Overfilling a Phantom bag (need advice)

[James DeMonaco]

So I got a phantom 32 bag and I love it, but I want to overfill it to give it a bit more oomph when it comes to cold weather. I'm going for a week long in the sierra's in late august and it should get to be around the mid-high 20s so I'm looking at ways to make the bag more efficient. I am tent camping and I do have a decent pad setup (about 4 in R value) and I'm also using a thermolite reactor liner.

Now I'm thinking about overfilling the bag with about 2-3 ounces more to give it more warmth.

I just have some questions before I order the down and go forward with this. Basically I want to know if anybody has previously overfilled this bag or a similar bag and what would be the best way to go about it. Is it better to undo their seams, fill, and re-sew the same edges myself or would it be better/stronger to cut into each baffle and resew there?

Also how much down should I get? Is 3 ounces too much? 2 ounces not enough?

Any help in this would be greatly appreciated.

[David Franzen]

refering to someone very knowledgable on this forum:

You will pick up ~2.6F for every ounce of [800 FP] fill that you add.

see http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=27480&skip_to_post=227472#227472

[>> Bender <<]

Another option would be to convert it to a quilt. You could save weight & add warmth due to optimal down placement.

[James DeMonaco]

So I think I'll put 3 ounces in then which, according to that math, will put it just under 24 degrees.

Now I just need to figure out how I want to gain access into the baffles without messing up the bag completely haha.

[Mark McLauchlin]

+1 on Bender's idea quilts are the way to go

[Brad Groves]

The Reactor liner weighs 8 ounces. I'd ditch that, open your bag along the zipper, and add 4-5 ounces of down. Some people like quilts. I personally don't find them nearly as versatile as a bag. Undo stitching along zipper, stuff the down, and sew the zipper back in place. You'll cut 3-4 ounces from what you're already carrying, won't add more weight, but will have a much warmer bag.

[Misfit Mystic]

Hi James, yes Brad is right in that the easiest way is to pull the zipper seam and fill the baffle openings created along this seam. Is the Phantom a full-length zip? Is there a cross-block baffle on the seam opposite the zip, or is there none, which would allow shifting down from top to bottom? If there is a full zip and no cross-block baffle it becomes much easier; the baffles can be filled from one side. If there is a cross-block baffle, the fill must be added to top and bottom. If the zip is not full-length, there will be a seam below the zip that must be opened to access the lower baffles. Overfilling the hood and footbox will be another magnitude of difficulty, and something I wouldn't try personally; you would move from one or two open seams to the bag nearly de-contructed if opening the hood and footbox dependant on their design and pattern.

Not sure of the zipper size, but if it's a five or bigger, you could replace it with a #3 while you've got the old zip removed. The weight loss of the lighter zip will offset the additional down to a certain extent.

Worked with down before? There are a few tricks to make the job easier; read Roger Caffin's MYOG article on down quilts and bags as he has detailed all the problem spots and how to deal with them.

[James DeMonaco]

Thanks guys, a lot of great info here.

The zipper is 3/4 length so I'll have to unseam a little, which means i might as well go into the foot box. Also there is a seam opposite of the zipper so I'll most likely completely remove the zipper and replace it like you said, that's a great idea!

I don't want to go with a quilt though, I sleep sitting completely still so a sleeping bag works great for me and I think it traps a lot of heat.

As for the reactor, depending upon what kind of performance I get out of the overfilled bag I might ditch it down the road but for the meantime it will be nice to keep as a backup in case I get cold in the middle of the night.

Anyways, thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate it. when I get the down and some time to work on this I'll post progress!

[Ivo Vanmontfort]

I filled my ‘la fayette’ (Valandré) with a extra 100 gram down (3 oz)
I used
this homemade gear
Then I blow the down into the bag with my breath

[Author]

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