really really sweat piece of gear to have ;)

Jun 25, 2012 at 7:05 pm #1890090

Nancy Twilley
Member

@goodcaver2
Locale: STL

Agreement on the baffles: if you do decide to do a simple sewn-through down quilt with regular baffles, make lots of small ones. Think patagonia down sweater. In fact, I've thought about making such a quilt many times myself…

Jun 25, 2012 at 7:45 pm #1890100

Tim Marshall
BPL Member

@marshlaw303
Locale: Minnesota

Lots of work to make all those tiny baffles with a pretty small size advantage over 2.5oz APEX. Down will cost more, take much more time to build, still be hard to keep where you need it but there is Something mentally comforting about down. All my above 30* personal quilts are apex. Small amounts of down are hard to keep put and apex is so simple. At these temps apex can be lighter or very comparative and the stuffed volume is pretty manageable too. For me down at these temps offer a lot of headaches without the big payoff they give in warmer quilts.

-Tim

Jun 25, 2012 at 7:53 pm #1890105

Dan @ Durston Gear
BPL Member

@dandydan
Locale: Canadian Rockies

A quilt shell made out of M50 using minimal features and fairly narrow dimensions (ie. 50" head, 48" hips) is likely to weigh 4.5-6oz. You could likely drop another ounce and a lot of hassle if you ditched the baffles all together (not necessary IMO at 60F). I think a 4oz shell would be possible with no baffles and basically no features. You could sew one up in no time.

5oz of down would easily keep you warm at 60F and 4 would likely be fine…especially if you wore clothes if need be. So theoretically I think you could make one as light as 8oz.

Jul 10, 2012 at 6:07 pm #1893799

Aaron Sorensen
BPL Member

@awsorensen
Locale: South of Forester Pass

Garrett,

I made this quilt for the same reason you would. You could even get away with an ounce less down.

Use the 8d fabric from Ti Goat as the liner though, much better…

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=62968&skip_to_post=546368#546368
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