Silk

Most any light thread is fine. Don't make the tension too high.
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Hot night – Sue was initially sleeping just in her silk liner. MYOG – ThaiSilks for the fabric, 8 mm Habotai.

Cheers

I'm making a silk hammock out of 10mm silk from Thai Silks. Good stuff. Just using the Gutterman's polyester thread that was already in the machine. Like any light fabric, a fine needle and careful tensioning are necessary.

After a few years of studying your posts- is there ANY piece of your kit that you HAVEN'T made/ modded?

I'm still pretty new to the sewing machine, so I will attempt to fool with the thread tension dial. Thanks.

–B.G.–

Hi Jeff

> is there ANY piece of your kit that you HAVEN'T made/ modded?

Oh yes, to be sure.
Titanium pots – untouched MSR Titan 1.5 L
Compass – untouched Brunton 7DNL (although I am experimenting with refilling a different one)
Folding knife – Benchmade 530, although I did take the clip off it (two screws)
Shoes in general
Socks (Darn Tough Vermont Full Boot Socks)
Underwear (Ex Officio Give-n-Go Briefs)
Air Mat (Therm-a-Rest Deluxe LE and ProLite)
Eating stuff (GSI nForm bowls and Cascadian cups, GSI Lexan spoons)
Steve Evans carbon fibre and titanium ice axe (he made it)

and …
Cocoon Jacket (although I did rebuild one to add a Cocoon hood to it).
Rain pants (GoLite Whims – although I added a flare at the ankle to one pair to fit over my shoes)

As for the rest … well … yeah … :-)

Cheers

I ordered four yards of silk from Thai Silks, placed just before midnight on 3/2. Before noon on 3/3, I received email notice that it had shipped. Just after noon on 3/4, I received it.

Four yards (48" width) weighs 3.56 ounces. Amazing.

They ought to crossbreed silk worms with cuben fiber critters.

–B.G.–

I was thinking of doing the same. Though I was curious as to how much warmth I would get from one of these. Maybe a better alternative for myself would be a lightweight fleece?

I wouldnt want too much heat but a few degrees would be alright

You won't get much extra insulation from the silk liner. It isn't that thick!

What you will get are two things:

1) a liner keeps your bag or quilt clean, which maintains the warmth in the long run

2) a liner blocks drafts, which can be a lot more benefit than you might think in cold weather.

Cheers
PS: That ignores the use of the liner in place of a quilt in hot weather, but that works mainly because of item 2.

If you want warmth, marry a polar bear.

Silk comes in different weights, and maybe somebody with experience can testify to which one is most effective. Fleece is obviously warmer, but with an obvious weight penalty. There are thin down liners, as well.

–B.G.–

Hmm, never thought about a silk liner for my bag. That would be pretty good. I have the Kelty wicking liner for my lightyear 20 degree bag, but it weighs over a pound, so I can't justify taking it with my anymore. Is habotai the best silk for such a use?I up for ordering five yards of 45", that's cheap!

Joshua

You can expect a 2-3F temp boost. Silk liners are basically there to help keep your bag cleaner by keeping your body oils away.

Ah interesting! Thanks, maybe this is exactly what I need then.

Cheers!

I saw one vendor rate its silk sleeping bag liner to provide +9.5 degrees F of warmth, and I just couldn't quite accept that. A few degrees, maybe.
–B.G.–

> Is habotai the best silk for such a use?
I have used Thai Silks.
8 momme Habotai is suitable (in picture), and comes in a range of colours. Type 026A-xxx See
http://www.thaisilks.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_2&products_id=15

Cheers

The silk sleeping bag liner finished out at 2.01 ounces.

Wow. You think sil-nylon is hard to work with. You ought to try thin silk.

I wonder if they make titanium safety pins?
–B.G.–

"a liner blocks drafts, which can be a lot more benefit than you might think in cold weather."

Roger,
Do you have any recommendations about size and shape of a liner? Should they be the same as those of the bag, or may be the liner girth should be a bit larger?

I'd actually say to make the liner smaller than the bag (within reason). I think a large part of the warmth experienced with a liner is from keeping the feet and elbows from compressing the insulation.

> any recommendations about size and shape of a liner?
We (my wife and I) found that the liner needs to be a bit larger than the SB in practice. The idea of having it smaller to avoid compressing the SB is a good one, but it didn't work out that way in practice.

The liner, being very light silk, does tend to get a bit wrapped around you during the night. If it is smaller than the SB this can be so restrictive that you risk accidentally bursting it – or at least you wake up in total frustration! I find that Sue likes hers about 90+ cm wide – and I make it rectangular as well. These days she uses a quilt instead of an SB, but the need for reasonable width still holds of course.

I moved to making all-encompassing silk pygamas for myself, with hood and feet covers (the latter are a tougher poly-cotton). The first shirt I made was a nice fit for a shirt – but it split down the back when I turned over one night and hunched my shoulders! You need a fair bit of slack for pygamas as well as for a liner.

Cheers

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I'm sure you'd be able to find a silk, one-piece, man-sized baby-grow in certain 'specialist' retailers…

Like others, I think the main purpose of a liner is to keep the main bag clean (although they do add a bit of warmth, and keep draughts out). So, since I wear long base layers at night, I'm thinking of getting a silk balaclava to keep facial body oils of the bag (which is where I find they get dirtiest). Much lighter, and easier to care for.

Chuckle!
Think a pair of silk pygamas and a pair of poly-cotton socks.
No studs …

Cheers

Hey Bob,
What was the exact silk you ordered? I'm looking to make some silk pajamas and noticed your comment saying that 4 yards weighed 3.5 ounces!

I've got some stretchy loose weave silk underwear from REI, but the set weighs 7 ounces, and the weave seems like it wouldn't do a great job of protecting the bag from oils and such.

Anyone–what's the lightest practical weight to make silk PJ's? I'm guessing if the material is too light, it just won't hold together.

If you go to the Thai Silks web site that Roger had mentioned, you will see a wide variety. Since I didn't know anything about silk, I wanted to K.I.S.S.

I chose the lightest and plainest one in the #21 group, maybe #21H. I think that is considerably lighter and thinner than what Roger was into. Maybe he knew something about silk and wanted something more long-term durable. Obviously you can get some fancy styles, but that isn't _me_.

When I started with the 4 yards, it was 3.56 ounces. By the time I had the liner crudely fashioned, it was 2.01 ounces. By the time I trimmed it down slightly, I ended up with 1.87 ounces.

If you are the kind of sleeper who thrashes around a lot, then I could understand the need for a heavier silk.

As for PJ styling, you could probably follow the example of Hugh Hefner. It works for him.
–B.G.–

Thanks a lot!

That's some pretty light stuff. I did find a momme weight conversion, which, according to Wikipedia, it is 1 momme = 4.340 g/m^2.