I'll be following this closely. I'd love to have an 8 oz. quilt for 50+ degrees. Or 55-60+.

Joe,

As soon as the semester is over I'm looking at making some warm weather synth quilts. I'm in AZ and also would love something for fast summer jaunts, and the monsoon. Actually running the figures for my earlier post in this thread really convinced me (especially using silk). With climashield apex being so easy to work with and cheap compared to down, it's hard to NOT make some.

From what I've looked at I'll probably make both a 2.5oz and a 5.0oz weight quilt with 4.5mm silk (seems to work well for Bill Fornshell and he knows his stuff). Also at just ~.67oz/yd^2 it's really hard to pass up.

I don't have the MYOG experience to make very accurate projections, but I'm thinking the 2.5oz weight will come in under 10oz easily (using 2.16oz/yd^2 polarguard delta Fornshell made a 8.76oz quilt). The 5.0 oz should give something around 15-16oz total weight. Cost wise we're looking at both well under $100 each so my student self is rather happy on that front too.

Gotta say, I'm rather excited. I've been dragging my feet on making any gear for a long time now and finally I have a project that seems easy enough to cut my teeth on and actually helps me get rid of a crappy down bag I have that weighs nearly 2.5lbs and barely keeps me warm near freezing with all my insulating layers on!

Edited by upalachango on 05/06/2011 21:58:03 MDT.

What is the expected life span of a synthetic quilt? One of the reasons I prefer a down quilt is that it will last me at least 10 years if cared for properly. It's worth the extra effort and cost to make a down quilt knowing how long it will last.

I have used my synthetic sleeping bag for maybe 4 years, 250 nights

It started with 3/4 inch loft but it now has 1/2 inch and is getting not warm enough for many trips, so maybe it's real "lifetime" was some fraction of 250 nights

I loosely pack it and then stuff more things in between and on top so it gets compressed some, but not a lot

I bet if you compressed it a lot in a stuff sack, like you can do with down, the synthetic would lose loft sooner

Sure synthetic does not last as long as down. But you always have the draw back of down getting wet and clumping in to little balls . Some will say throwing tennis balls in the dryer at low heat will get the loft back. But I would think the tennis balls slamming around the dryer drum would damage the down loft retention also. I will stick with my synthetic at least it keeps me warm and you can air dry it quickly
after a not planed water soaking and still use the bag in the wild.
Terry

I received my ThaiSilks order today! I didn't get the actual dimensions but the weight for 5 yds of 4.5mm silk was 4.5 oz. That works out to 0.6 oz or 17g per square yard. I'll get more precise measurements later on. Shipping was calculated at over $7 but they only charged $2.43. The coupon code worked so the total was $24.18 shipped. I'll check out Dharma Trading I order again.

Or you could buy the rectangular, synthetic fill, full length zip Eddie Bauer 50 degree bag that can be unzipped & used as a quilt, mated to to another for sharing, or used like a sleeping bag. Weight is 16 oz. Cost $22. I know it's not DIY, but it sure is cheap & easy!

>Or you could buy the rectangular, synthetic fill, full length zip Eddie Bauer 50 degree bag that can be unzipped & used as a quilt, mated to to another for sharing, or used like a sleeping bag. Weight is 16 oz. Cost $22. I know it's not DIY, but it sure is cheap & easy!<

Likely you get what you pay for;^)

-Mark

I'd have to agree with the Mark on getting what you pay for. Seeing as many other 40-50F cheap synth bags weight 3lbs and can cost up to $50, I'd question the EB bag.

This is before I even take into account the fact that most companies grossly exaggerate temperatures of their lower end gear...