I finished my 8 oz Apex Silk quilt today. The idea was to keep things as simple as possible. I have a 16 oz Enlightened Equipment top bag for colder weather so I wanted something lighter for 50-55f or warmer. Total construction time was about an hour. I started off with 2.4 oz Climashield Apex and 4.5mm silk from Thai Silks. A box of orange Rit dye gave it some color. The final dimensions are 70" long and 38" at its widest. The full 38" width continues for 42" and tapers slightly for the foot end. I originally planned to make it a sleeping bag by adding a piece to the bottom. After trying it this way I think it will stay a quilt. The final weight is 8.1 oz or 8.3 oz in a 5x10" Cuben stuff sack. I'll get to try it out in a week!

how did you close off the footbox?
I just ordered some of the same silk and 3oz primaloft to make a similar project.

Looks good.

-Will

Nice Bender!

Simple is good...and very UL!!!

Bender,

Nice quilt! +1 for simple is good.

"...4.5mm silk from Thai Silks".

I am totally unfamiliar with silk weights and types. How did you choose the silk that you used for your quilt?

Can you or someone else clarify how silk fabric is "classified" and "weighted"?

Was the silk that you ordered this stock number?

Code: 022F-000
Style: Natural White
Type: 100% Silk, Natural


The 4.5mm spec leaves me totally clueless. To get the lightest pratical silk do you have to settle for the natural silk? Any plans to spray on a coat of Revivex to the exterior of your quilt?

Party On,

Newton

Edited by Newton on 05/20/2011 08:33:45 MDT.

John,

In this case mm stands for momme.

For my calculations 1 mm = 3.543672g
4.5mm = 16g
5mm = 17g
6mm = 21g
8mm = 28g

I bought 4.5mm 021H from ThaiSilks.com on sale but dharmatrading.com has it cheaper now. I have no plans to use a DWR but I hear it works well on silk.

Edited by Bender on 05/20/2011 08:38:51 MDT.

Silk is comfortable against your skin?

The 4.5mm is strong enough to survive many nights of backpacking?

Bender,

Yep I did a little internet research and determined that the mm is a "momme", pronounced "mummy", and is equal to about 3.62 grams or .127691742 ounces per square yard.

My info is a little diffrent than your figures but it works out to 16.29 g or 0.574612 oz per square yard for your silk fabric.

Truly ultralight!

Wow! I think I'll be sleeping under a silk and Apex quilt this year on the AT.

Party On,

Newton

Edited by Newton on 05/20/2011 09:13:28 MDT.

The quilt looks really comfortable, and the weight is amazing.

I made a simple silk liner out of the dharmatrading 4mm silk back in December and it is very comfortable next to skin and weighs very little. I love getting into that thing on a cold night on the trail.

Thanks for the pronunciation, Newton. I had never looked it up but think I have pronounced it differently every time I've said it.

I am curious about the durability of it as well. I decided against silk on my quilt for that reason, but the weight reduction is so tempting I would really like to know how it works out for you in the future.

Also, what kind of stitch did you use on the quilt? I was told that silk will unravel very quickly so a good stitch was necessary. I was offered the use of a serger for my liner but my girlfriend suggested to use stitch witchery to just bind it together and make it a 20 minute project.

does 38' really give enough coverage? 38" is very very narrow, even narrower than the ARC edge, which is a little quilt. interested in how that works in the field.

-Tim

I was wondering the same thing on the width. I'm planning to make a similar silk and synthetic quilt, but I was thinking 48" for the width.

So just to make sure I am understanding correctly, you used the stitch witchery tape instead of sewing, or did you use it to bind the edges of the silk so they didn't come unravelled?

I used it instead of sewing. It was REALLY simple, just take a piece of silk and fold it over lengthwise. Then I used stitch witchery to create a seam along the foot and length. This way it worked as sewing together as well as binding it to prevent unraveling.

Also, I just made a 48" wide quilt out of Apex and it worked very well, I have been meaning to take pictures and post it and just haven't gotten around to it yet. Based on the length and width, I'm guessing the poster is just smaller than me though.

Tim I'm not very wide, I measured 42-43" around the shoulders, so I think 38" for a quilt will work. I wear a 38" size suit jacket. The Top Bag you made for me is about 58" circumference and its fine. I didn't put much effort into this but it still gives me new respect for Tim's work!

I pinned and sewed everything; no stitch witchery involved!

I need a synthetic quilt.

I went to http://www.dharmatrading.com . Which product did you use specifically? What kind of thread did you use? What are the properties of silk? Does it retain moisture or dry fast? I know it's tough stuff, puncture resistant.

How much money do you have in materials there?

Nice work!

Thanks ahead of time if you entertain any of my questions.

Depending on which APEX you choose it's roughly $60 or $80 for major materials before shipping (2.5 vs 5.0 oz insulation). This doesn't include little expenses like thread.

Poly thread works with silk. 4.5mm seems to be strong enough for outdoor gear assuming you take care of it. Definitely not bombproof but with care should last a while. Not sure about moisture properties though, but given that this is most likely for a warm weather bag, there should be enough body heat to dry it out quickly enough regardless.

Is the silk described as silk gauze like this?

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3687-AA.shtml?lnav=fabric_silk.html

You want the habotai silk. Bender ordered from Thai Silks which has 4.5mm habotai. Dharma trading only has 5mm habotai, but the weight difference is negligible and it's about $1.50 less per yard.

For temperatures where I'm going in a quilt in bare skin, I'm a fan of silk for the interior and momentum for the exterior. For colder temps where I'm wearing an insulation layer, the silk can bind up on clothing, so I use an all momentum shell.

I've never tried silk on inside and outside. My concern is that an outer shell of lightweight silk would allow wind to penetrate the quilt too easily. I'm curious how well it works.

As far as durability, 5mm habotai silk is strong enough for me.

I'm in a fully enclosed tent so I don't get all the drafts when battened down. I'll be trying it out this weekend. I would love to use it for warm weather bike-packing trips.

I had a chance to try this out and overall I'm happy with it. If I were to do it again I would make it a little wider. On my back it was fine but on my side the extra width would be nice. Temperatures were down to 53f and I was perfectly warm using my 8.3 oz uninsulated airmat.