Family of 5 needs bottom insulation.Cheap suggestions or hacks?

[makingitoutdoors]

So this worked on the tarps so I’m going to try again...

I've been trying to get my family of five on the trail for more than a year now. We have zero bottom insulation.

We’ve always used air mattresses so I don’t even have a pad to start with.

What’s the cheapest to get us on the trail? Pads? Costco and just wait until temps are warmer? I’m afraid my hubs will get aggravated with the fidgety-ness of the pad.

If pad, which?

Our gear is going to be bulky no matter what and adults are going to have to haul some for our 9 year old and thin 13 year old. I am afraid we will eventually be out of room if we get too bulky.

I just want to get on the trail.

Thank you for your help.


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[Badweissenbier]

I would say your best option for starting on the cheap would be the blue closedcell foam pads at walmart or others. You can cut them down for the kids to save weight and space and then not really be out much when you replace them. Put the pad in your hammock and sleep on it. Works well for my son while he waits on his UQ to come in.

[Peppy]

Start the kids out on some pads, they don't seem to fidget as much in their sleep, and go with an Arrowhead Equipment Jarbidge or a Hammock Gear Econ for you and the hubby. You can build from there. Let us k ow what you decide!

[Tyroler Holzhacker]

Or go the DIY underquilt route...depends if you have time to wait....if not, then plus one on what Peppy said.

[TrailSlug]

Wow for a family of 5 I'd almost suggest a big tent as outfitting 5 rigs for cool temps is going to be a lot of work or a lot of money. When are you planning on hanging? If you wait till late spring early summer this can be a lot less expensive and a lot less work.

[Redoleary]

I’d make double layer Costco underquilts good down to 40* and not that bulky.

[leiavoia]

The cheapest solution would indeed be a blue pad.

A slightly more expensive but vastly superior option would be a costco blanket mod (if you have access to blankets and are willing to put a little effort into it). Extra tip: for small children, you can make a double-layer quilt with only a single blanket - that's just $20!

The sacrilegious option would be: just put kids on the ground!

[kitsapcowboy]

THE SHORT VERSION

Reverse engineer the AHE KAQ Jarbidge River underquilt.


THE LONG VERSION

You will need:

* 14 yards of inexpensive 1.1 oz ripstop nylon
* 7 yards of Climashield Apex 3.6 oz synthetic insulation
* 30 yards of 1/8" shock cord
* 20 LineLoc 3 tensioners
* 30 double-hole cord locks
* 10 micro-biners
* 5 yards 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
* Mara 70 thread

These materials should not cost you more than $175 before shipping.

1) Cut two full-width (60") pieces of nylon 45" wide.

2) Cut two additional 42" x 4.5" strips of nylon.

3) Cut a full width (60") piece of Climashield 45" wide.

4) Roll-hem the short edges of a nylon strip, and then fold it in half lengthwise with the hems to the inside; sew down the long raw edge with a 1/4" allowance to make a folded tube about 40" long by 2.25" wide. Repeat this step for the other strip to make a second folded tube; these are the quilt end channels.

5) Mark 15" in from the corners on on short edge of one piece of nylon. Pin both pieces of nylon together in a congruent stack. Centered on each short edge, sandwich an end channel tube, fold inboard, and bracket each end with a folded 9" piece of grosgrain with a LineLoc mounted (again, fold (and hardware) inboard), to make 4.5" loops with tensioners in each corner. Starting at one of the marks on the short edge of the nylon, sew the quilt shell together around the perimeter with a 1/4" allowance, capturing the end channels and then grosgrain loops in position between the pieces of nylon, leaving a 15" wide gap on one short edge to invert the quilt later.

6) Stack the Climashield on top of the sewn quilt shell, and pin it carefully into place every 3" to 4", avoiding puckers. (You may choose to pin a strip of tissue paper on top of the perimeter to make sewing over the insulation easier.) Again, starting from one end of the open gap in the short edge, sew around the entire perimeter of the inside-out quilt, leaving the 15" gap on the foot end open. Remove the pins (and tissue) and invert the quilt through the gap so it is right side out. Pin the gap with the raw edge tucked inside and sew the quilt closed. The insulated quilt shell is complete with a LineLoc on a grosgrain loop extending from each corner and end channels on each short edge.

7) Cut 6 yards of shock cord into two 48" pieces and two 60" pieces. Mount a cord lock in the middle of each of the long pieces of shock cord and thread the ends through the LineLocs on each end of the quilt, clipping in the micro-biners as suspension. Thread Te two short pieces of shock cord through the end channels and add cord locks on the ends to allow for cinching.

8) The finished 58" x 43" 40-degree underquilt is now complete and ready to hang. Repeat the above steps for the remaining quilts. Cost should be less than $35 per family member -- roughly one third the cost of a Jarbidge 1S. Reflectix pads or foam sit pads can be used in the footbox of top insulation to insulate the feet and lower legs for taller hangers.

HTH...

[curlymaple42]

I got a place here that I possibly can still get camo (I think ripstop but it does not have a grid pattern) nylon for a $1 per yard!!! If you need some let me know and I will swing by and see if they have any left. I have made gear hammocks from it and my daughter (14 at the time) used it as a chair too, so it is strong enough for an under quilt for sure! Oh, and order those micro-biners off Amazon! You can get a bunch of them for cheap. https://www.amazon.com/Bulk-Mini-Car...ini+carabiners Just remember, as they warn, they are a choking hazard so make sure and teach your kids not to eat them, or those Tide laundry pods either.

[Floridahanger]

I would agree that If you don't want fidgety pads, go with the CDT UQ(Costco Down Throw Underquilt). It is a little DIY to keep it 1 quilt per person.

5 quilts $20/quilt= $100
Dutch shockcord ~25' per quilt $4.25/25'= $21.25 + shipping
Dutch mini cord locks 3 per quilt $0.20/each=$3 + shipping

Total $123.25 + tax and Dutch's low shipping charge. Not too shabby for a family of 5.

When you mod the CDT add faux baffles to remove the sewn thru problem of the quilt. It makes a full length UQ and mine got my son down to 28' this weekend and myself into the low 30's last month.