Finished thru-hiker.com Minima vest

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Finally got some spare time to finish the Minima vest from thru-hiker.com (love the holidays!). I opted for Momentum for the shell and Climashield Combat as insulation. I think it worked out fine. Probably would have gone for the default Primaloft if I was to do it again as it is said to drape even better. I like the feel of the Momentum and can testify that it is quite water resistant after running a lot of water on a piece to test it out.

I ordered 3.7 oz of the insulation which I found out was a lot more than I needed, so I have some for other projects. I’ve been thinking making a hood and maybe mitts.

Since this was my first garment I spent a lot of time studying the instructions and trying to understand. I didn’t want to do a lot of mistakes and spend time ripping seams (even though I had to of course as in all projects). I felt a need to try to visualize how a certain step in the construction would effect a later one, for instance the one where the liner, shell and zipper are sewed together. I guess I would have been fine just following the instructions verbatim. The instructions really need high resolution pictures to make it easier to see the seam details and so on. A couple of short video clips would’ve helped too.

All in all a nice project that I highly recommend.

Next project for me will be the G4 pack kit from Quest Outfitters.

[Eugene Smith]

Very nice work! That jacket looks tailored to you, very nice fit. I like the lack of quilting in the design, simple and clean, good choice on the Climashield.

[todd]

Thomas, you did excellent work! You will appreciate the extra length in back….my butt gets cold standing around in camp in my Cocoon vest (I love it except for the baggy fit and short length).

Anyways, like I said…nice work!

[Jamie Shortt]

That looks like a profession job. That vest means you are ready to take on any project you desire.

I started with the same vest (same color) and six months later I've finished vest #2, kinsmans pullover, a tent, a sleeping quilt, and ray jardine backpack. Its incredibly rewarding.

Nice JOB!

Jamie

[Mark McLauchlin]

Nice job, well done. The colour looks great too!

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Thanks for the kind feedback guys.

Jamie: wow, you've really been productive. Impressed by the amount of gear you've made. I am also going to make the quilt from thru-hiker and will check out your thread about the subject (I remember seeing it mentioned). Btw, how do you like the Ray-Way pack? I've been using mine for some dayhikes and I like it, but to be honest I miss some kind of built-in foam "frame" like in the Golite Jam / Pinnacle. I also think it could benefit from having load lifters to stabilize it and to draw it closer to the top of the back.

[Jamie Shortt]

Thomas, Funny you ask about the Jardine pack vs the golite packs. I do have a Jam2 that I used a fair amount before getting a MLD prophet and making the Jardine Pack. I have modified my Jam2 so that it weighs 16.75 oz. Where most people do this by removing the hydration sleeve and foam back panel I decided I liked the foam panel so I kept it. Instead I removed the hydration sleeve, hip belt and sternum strap.

The funny part is that I have found the Jam2 to be the best daypack out of the three because of the stiffness provided by the foam pad, even though it is the largest. At times I will cinch the sides and connect the compactor clips at the bottom and use just the zippered pocket and side pockets for day hikes (i.e. nothing at all goes in the main bag).

So how does the Jardine pack work? I have only had the opportunity to take the pack on 2 overnight backpacking trips that were around 20 miles each. The nights were 25 degree low and 15 degree low. I used my quilt too. My base weight was a tad below 6.5 lbs so even loaded with water my total weight was <10 lbs. I can say that under these circumstances the pack is fantastic. It rides great. The pockets worked extremely well to hold and organize my gear. The shoulder straps are extremely comfortable. The sub 10 oz weight is first class. It will be interesting to see how the silnylon holds up compared to the bomber dyneema X.

Jamie

[Tom Holbrook]

Thomas,

Very nice, and it looks like your sewing talent is wonderful !!

Question: Have you felt the vest to be warm enough? And, what temp do you feel the vest will support?

Z.

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Jamie,

I think the silnylon will hold up nicely, but we'll see. Seems like it's a perfect pack for you with the base weight you're carrying. I will use it for some longer trips next summer and see if I like it more. I think the Pinnacle is my favourite pack so far, but I've found out that I have a size too small, so the hipbelt is riding a bit high. Been trying to sell it here in Norway, but not much interest since few people have discovered the benefits of ul hiking yet. They're still buying big and heavy packs. In the meantime I've invested in a GG Mariposa Plus with hipbelt pockets which seems great. Can't wait to try it on the trail. Funny thing is that the G4 that I am constructing now from a kit probably will be quite similar judging from the materials I got in the kit. The silnylon is identical, even in color. Of course they're different designs, but they both come from the same range.

Btw, would you choose the thru-hiker quilt kit again if you were to make one more quilt?

