Cost of MYOG 20 def F – 1 – 1 1/2 lb quilt?

5 yards membrane 10 from RSBTR for $50 https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/0-66-oz-membrane-10-taffeta-nylon-1

9 ounces of 850 down from wilderneslogics.com for $80

but that’s misleading.  You’ll make one, then learn some things and want to make another.  You might never produce anything useful.

Thanks Jerry,  that seems reasonable enough.

You  can also do Climashield Apex which would be much easier and cheaper. It’ll still be in your ballpark weight. Probably will be about $70 total.

Thanks Jeff. I hadn’t thought of synthetic insulation, so after your post I did some reading on Climashield Apex.  Looks like pretty good stuff and got me thinking.

My wife  has plenty of sewing experience so I got her opinion about stripping the synthetic insulation out of my SnugPak mummy bag and she said that would be really easy. I might be able to resurrect this bag cheap and use it until I make a quilt or two this coming winter.

just another possibility for me to mull over a little bit.

The first three sea kayaks I made, I hesitated to spend $80/sheet on marine-grade 4 mm plywood.  So I got two 4’x8′ sheets of 1/8″ 3-ply from Home Depot for $9.95 a sheet (this was 21 years ago).  I’ve still got them.  They still work fine.  They’re all “working boats” and I run them up onto the rocks and barnacles at full speed and always have.  And I learned a lot making the first one.  When I later built a triple, I order the full kit with the good plywood.  And was a lot better assembling it because of the previous work.

So, a thought:  Eddie Bauer “Travel Throws” are on eBay for $25 and free shipping (or from EB for $30).  Mine weighed 372 grams.

• 440 TC Poly/Nylon Blend Down Fabric (54% Poly/46% Nylon)</span>
• Hypoallegenic 700 Fill Power Grey Duck Down</span>
• Measures 50 x 60 Inches – 7 Oz. Filling</span>.
  If you got two, you could have a 14-ounce-fill, 700-FP, quilt by making two or three judicious cuts and a few straight seams.  744 grams = 1.64 pounds.  For $50.  It would be perfectly serviceable and you’d learn a ton of sizing, dimensions, etc.  Keep records while making and keep notes while using it.  Then if you do a MYOG one of even lighter materials, you’ll have it all dialed in.Or you could still be using your first one, 21 years later.

I’ve built 3 down quilts over the last year, and To concur with everyone else, yes I want to make many more. If you want to do one as inexpensive as possible, use the   Ion fabric from dutchwaregear.com for 4.50/yard, use the rosefeather down from amazon and you’re looking about 80$ all in, I’ve built a synthetic Quilt, and it’s ok, but down is way more fun.

I made a 5 oz synthetic quilt and used it quite a bit

It sure is bulky in my pack.  And if you squish it too much the loft will degrade faster, better to pack it more loosely. And it wasn’t quite warm enough.  So I made a down one which is much better.  I have never had an experience where it got wet enough to be a serious problem, although a couple times the foot got wet and a small area lost loft, but it was stupid user error.

Now I’m making another down quilt that’s a little warmer.  And I am benefiting from previous experience.

Sort of like David’s story of the first boat being with cheaper materials.

For that second version, I like to use the best materials so the final product is the lightest possible.

David the EB travel quilts look like an awesome deal.  I will probably order a pair tonight. Down has the compressibility I am looking for and the total weight/cost ratio is better than I expected.

Assuming I sleep with warm socks and winter weight underwear, what temps would this quilt be good at?  Will we get to freezing temps?

Eugene: Great question.  I’ll lay it out alongside a temperature-rated quilt and assess area versus loft and post the results.

Using the EB quilt as a base and finding a loft and temp calculator my guess these are about 1.25 inch thick and good to about 45 – 50 deg f. How close did I get on thickness? ?

Since I’m 5ft 6in, one is just about long enough, so I may have material to make a warmer foot box and maybe a draft collar at the top. Does that make sense?

Sorry, finally got to this.  Comparing an EE quilt rated at 20F and folded layers of that EB throw blanket, it would take three of the EB blankets properly cut and rearranged would give you a 20F quilt.  But at 2.5 pounds and $75, that would be on the heavy side, but cheap for a 20F quilt.

Which doesn’t seem quite right, because twice 7 ounces of 700 FP down shouldn’t be that much less than the 14 ounces of 800 FP in my EE quilt.  Should be 9800 versus 12000 cube cinches (7:8), but it was more like 2:3. Maybe EB is overstating the amount or the FP of their down.

My estimate is that if you used two of the EB blankets, you’d end up with a 35F quilt.  1.6 pounds for a 35F quilt is somewhat heavy, but $50 plus labor is an attractive cost.

Before doing a warmer foot box (because there are these things called “socks” if you need warmer feet), I’d go for a draft collar.  It’s easy to lose a lot of heat out the mouth of the bag/quilt even when you’re still and even more so each time you move a little bit.  A draft collar than hangs down from the quilt, just above your shoulders towards your neck probability adds more warmth/weight than 1-2 ounces aded anywhere else in the system.

A 35 deg quilt at $50 and 1 1/2 lbs, would exceed expectations.  I’m pretty familiar with weight, price, warmth – pick 2.  My old, pre-owned Snugpak is 2 1/2 lbs and barely gets me to 35 deg, so with that quilt I get experience and dump a pound at the same time.

About the sock – I use thick light socks now and they don’t compress well – so if I can go with thinner socks it helps the volume problem too.

I’m ditzing around and haven’t purchased the quilts yet though.

I ended up making a 20F quilt with 3 oz of overstuff.  It was basically an EE Enigma clone.  However, all said and done it was about $180 in materials.  I’m not sure I would do it again since for about $40 more I could purchase a lightly used one.

Hey, just made 15 degree with 67 taffeta. 23.5 oz total.

Total cost was $75 for the fill and another $70ish for the material. Got the  down from Amazon (rose feather) and fabric from RBTR.

Hope this helps!

I managed to buy a ripped 900 fill sleeping bag at REIs garage sale for $15.  While those events are a circus,  the hordes seem to stay away from anything that has feather comming out of it.  A small rip with feathers everywhere makes it look far worse than it is.

wow!  15$?  if nothing else you could salvage the down.  And 900 fill is “the good stuff”.

I completely forgot about REI Garage Sales….spending too much time online I guess. My other OOOPS was a impulse buy Svea stove, derailing funds for the quilt till later this season. I have no idea why I would buy a heavy stove to play with when I’m trying to cut pack weight, but all that brass is so much prettier than my canister stove.