really light weight nylon for a down UQ?

Hello all. I'm flirting with a DIY down UQ. I have quite a bit if black rip stop nylon that is actually parachute material that I have made my double layer gathered end hammock from. It is pretty resilient and is VERY light weight. I was thinking about using it as the material for my UQ.

My main concern is that it is not down proof. It is strong enough to work but not down proof. I''m worried that it may "molt" if I use it. I plan on carrying an UQ protector for an ugly weather that I may encounter while out and about. I'll pack it in its own compression sack that will be substantially thinker so any stray down shouldn't make it out of that while in transit.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks as always,
lost

You still want to use the material on your down UQ even though it is not downproof?
Probably best to use material that will not allow the UQ to bleed out copious amounts of down leaving you with little insulation. I believe DIYGearSupply has some good deals for downproof fabric - might be worth a look.

If you want to use the material you have but are unsure if it is downproof, I would build a very small scale project a 10"x10" chamber and fill it with the down I planned on using to see if it was really down proof or not.

Thanks for the input guys. Sounds to me like I should probably err on the side of caution and stick with downproof.

I was in ****'s sporting goods today to pick up something and found myself wandering through the sleeping bags and found this . the cost is less than the amount I was figuring on spending on materials to make the down UQ.

Some scissors, a thread injector, some planning and a BUNCH of luck I think I could make it work. Plenty of material, and extra down to over stuff if need be.

It will take some planning and some forethought once I get it home, but I think it is definitely doable. It has received pretty good reviews and such. I think I could actually make a good piece of gear out of something like this. I know others have done similar projects, I think if I follow in their foot steps and learn from their mistakes and advice, it should work out nice.

Any thoughts?

pax,
lost

Lost i jope you dont mind if i add a question... Is there a huge differance in the grades of Down? What is the differance between 600 and 800 fill down?

I dunno, the down in that bag is 550 power. Its been my experience that sometimes a bargain isn't such....and you end up doing more work with subpar materials yielding a 2nd rate product.

I'm not discounting your skill, but its been said that DIY isn't cheaper, but instead is potentially more rewarding. If you are serious about the art of hammocking, I'd recommend not skimping on your materials, and do it right the first time. That , or put faith and money in one of our fantastic vendors pockets.

yMMV

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Originally Posted by stalker42

Lost i jope you dont mind if i add a question... Is there a huge differance in the grades of Down? What is the differance between 600 and 800 fill down?

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The difference between down fill ratings are say you want a 0deg sleeping bag. You can get it with 600FP or 800Fp. But the difference is will take less of the 800FP down to keep you as warm. So the higher he FP ratings the higher quality the down is and the more it lofts up. So can achieve being warm with whatever FP down, but the higher FP the less down you need their fore the smaller it will pack up and lighter it will be :)
Hope this helps!:D

Use the fabric you already own, and get some inexpensive synthetic insulation.

"The perfect is the enemy of the good."

Yep Climashield is about 10X easier to make but bulkier.
As far as fabric - M50 weighs .7 oz per yard. Cost about $13 per yard.