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Tom,

Thanks, I haven't worn it outside yet because we've been experiencing a really cold period here in Norway the last weeks with temperatures down to around 5F, so I can't offer any insight on warmness in the field. I do believe it will be a very nice piece of kit to carry around for instant warmth. I know it looks pretty thin, that's why I ordered extra insulation which I never used because it seemed plenty warm enough while trying it inside. I believe adding more insulation would have made it a bit harder to construct too, but I may be wrong.

Weight is very low (5-6 oz) since it is so spartan.

[Hendrik Morkel]

Great work, Thomas! I'm currently doing my first steps in sewing, smaller projects, but I have been eyeing the kits at Thru-Hiker =) This looks really good, might just do something like it!

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Go for it! It is fun and very rewarding :)

[Jamie Shortt]

Thomas, Yes I would go with the thru-hiker quilt kit if I were doing it again. I am actually considering making a summer quilt with sewn thru construction probably using only 6 oz of down. I still buy the kit and use the remaining down on other projects.

Just realize the quilt kit is less of a kit than say the Vest or Jardine's pack. It comes with no instructions and requires other finishing elements like drawcords, etc. The kit contains 5 yards of material (2.5 in each color), noseeum netting, and 12 oz of down in 2 bags (6 oz in each bag). There is nothing more to it. You can buy the exact materials you need but it cost more. I would recommend the extra expense of the Momentum90. I really prefer this material in a sleeping bag over the ripstop nylon.

Jamie

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Nice, then I'll go ahead and order the quilt kit + stuff i need to make a drawcord closure at the head end, plus straps. What do you judge the temperature rating to be? did you add the 3oz overfill?

How hard was it to construct?

Will definitely go for the red momentum for this one :)

[Jamie Shortt]

Thomas, The quilt was surprising less difficult than most of my other projects. Though it was tedious when it came to sewing the baffles and stuffing the down. I had read-up enough to have the process down prior to sewing it.

I did not go with the overfill and my quilt lofted pretty good…almost 3". The coldest night I used it was 15 degrees. I was a bit cold, but most of the cold came from below. I was using a 3/8" thinlight pad (3.45 oz) that was only torsolength. Most people would agree this is not enough pad for subfreezing temps. The next time I used it was 25 degrees and I switched to a longer torsolight pad (6.05 oz)…still not a lot of pad, but was completely fine that night without any extra insulated clothing beyond a fleece cap.

I used about 11.5 oz of down in the bag and the remaining .5 oz for the plug for the footbox. I would not consider this to be overstuffed. I think you could certainly pack in another 3 oz if you wanted.

I went with 78" long and 52" wide at top and 40" wide at footbox. If you are going to drawcord the footbox the quilt needs to be longer than if you were going with a sewn footbox. I am actually surprised at how roomy the quilt. For a summer quilt I will likely do 50" top and 38" bottom. I also like how long the quilt is. I'd say this length would work fine for someone up to 6' tall.

Jamie

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Jamie, thanks for the info. I think I will make a drawcord closure at the neck like shown here: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=19501&startat=20.

Why do people add a drawcard closure for the footbox? Is it too be able to adjust the length in some fashion? or for ventilation?

[Jamie Shortt]

Thomas, I found basically 2 ways to finish off the footbox. The first is two sew the sides together near the bottom 18" of the footbox then sew in a round bottom to seal off the end. This is like a nunatak quilt or the golite ultra 20. The other way is to simply run a drawcord in the bottom and add a method to attach the sides together. This can be done with a zipper or double faced velcro. The Jack R Better quilts are an example of how this is done with velcro. The purpose for the drawcord is to seal off the end after the sides are attached. I used the velcro method. Take a look at the pictures in my thread.

Quilt Thread

This is basically the same method in the thread you posted but that quilt used a zipper to close the footbox.

So why a drawcord? It allows you to seal off the end if you want to be able to have a quilt that lays flat…i.e. does not have a permanent footbox. I have found that this make for an extremely versitale quilt. In the mornings I can open the footbox and use the quilt like a blanket around me. In summer if it is hot I dont want a footbox. I just use the quilt like a blanket.

I do believe this method adds several ounces to the quilts weight in that it requires a longer quilt. This is because the edges curl down and shorten the quilt when the draw cord is cinched. I also believe that the warmest footbox is one that is sewn permanently.

I'm making these observations after using a JRB quilt, a Nunatak Quilt, and a golite ultra 20 quilt.

My nunatak wins the warmth to weight battle, but my JRB and MYOG quilt wins the versatility battle.

Jamie

[Thomas Gauperaa]

Jamie, thanks for all that very useful info. I will start my quilt project as soon as I'm done with the G4, which by the way has been a pleasure so far. I am done with the shoulder straps and the waist belt, both with the velcro opening for stuffing socks into them as padding. Cool stuff. I really like the way the construction works, very straightforward and with nice reinforcements using the x-box stitch and bartacks.

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