I am thinking about adding some down to the footbox of a Golite Ultra 20 I recently aquired. I do not have much sewing experirence, however, I did take "Home Economics" about 20 years ago in middle school. I turned the Ultra 20 inside out and was trying to find a seam that could be "ripped" apart, but havent' found one. I was thinking about taking a razor blade and slicing a 1" slit in the baffle (on the inside of the bag) and adding a little down to some of the underfilled baffles and stitching it back together. It will not look professionally done, but it will be on the inside and should not be that obvious. Is this a bad idea? I was going to use polyester thread. Any advice?

You might be better off glueing

You can use McNett Seam Grip or Shoe Goo

Take a small piece of nylon 1/2 inch bigger than the slit all the way around, smear glue all over one side of the patch, stick it on, let it dry for 24 hours

Try it once on scrap material first

You might be better off glueing

You can use McNett Seam Grip or Shoe Goo

Take a small piece of nylon 1/2 inch bigger than the slit all the way around, smear glue all over one side of the patch, stick it on, let it dry for 24 hours

Try it once on scrap material first

check out this guy's blog.....He'd probably answer specific ?s too!

http://heberhiking.blogspot.com/2010/11/enhancing-golite-ultra-20.html

This is what it looks like using your idea as you described. Works for me.

I have already done a few baffles, but am concerned the seams will come undone. Have you had any problems with stiching coming undone?

No problems, yet...I always have needle and thread for field repairs. Down showing was trapped in the seam as I sewed it shut.

stephan

good chance you won;t find the magic seam that will allow you to add down and reclose it nicely. somebody would make a tidy little business adding down and simply ironing a round patch onto the hole on the inside. i'd pay for that.
have you washed, thoroughly washed, your bag yet ? or is it just one of those deficient sob's that need help ?

it is February and i a moment ago got bit by a frikk'n Mosquito !!!!
dam.

v.

I have finished adding down to about half of the baffles on the Ultra 20. I am only doing 1-2 at a time, it probally wouldn't take more than a few hours if I did it all at once, but I am kind of lazy. So far I have added about an an ounce of down and an satisfied. I think ading 2 oz total should make it perfect. If I held it up to the light before, you could see throught it in parts, but not now. It easily has 3" of loft now. I made the incision on the inside of the quilt, and while it doesn't look stock, it looks good enough to me. I highly reccomend this for a first MYOG.

I would add that using/adding either seam grip or shoe goo to the incision sew up will make it bomb proof. Use a tooth pick, get some goo on it, pull it down the length of the repair. It will be stronger than the other seams on the bag.