Costco down throw ?

I would have to think that inside it would just get compressed and not add a ton of warmth unless you have a huge bag. Thrown over your sleeping bag it would augment your sleep system’s warmth.

Yeah I figured it would also compress the loft.

Would the compression outpace the additional insulating value? It may not be ideal, but it probably won’t be colder.  Over will be warmer too, but I think it depends a lot on your size relative to the bags size as to which is warmest

adds ~10F … and inside is warmer as on the outside it isnt enclosed some would lose warmth and can shift very easily

the compression isnt a big deal, no worse than wearing a thin down sweater

however in humid conditions putting it on the outside would preserver the loft of your bag, sacrificing the costco quilt

its the cheapest, but not the lightest, way to add 10F or so short of a VBL

;)

+1 to putting the throw inside the bag for warmth and ease of use

I use these down throws a lot when traveling and in my camper. I know some folks reckon they are not breathable enough for backpacking applications though.

I throw mine over my 20° EE quilt during winter months to add comfort/warmth and it works quite effectively for that purpose.

Less warmth than you’ll get from one of the Sea to Sky silk liners but at three times the weight and bulk.  The reactor is +15 at 8oz and $60, reactor + is +20. I use a +15 with a Flex 30 for nights in the teens and love that it covers my head and neck. The silk ones are 4oz and $80 for +10f.
I love the costco throws but they are way too bulky and heavy to use for an extra 10 degrees of warmth.

I have a Costco down throw that I sewed a drawcord into to close the footbox.  I use it alone in the summer and as an overbag for my WM Summerlite or one of my kid’s bags in the winter.  It works for my purposes.

I’m curious where all of these temperature numbers are coming from.  And how does a silk liner provide the same warmth as a quilt with two layers of fabric, insulation, and ~< 1″ of loft?

wisner, because the silk (+5 or +10) or capline/fleece (+15-20) fully wraps around you and keeps your head and neck warm. Try one sometime, they are great when needed and can be a standalone bag for 65+ nights in the summer.

Can’t speak to where others get their temp estimates only my own personal experience that showed the costco stuffed inside my quilt made less difference than the +15 Reactor. The 15 degree Reactor and a 32 degree bag were more than enough on a 20 degree (inside the unheated yurt) 3 night trip I used them in. The Costco quilt is now my dog’s sleeping bag.

craig …

someone like richard can (or has already) crunched the numbers …

but basically there is no way on gods green earth that a thin silk liner will be as warm as a costco down throw

theres been enough threads on the S2S liners on BPL over the years … one can search for BPLers experience with the “warmth” claims

;)

Reading comprehension seems to be a lost art….

<span class=”Apple-style-span”>The silk ones are 4oz and $80 for +10f.
I love the costco throws but they are way too bulky and heavy to use for an extra 10 degrees of warmth.</span>

ahhhh … the snarkiness is back ….

how a thin silk liner can be as warm as a down throw … well thats a question that requires some magical thinking

we really should ask richard to come up with the numbers when he has time

;)

My apologies, I didn’t realize I wrote “silk” in my first posting above so I see how you can be confused. I was wondering why you guys were all up in arms but yeah, no, the silk is (probably, I don’t own the silk) not as warm. I should specify the 15 an 20 degree versions are not silk, they are a R1 like fleece material. I wrote that above but see how you could be confused.
In my personal experience of many nights sleeping in the snow with them, the +15 S2S reactor liner is in fact warmer as part of my system vs. stuffing a costco throw. They aren’t equal as the S2S covers the head and warms under you so it’s not an apples to apples comparison. I’ve used the +15 S2S with a 32 degree bag to be comfortable at measured 19 degrees inside a yurt and with a Flex 30 to be comfortable in the teens. Most relevant is that I’ve used it with an ancient bag that’s probably not better than 50 degrees to go down to the low 30’s whereas the costco throw combined with that same bag on a trip that had 40 degree nights left me very uncomfortable, actually some of the worst cold nights I’ve had in recent years. Plus as I mentioned, even if the S2S increased the range 3-4 degrees less it still would be better in most situations as it’s less than 1/2 the weight and 1/3rd the bulk.

