I'm investigating making my own synthetic quilt. I'm pretty much ready to order the Jardine kit, and make it myself.

I guess my main question is if I should bother ordering the "Alpine Upgrade" with the order (2@ 0.9" layers, as opposed to 2@0.75" layers).

I am mainly looking for Northeast/Mid-Atlantic areas of use (AT sections). I typically go from early May to early October.

Any suggestions? I'm kinda ruling out down, because of the wet loft issue.

My wife and I used a two-person Jardine quilt w/alpine upgrade to the low 40's with no problem, and it should go lower. When I got warm I just stuck a foot or leg or arm out the side, or pulled it lower down on my chest. I put a thin hat on once in a while. We did not use it above the lower 50's though.

The alpine upgrade may be a bit warm for part of your trip. I would check the website and follow Jardine's recommendations. You might be better off without the upgrade, but have something extra to wear at night when it gets cold, perhaps a jacket and warm hat.

It also depends on whether you sleep warm or cold.

Better consult a crystal ball...

My notes say I made the "deluxe" model. Using a double layer means the quilt is warm, but very bulky. It takes up a lot of room. It fills the rather large stuff sack. Check with Ray's company by phone. Have you totally ruled out down? Down is lighter and compacts small. I have not had any problems using down on the AT.
http://home.comcast.net/~neatoman/quilt.htm
Someone made a Primaloft quilt with a 2" loft and slept comfortable at 20 degrees.
http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/make-quilt/index.html

Edited by rambler on 11/21/2007 19:53:30 MST.

depends on your needs. I sleep hot and found his ratings to be very conservative even by my normal standards. The XP is warmer than 3D per weight, and probably per loft. I wish i knew what weight of insulation he uses instead of loft because clo/layer would be a much better way of estimating warmth than his classic but incorrect loft measurements.

Depending heavily on measurement correctness (there is A LOT of difference when it comes to 1/10th of an inch from person to person), 1.8" of XP would be 7.5oz/ sq yd according to thru-hiker measurements , giving a clo of 6.15. I would rate this to 10* or so . I would rate my .6"/ 2.5oz/yd xp quilt to 45*.

If you could find the weight of insulation in the .75" and .9" layers, available data can give you a good estimate to what the quilt would be good for. good luck

I've made a jardine quilt with the alpine upgrade out of the old 3D and upgraded this year to a MYO quilt of my own design using XP. The XP is a lot less bulky for the same warmth, even though it has a lot less loft.

There are a number of threads in the MYOG section of this forum with a number of different quilts that people have made.

I would agree, as well, that one layer of 2.5 layer XP would be good to 45, one layer of 5 oz XP to 25, at least for me.

Mark, Dave,

Thanks for the advice. I'm thinking about going with the 5oz XP. However, what should my shopping list include?

What type of Momentum should I go with? Taffeta or Ripstop? How many yards?

Also how many yards of XP should I get?

This is a great project for me between semesters.

it shouldn't make much difference at all which momentum you get, i guess color preference would be the deal maker.

As far as quantity goes, 5 yards of momentum should do the trick. You should have nearly a yard left over. Im 6'1 and found that 74-78" lengths work well for me. If you want to splice some xp pieces together, it would be possible to get away with 2 yards of the 5 oz. I would recommend getting 3 yards and making a hat, pillow, and maybe adding a little more insulation to the foot end with the leftovers. You will definitely want a hat of comparable warmth in a quilt.

I did my first quilt Christmas break 3 years ago. it took over 8 hours and was super sloppy. It worked well though. good luck!

Trying to cut costs here, but still get 'er done. I was thinking about a 2-color quilt. With me being 5'10", could I get away with 2 yards of each color? Or would I be better off with 2.5 - 3 yards of each color?

Based on that, I think that I may be able to get away with 2 yards of the 5oz. Where would I splice the insulation together? In the footbox?

Also, would this be an acceptable pattern to use?


Any other extras that I should add? Zippered / velcro footbox? Neck closure bungee?

2 yards would only give you a 6 foot long quilt. If you sew a flat footbox that quilt would only come up to your shoulders ... not quite long enough. I'm 5'10" and I tried this once upon a time ..... didn't work for me.

2.5 yards is the minimum IMO.

I ordered 5 yards of the momentum ripstop and 4 yards of 2.5 oz basis weight XP, then folded the XP at the base and doubled up the thickness up to mid stomach level. This gave me 2.5 oz on the top and 5 oz on the bottom. I then wear my high loft pullover to bed. I've had this down to the mid 20's this way and was comfy.

I used ripstop for the inside and the outside because if I tear/burn one side I wanted to be able to turn the quilt inside out and still have a unbroken momentum top to face the weather. Cost with Shipping was around $110 for the materials.


