1 lb 700 fill down quilt at Costco. $20

[Russell Biser]

@bpeugh: I will be back at Costco on Friday to pick up meat for a bbq. I can pick up some down throws and ship them to you for $25 bucks each (extra to cover 9% sales tax and my time and materials boxing driving to ups/fedex/post office) plus actual shipping cost (your choice of shipping) via PayPal. If that is ok let me know how many you want.

[Randy Nelson]

I bought one of these quite a while back but hadn’t done anything with it. Today my niece turned it into 4 dog down blankets. Should be a lifetime supply as it will have to get really cold to break it out, Hopefully he’ll be more enthused when it’s in the 20’s not the 60’s. There’s a good chance he’ll just toss it off but I’ll bring it along just in case when I expect it to be cold. It weighs 4.1 oz in the ziplock.

 

[J R]

These are back in stock here in Georgia, probably a lot of places by now.

[jscott]

Mine is a lot warmer when I put it under my quilt on my bed at home, instead of on top. I thought that the (somewhat heavy) quilt might compress the down, but no. Much warmer with it under the quilt.

[Noel Tavan]

I bought 3 at Costco. I was hoping to make sleeping bags for my 2 dogs (one is 50lb the other is 24lbs). Are there any DIY instruction to convert quilts to bags? I am looking for something easy and simple. Thanks!

[Scott Atha]

I’ve made 3 bags, each one slightly different, but a standard build is on on sargevining youtube channel.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zAwvshF7Y&list=PLSqjIjcsk2faOcVlZC2O3gogCRrE37tj0&index=4.

 

For about $5 at Walmart, you can get a can of Atsko Silicone Water Guard to get nice water resistance.  I did that before sewing the bag.

[Russell Biser]

Costco put them up online in a 2 pack for $40 plus $8 shipping.

http://m.costco.com/Double-Black-Diamond-Packable-Down-Throw-2-pack.product.100314979.html

[Matt Swider]

my only gripe with these throws is they are so light and slippery that I find they don’t always stay on my at night.  Actually, they don’t ever stay on me at night.  That may be why the person above commented on putting it under the covers and it keeps you warmer.  That way it won’t fall off.

[Chris Errico]

Hey everyone,

I don’t have a costco membership, but I’d love to get my hands on one or two of these. Would anyone be willing to pick one up and ship it to me?

Thanks,

Chris

[Peter Craumer]

That item isn’t marked Members Only, so anyone can order it, including you.

[Chris Errico]

Ok thanks! I thought Costco online was the same as the brick-and-mortar store, where you need a membership for everything. I’ll pick a couple up tonight!

 

[Ethan A.]

I’m really looking forward to trying out this quilt with a foot box that can be closed for mild summer conditions. Is there anyone with a Costco near them that has these in Blue or Black (or perhaps it’s Dark Navy that looks like Black) who can ship them? Prefer the dark colors for quicker drying in the sun. So far they aren’t showing up at my sister’s Costco, and the online link only shows light colors.

[Sharon J.]

Ethan, Richmond, CA store had them in stock today. I only gave them a passing glance, but I think they were dark blue and dark purple.

[Alex C]

this guy does a bunch of cool stuff with these quilts! Check him out! some of his stuff is no-sew!

 

 

[Diane Pinkers]

Is this a good thing to carry while snowshoeing as part of emergency gear for day hiking?  I just found them at my local Costco.

[J R]

Diane, I rarely get out in snow being here in Georgia, but I think no. It adds a few degrees of warmth but that’s all, not nearly enough for a sub-freezing emergency. It isn’t waterproof. And while it’s cheap it’s relatively heavy by UL standards, my 30F EE Enigma weighs about the same (1 lb) but clearly is much warmer. It makes a good mid-summer blanket or modified into a quilt and potentially could be an inexpensive way to supplement an existing sleep system by a few degrees but not more than that.

[Joe Medlin]

For an emergency you would probably be better off with a SOL bivvy or some kind of mylar blanket since warmth to weight is probably a bigger issue than comfort. I can’t say I have any survival experience using this system but I keep them in my vehicles and in my day pack as I have read accounts of others taking them down to very cold temperatures and getting through the night without major issues.

[d k]

Saw these again today at my local Costco – they are in slightly different colors, including an aqua.  Fabric may be a little heavier; it does seem different than last year’s.  But same price and size as before.  I was wishing there was a scale there I could weigh one on just to be able to give out the info.

[Gary Dunckel]

Has anyone figured out what the lower temperature limit is for a quilt made from one of these down throws? I made a crude quilt from one, sewing the bottom closed and also creating a 24″ foot box. Then I had a lady friend add some length to the head end (I bought a second throw, she added 2 rows to extend the length, and she got a slightly shorter throw from the remains  for her efforts).

I doubt that it would be warm enough for a 40 degree night, but maybe 50* F? I know that it would work in a place like Costa Rica, where the temps never dip below 70* F at night, and also when crashing on a friend’s living room floor. But what about camping in the summer?

Something of note – I recently received a flier from Costco, and it mentioned that these throws will be 20% off for 4 days only, Nov. 24-27. So $16 + sales tax instead of the regular $20 + tax. “colors vary by location, limit of 5.” Quite the deal…

[Lester Moore]

The Costco down throws have approximately one inch of loft max, if they are not pulled too tightly. One inch of loft is what EE uses for their 50F quilts, although those are baffled instead of sewn through. So maybe the Costco throw would rate between 50F and 55F because they are sewn through construction? Making a simple home-use quilt out of one may be my first recent MYOG project.

[Ethan A.]

From folks I’ve checked with 50F sounds right. However there are ways you can extend that a bit – including using a seam ripper to pull all the seams in one direction – say horizontal leaving only vertical seams – which will increase loft a bit. According to a friend who did it, it’s about an hour and a half. Another thing you can do is take down from another throw (or from a cottage seller of down) and add it to baffles over your torso (and if you pull horizontal seams, leave a horizontal seam in place below the torso area to hold the down over it).

[Aaron W]

I would go with 55°, if you’re lucky.

Guessing a double layer would be good to about 35°.

I’ll be making a batch of double layer kids quilts that you grow into.

Made for a baby all the up to a 10 or 11 year old.

[Gary Dunckel]

Thanks, Les and Ethan. 50* F seems about right to me, but it’s too late in the season to try that and see. I guess I could ‘pretend’ and go out onto the patio with a pad and my sleeping garb on a 50* F day and see what happens.

I agree that the sewn-through baffles would be a weak link. I’ve wondered if a layer of Pertex Quantum sewn to all the edges would help keep the warmth in at a pretty low weight penalty. But at some point it would make more sense to spring for a Marmot Atom bag and forget Costco. Still, these throws are cheap, and there has to be some good use for them. My lady friend suggested using the leftovers to make maybe a simple vest, or a hood/balaclava/beanie, or something else cool. My best friend that she lives with said, “To hell with that, make beer cozies.” Down booties, anyone?

I like Randy Nelson’s dog blanket idea best. That is, after my own over-sized house camping quilt.

[Scott Atha]

With over stuffing and seam ripping I’ve comfortably gone down to 40 degrees.

Without over stuffing, I needed layering to get down to 50 degrees.

 

[jscott]

On an earlier thread I wrote that one of these was much warmer under a quilt than over. since then I bought a heavier quilt for my bed and recently put the down comforter on top–and it made a pretty good difference! So maybe layering on top is best after all. Certainly adds warmth.

[Author]

Posts