For a hiking quilt?
I am 5' 8" and about 190 pounds.
I have a shoulder girth of about 28"

I want to make an lightweight down quilt with baffles.
This will not be my first attempt at making my own gear. I am good with a sewing machine. I just need some rough ideas of the dimensions others have used, along with materials used.

Thanks in advance

There are some pretty good instructions on Thru-Hiker.com for making a Down Quilt.

First off ... the 28 inch number must be a mistype ... you probably meant 58 inches. For really good coverage I would add 10 to 12 inches wider than your Girth .... for 58 inches, I would make it about 70 inches wide.

At worst case, laying on your side with the quilt tucked around you, on a sleeping pad, a 70 inch wide quilt would only have about 10 inches of overlap on each side to keep out drafts.

If you want to look at a smaller than 70 inch quilt, then I would take a look at Bill Forshell's quilt project threads and pick up some ideas for how you'll fasten the quilt to the pad to keep out drafts.

Also ... a bivy helps a lot with a quilt to manage heat loss due to the wind.

On the OWFInc.com website, under insulation they are selling a polyester continuous filament insulation. In the notes is states that it is "Top of the line..." but "Cannot use the name in print." What is this insulation?

It is Polarguard 3D. They will tell you if you call them.

The Climashield Combat they are now selling is a better insulation than the 3D.

Edited by bfornshell on 12/27/2006 10:15:56 MST.

Their website says that Combat is "coming soon" ....

Did they have it in stock when you called them Bill?

Edited by flash582 on 12/27/2006 14:00:18 MST.

Yes, OWF has Climashield Combat in stock at this time.

I talked to them a few days ago while ordering something else and asked if or when they would get it. They said it had come in that morning. It would be available to sell in a few days. They have a 1-800 number so you can call them.

Edited by bfornshell on 12/27/2006 14:07:35 MST.

Hey Cameron,

I have made 3 quilts and can now spit one out in under 8 hours. I also found a few short-cuts to make it easier and lighter.

For Baffles, I make them only in the middle 40” , (36” for me). The cut size of baffles would be 42“ long so it can be sewn 1“ past the 40“ lines on each side, (in order to close off the vertical lines.

For a 3” loft quilt, I would use 2” baffles. This means that the cut size of each baffle would be 2 1/2", for an extra 1/4” to sew to each side.

For you dimintions I would go 84” in length with a draw closure at the feet, (needs to be about 6-8” longer for the closure).
For the width go 64”, only 40” of that would be baffled. For the remaining 12” on each side, use two 6” sewn-thru vertical compartments with only ½ of the down loft in them. The compartments taper and will be tucked under you so the extra loft is not needed.

When sewing the quilt, sew up one side, the bottom, (adding the draw closure), and the 2 vertical lines on the same side you sewed the side up, (for the two side vertical compartments). Remember, the inside vertical line should have 1” of the baffles sticking out so it seals the baffled compartments.

Now fill the 2 vertical compartments. Then sew the top closed, (sealing the 2 vertical compartments). Make sure you do not sew the last 12” on the top so you can fill the 2 vertical compartments on the other side later.

Next fill the baffled compartments, (with 6” spacing you would have 14 compartments). Use a cardboard piece from wrapping paper to stuff the down into the compartments in order to keep the down at the bottom.

Then sew the 2 vertical lines and the side that hasn’t been sewn.
Now all you have to do is fill the last 2 vertical compartments and sew the rest of the top. Then sew the bottom part together and you are done.
You could have also added a closure to the top of the bag.


The bottom of the bag would be 40” as far up as you wanted to sew it together.
I would recommend 42”.

Now comes the weight of the bag.
40” width times the length 84” = 3360ci
64”- 40” (already calculated divided by 2 for each side) times 24” (to were it starts to taper) -
24” X 12” X 2 (for each side) = 576ci
Tapered area is ½ of 22” X 12” X 2 = 264ci

Total = 4200ci

If using 800 fill and 3” loft in the center and 1 ½” on the sides you will need:
3360ci needs 4.2 ounces for each inch
(X 3 = 12.6 ounces).
Divide by 14 and covert to grams for each compartment.
576 + 264 = 840ci needs 1.05 ounces per inch
(X 1.5 = 1.575)
Total of 14.1 ounces of down.

Fabric - the momenteun90 from thru-hiker is awesome. At 1.05 ounces per sq yard it is also very light.
The fabric pieces would be 4200ci each. The 13 baffles would add 1365ci.
4200 X 2 + 1365 = 9765 Divided by 1296 = 7.54sq yards X 1.05 (fabric weight) = 7.9 ounces of fabric.
7.9 + 14.1 = 22 ounce for the quilt weight. Add about 0.2 ounces for each draw closure and 0.1 for the thread and you have a 22.5 ounce quilt with 3” of loft you can take down to 20* with your clothing.

Not bad at all.
Hope this helps.

Edited by awsorensen on 01/01/2007 15:04:43 MST.