Well, BPL,

You may or may not have been reading my prior posts on here, but regardless, I have decided to make my own shelter. I feel like it is one thing to make a tarp tent shelter, but a Down Bag seems to be in a whole new realm requiring much more skill, know-how and experience.

I have a friend who is very experienced as a seamstress, so I have that going for me. I just need some pointers before I undertake this task.

Questions concerning the bag for now:
1) Mummy, Mummy w/o insulation on bottom or quilt?
2) What fabric is best for lining and where can I get it?
3) For shell?
4) Where can I buy 800 frill down?
5) Where can I get UL zippers?

I appreciate all of you help, guys. You've been the best.

You can get a down quilt kit from thru-hiker.com , they also sell down and I believe lightweight zippers. thru-hiker down is now 900fill I believe.

You can also get 800+fill down from hammockgear.com, it is really nice down.

If you are on a tight budget, backwoodsdaydreamer.com sells 1.1 oz olive ripstop nylon for $3.00 / yd. It is downproof and has a DWR. It is seconds, it has two grey lines running down it but they aren't that noticable. (especially when you only paid 3 bucks a yard).

I used the olive ripstop from BWDD and the 800fill down from hammockgear for an underquilt I made a month ago. I really like these products and the people I bought them from. Great to deal with.

I liked it so much, and the price, I just ordered more of the 1.1 olive fabric for a top quilt along with the .9oz mesh for the baffles. I will be using the 1.1 olive for both the inside and outer fabric.

I will be ordering the hammockgear down as soon as I have the money.

What temp range are you shooting for?

Good luck, and have fun...and take pics


edit: I referenced the olive color because BWDD sells several 1.1oz nylon ripstops, not all are downproof, or breathable.

Edited by momo on 10/13/2010 07:42:58 MDT.

I'm sure some MYOG veterans will chime in but I know from my own research that you can get a lot or all of your materials from thru-hiker.com. I'd recommend Momentum Taffeta on the inside and Momentum Ripstop for the exterior. If you're looking to save some cash go with the 1.1 oz Nylon Ripstop 2nds for both sides (it's different than silnylon). You can also save some money going with synthetic insulation which would be easier to work with at the sewing table but will weight more in the end.

thru-hiker.com

First thing first, you really need to become a paying member for this site. Its definitely worth the $25 to have access to the usually well written articles, like this one:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/MYOG_down_quilt_bag.html

As for a first time project, a quilt (while difficult) is going to be much easier to work with than a full bag. There's a lot of technical know how and tricks that go into making a well designed sleeping bag that justify the 100% or greater markup over materials that bag companies charge. Because a quilt is really just a roughly rectangular down blanket, with a potentially sewn foot box, they're a lot easier to work with and sew.

Once you're more familiar with baffle construction and design, then you can move to a sleeping bag which will come out far nicer than if you just jump straight in (and down is expensive so worth doing it right).

Quilts are also more flexible in use than a full bag or top bag so as a first piece of gear it's always good to have it do as much as possible before making/buying more specialized equipment.

Good luck and keep us apprised of your progress!

EDIT: I definitely would suggest looking at thru-hiker.com as well. They have a seemingly great kit for sale, and they have a MYO-quilt article that should give you a basis for starting the project. The instructions could be more thorough, but the author I think wanted to allow the quilter to learn and design on their own (a tough-love approach).

Edited by upalachango on 10/13/2010 08:55:54 MDT.