FYI, I think they may have these again.  Also, cheaper!? :)

on sale, TWO pack,  $32 off of $40.

https://www.costco.com/Double-Black-Diamond-Packable-Down-Throw-2-pack.product.100314979.html

cheers.

Yeah, today is the last day that the Costco down throws are discounted to $16 each. Tomorrow they go back up to $20 (+ sales tax).

I thought I would report on my first outdoor experience with a couple of Costco down throws that we (my friend Barb and I) converted into largish quilts. In the following photo, you can see that the blue one was extended at the head end with two additional rows of quilting. I’m 6 feet tall, so this allows me to pretty much cover my whole head.

The gray/silver one is just the stock quilt, but Barb was able to sew a perfectly sized piece of Pertex Quantum to the entire top side (the outside). I applied a very generous amount of Atsko DRW the night before I drove up to Barb’s to do the actual work.

All I did to the quilts was to sew the foot end with a strong whip stitch by hand (rather time consuming). Then I sewed a 24″ foot box. This was done at home. Then Barb chose to reinforce any potential stress area with her sewing machine. The photo shows the 2 quilts positioned opposite each other – the head end of the blue one with the foot end of the gray/silver one on top, just to show the foot box.

Keep in mind that the intent of these quilts isn’t so much for outdoor use, but more likely to use while crashing on a friend’s floor (i.e., “house camping”). These quilts are luxuriously wide, working perfectly with a plush 25″ wide pad. But I also think they would work well in warmer climates, such as Hawaii or Costa Rica where the nighttime lows probably wouldn’t get below 60* F. But then I wanted to find out just what the lower temperature rating might be. My chance came last week.

My friend JR and I wanted to do a 2-night truck camp at our favorite super-secret campsite and have a couple of campfires before there might be a state-wide fire ban (SW Colorado is on fire right now, and it’s a matter of time). The nighttime lows were predicted to be +50* F up there – perfect for my testing.

Here is my setup. I slept in a large-for-one-guy MSR Fast Stash tent. I had both quilts with me, as well as a Marmot Hydrogen bag for a bail option if the Costco quilts failed miserably. My pad was an old 2.5″ thick Thermarest LE, which is 77″ x 25″ with an R rating of 7.0. For sleep clothing I wore merino socks, T-shirt, and boxer briefs. I also wore a set of ECWCS (top and bottoms) that Dale Wambaugh kindly sold to me. I wore a TNF Summit hat to sleep in, and I brought a plush down pillow (remember, this is truck camping, so…). I placed a digital kitchen thermometer next to me so that I could monitor the ground temperature inside the tent all night. It was 55* F when I went to bed at 10 PM.

I slept like a baby in the longer blue quilt. That is, until I had to get up for a pee break at 4 AM. The temperature was 47* F. At 5 AM it flirted with 46* F, but it mainly seemed to bottom out at 47* F. The second night I switched to the gray/silver/Pertex quilt. The results that night were identical to the night before – I was perfectly comfortable, the low temperature was again 47* F, and I had a great night’s sleep.

So what did I learn from this? I believe that both quilts performed pretty much equally, and that both would probably work well at 45* F. Dare I suggest 40* F? Probably not, but who can say? By the way, in a previous thread about these Costco quilts, it was mentioned that they don’t breathe well at all. Neither night did I sense that the quilts were absorbing moisture from my body’s transpiration. I weighed both quilts when I returned home, and they weighed the same as before I left home for the trip. So if there actually was some moisture trapped somewhere, it must have collected in my sleep clothing.

So there you have it. I’m actually rather tickled with the performance of my quilts. I prefer the longer blue one because of its length, but I hope to find the right conditions on my patio to see how the gray/silver one with the Pertex Quantum handles a light rain. The most amazing thing about my quilts is how bloody roomy they are. When coupled with a 25″ wide pad they are comfortable beyond my wildest dreams.

And Bob’s your uncle…

Very nice, Gary (and Barb)!

I use a lot of UL gear and concepts including not-3-season-capable UL gear to reduce my baggage when traveling and to have just-in-case gear if I’m unexpected benighted in an airport.

Thanks, David. So the geeky quests continue, no?