Summer quilt materials

[Michael Barber]

I have been thinking of making a summer quilt out of silk and 2.5oz XP. Its super light and cheap. I can make like 3 silk shells for every 1 momentum shell. I was thinking of pairing this up with a silnylon bivy.

Or

just making the quilt from silnylon and sleeping in a silk sleep sack (which I would probably do in the silk quilt too). I am concerned with rain when I use my poncho tarp as shelter.

those of you who are using nonbreathable materials for quilts… how is it?

Looking for guidance,

Thanks!

[Michael Davis]

Michael,

I have made a single and a double summer quilt using 2.5 oz Climashield XP with nylon shells and have been very happy with them.

I made the double with momentum 0.9oz on the inside and nylon ripstop 1.1oz on the outside. On the single quilt, I used nylon ripstop 1.1oz on both sides.

I like your silk idea. My only concern would be that if the silk gets wet, it will wick water into the insulation and silk stays wet for a while. So, if there is any chance your quilt would to subject to condensation drips or mist or spray from wind blown rain, I would use nylon with a good DWR for the outside and silk only on the inside.

BTW, what weight of silk were you thinking of using?

[Brad Rogers]

Wouldn't a sil nylon bivy just make your bag wet because it isn't breathable? You might want to make it out of something both water resistant and breathable. What about Epic?

[Jeremy Greene]

"those of you who are using nonbreathable materials for quilts… how is it?"

wet

[Roger Caffin]

Silk has to be considerably heavier than synthetics before it is down-proof. Read Brad's MYOG silk vest article for more information.

Cheers

[Brad Groves]

Hey-
Roger's spot-on about silk needing to be heavier for down-proofness. For your XP quilt idea, though, silk would probably work. My biggest concern would be durability. I recently made a climashield combat (3.7 oz/sq.yd.) sweatshirt with a 4.5mm habotai silk shell that weighs about 5 ounces. It's super warm and super light! But I'll only be wearing it under a shell of some kind, because the silk snags easily…

[Michael Barber]

I am now concerned about it wicking moisture into the insulation. That would be bad. I guess the nylon ripstop is the next best thing for my goals and budget.

[Misfit Mystic]

Hi Michael, how about 1.1 ripstop? Only a couple grams heavier than Momentum per sq. yd., and much cheaper. You should be able to pick up 2nds for around $6/yd; the 2nds will work fine. Try Thru-Hiker, OWFINC, or Quest.

[Roger Caffin]

> how about 1.1 ripstop? Only a couple grams heavier than Momentum per sq. yd., and much cheaper.

There is enormous merit in deliberately NOT trying to reach the ultimate in one step. Make a cheapie test unit first and find out what works and what doesn't. (I have a cupboard full of prototypes …)

Cheers

[Jan Rezac]

I'm using a quilt that uses silk (5 mm = very light one) inside and momentum outside. I've made two years ago and have no problem with durability.

The only problem I found is that the lightweight silk is not as slippery as nylon, so it's more difficult to turn under the quilt while keeping it in place.

When used for the outer shell, the quilt will be very breathable ant thus less warm. When you plan to use it without a bivy, I'd recommend to use more dense fabrics.

[Michael Barber]

Thanks for the report Jan. That is encouraging. Perhaps I will try one and see how it goes. Worse case I can rip the seems and make a new shell for the insulation and use the silk for a sleep sack for my son. I have been considering making a tyvek wrap around bivy/shell/cover type thing if it rains (since I have a bunch of tyvek).

[Roger Caffin]

> lightweight silk is not as slippery as nylon, so it's more difficult to turn under the quilt
Very good point! My experience too.

Cheers

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