Bushwalk Australia

I just finished another DIY down quilt, this time a winter quilt with a more shaped design. Inspiration is obviously coming from the Katabatic gear quilts as well as various DIY projects (such as this masterpiece: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... gination=1 and this one: https://outlivingblog.wordpress.com/201 ... /quilting/) and also from the general shape and proportion of tight fitting mummy bags.

I decided to go all out on the colours this time and used Argon 90 in purple for the shell and the 1.0oz/sq yard nylon taffeta in racing red from Ripstop by the Roll (the colours are pretty inaccurate in the pictures. It's filled with 535g of 800 fill down with a total weight of 766g (feels positively heavy after handling my lighter quilts). I'm thinking the rating is something like -10C.

The quilt has a ~10cm differential cut between the shell and liner for the whole length and the liner has a width of 133cm (52") at its widest point, the footbox girth is about 98cm (39"). The quilt is long and will come right over my (175cm) head when lying straight and could be used by someone significantly taller than me but should allow me options for extra head warmth in cold conditions.

Anyway, without further ado, pictures:






The quilt has already headed off on its first tour of duty with my parents in Greenland (just got it done in time) and I can't wait to get it back and test it out myself!

Magnificent job Mike well done.

Looks awesome. I like that collar!

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Fantastic. I'll be interested to hear how that design works compared with a more "normal" quilt.

Well done.

A

Cheers all,

I feel like I might have gone slightly overboard with the collar Strider, but it is very plush and comfortable feeling. I'm a bit surprised more commercial quilts don't have a similar collar as I feel it is a really nice feature to have.

I'll be very interested to see how the design compares to a more traditional quilt as well Andrew. I've had really good experiences with my other quilts, which are more standard but with sewn in footbox, so I didn't try this design because others didn't work for me. I partially just wanted to try it as something different from what I've made before and partly I thought the design might have some advantages in terms of the quilt wrapping around you nicely. It certainly felt nice when I tried lying in it in the living room just after I finished but I'll have to wait for a proper test.

The design certainly looks like it would wrap around you better thank normal quilt. A bit like a sleeping bag with its *&%$#! cut out! I don't really understand the collar. My quilts are Roger Caffin style where I can pull the central curved bit up over my head, or poke my head out as needed. I also note some small vertically orientated baffles around the shoulders...

Anyway, it looks a very nice production.

A

What attachment system does it use?

So retro. Awesome job

Very nice work indeed.

Good job !

I guess it comes down to personal preference how to finish the top of a quilt and there are a number of ways that will work, I tried the Caffin style in a mockup and felt it didn't work too well for me, particularly when on my back. I guess it's a personal preference thing. I have made my quilts long enough to pull largely (or in the case of this one, completely) over my head if needed and it felt more flexible to me this way. What I was saying about the collar is I think it is a nice feature to have compared to quilts that also have a flat top edge but no collar, i.e. the drawcord channel is the highest point.

Yeah, I included some small vertically oriented baffles near the edge in the top half of the quilt as an extra down control measure, they're at a width that still allows them to be tucked under me when side sleeping so that in a cold situation most of the down at the edges can be pushed past those baffles into the central part and the quilt to optimise warmth when the quilt is tightly wrapped around you. In the quick play around I had before sending the quilt off I felt that they maybe don't do as much as in the previous flat quilts I've made, perhaps due to the shaping of the quilt and perhaps becausee it's a thicker, warmer quilt. I will have to see when I get the chance to test it myself.

The pad attachment system is basically the same as the Enlightened Equipment, Katabatic Gear and UGQ systems, I used flat centre release buckles sewn to the edge of the quilt which mate with buckles on pad straps. The buckles can move on the pad straps allowing the quilt to be drawn in more tight, or let out to be more roomy. It seems like an effective system, I only need to use it near the temp limit of the quilt but others who have used my quilts found it helped them a lot if they weren't used to using a quilt.

As for the colours, I was very much going for a retro vibe. The shell is much more purple in reality but I only got crappy phone pics.

Beautiful workmanship. Very impressive.
It will feel so nice to sleep in that in the cold of winter, especially knowing that you made it yourself.

I wonder, as the difference between a bag and a quilt necessarily narrows with a winter quilt/bag, is the relative weight savings of a quilt vs a bag as large as with a summer version? What about the absolute weight savings? Have you made this comparison or is it too hard to do in an apples to apples fashion given the squirrelly nature of temperature ratings?

By the way, I love the photos. I keep seeing big red lips:

Haha, the collar did end up a bit more 'luscious' than I intended, but I do like it. It's an interesting question about the bag vs quilt situation as you go to colder temperatures. Looking at what's available my feeling is that the percentage difference probably gets smaller but the absolute difference probably stays similar or maybe even grows a little bit. It's hard to make a comparison because materials and construction vary and I haven't seen any EN temp ratings for quilts (the test protocol might not be suitable for quilts) so temp tating comparisons take a bit of guesswork. I have a decent feeling for what sort of quilts can be made but for bags I have to look at commercial product specs.

The above quilt could be made lighter for the same warmth with lighter fabrics, higher rated down and a bit reduced length (the length is a bit excessive for me at 176cm, 5'9"). I also left fairly generous seam allowances, so I think I could make a comfortable quilt of equivalent warmth for around 600g (or consider the EE enigma 10F long/regular at 615g), comparatively the Marmot plasma 15 weighs about 900g using 10d fabric and top rate down. Add 50g to the quilt weight for an insulated hood but you're still ahead.

On another note, did you ever get around to making your cuben quilt Andrew?

Well maybe I jumped the gun in thinking that weight savings was the motivation. There are other reasons people choose quilts over bags.