Myself, I would order 3 yards of the 5oz basis weight so I didn't have to mess with basting ... and then use the extra for other projects, but you could get away with 2 yards and some basting from the side pieces .... you'll have to quilt the quilt with yarn loops or something similar to stabilize the basted pieces, however, so if you're going to baste, there's no need to use momentum for the inside that you're going to yarn quilt the insulation to, so just use regular DWR nylon at less than half the price. The weight penalty is about a half ounce.

In fact .... your really on a budget, you may want to consider using standard DWR nylon on both sides and plan on using a Bivy. I really like working with the Momentum, however, for a ounce more you could save about $40.

Something to consider

A drawstring along the top is nice to "shape" the quilt to your shoulders.

One last note ... I went back to a quilt because I'm clostrophobic in a bag, and I went to synthetics because I'm that 100th guy that, for some screwed up reason, keeps getting his down bag damp or wet at least twice a year. I had a really hard time starting a fire on my Summer trip to the Pecos Wilderness and with a wet me and a damp bag I was facing a really bad night, wet windy, with temps at around freezing. Luckily I was able to sacrifice my cotton sleep shirt and with that and a bit of vasaline, I managed to get wood that had sat out in two weeks of rain to dry out enough to get a fire going.

My 20 degree, 18 oz, oversize synth quilt is here to stay.

Edited by flash582 on 11/26/2007 13:40:38 MST.

I'm in the process of making a 2-person Ray-Way quilt with the alpine upgrade and split zip. It will be used for my 2008 AT southbound thru hike. My boyfriend and I are both about 5'5, so there is some leftover insulation. I was considering using the extra insulation as a third layer for the upper half of the quilt, to add some warmth. The additional bulk should not be a problem because of the split zip.

I need some advice because I have no idea what the weather will be like in New England. Will the triple layer be too warm? I have heard vague rumors that you can still get snowy weather in the White Mountains during the summer. I want to be prepared for cold weather, and I figure if it's warm I can always stick an arm or leg outside the quilt. I tend to be a cold sleeper.

What sort of weather should I expect, and is the 3rd layer a good idea? We will be starting from Katahdin in mid June.

thanks!!

White Mountain weather can be very unpredictable so I'm always a bit conservative in my preparations.

As a suggestion for your left over insulation, you may want to consider making insulated balaclavas. Generally, warm head gear makes a nice complement to a quilt set-up.

that quilt would be far less than 6' b/c of seam allowances plus accounting for the loft of the quilt would make it another inch or two shorter. You would do well to add 2-4" to the length of the pattern. The width should be fine, but a little extra room never hurt anyone. the beauty w/ MYOG is you can make it however you want.

You can't order 1/2 yards from thru-hiker, so it would be out of the question to get 2.5 yds of each color :(

I am looking at this project as well. I am wanting to use down. what would be a ballpark temp rating for around 3.5" of 800 fill down? I am looking for something that can be used for winter here in the smokies. lows can get to single digits, but generally stay in the teens.

Having made the same quilt with the extra layers (10 degree model) I can say that while I'd hoped the quilt design would be nice I found it to be a liability for me for anywhere near temp range. And yes, I made extra, extra wide draft stoppers.

Sure, under perfect conditions it would keep you warm but it had several strikes against the design in my particular use. I guess I just move to much but even being diligent about keeping the draft stoppers in place I had major trouble with it. I used it in 14 degree weather several times with tons of extra clothes, hand warmers, no wind, very dry and in a good tent and got to that scarey level of cold that I was very concerned to go to sleep.

I think beyond the typical movement draft issue is the lack of proper hoods. I layered on balaclavas and neck gaiters but I never found I could keep the top of the bag from billowing out my warm air. I think this is far less of an issue for moderate temps but becomes significantly important below freezing.

I'm fine in a quilt for down to 45 but any lower and the occasional drafts really chilled me down enough to ruin a good nights sleep.

I ended up selling it to a friend who is in turn looking to either sell it or at least modify it heavily due to drafts. Sure you can pair it with a bivy sack to remove drafts but even with one the bulk of synthetic for the 10 degree system is asking a lot. Even with other UL gear taking it means a bigger back with it taking up 2/3 of the pack.

I've since changed to a quality down system with some synthetic clothing as backup. With modern fabrics, careful packing, careful camping I've can honestly say I've never gotten the down wet at all even in very damp conditions and I've been far happier with the results (lower bulk, better warmth/weight ratio).

If your going to make a zero degree quilt, I would look at Bill Forshell's posts on his hoodless sleeping bag design in this forum at an earlier date.

Michael, thank you for your suggestion! in fact I think there may be enough leftover insulation for two balaclavas and a vest as well.

I'm hesitant to add the extra insulation to the quilt itself, and find out that it is not necessary, but still have to carry the quilt the whole way! Or I could make my boyfriend carry it and not worry. ;-)

Booties are also a nice thing to have and are not that hard to make