Down Top Quilt

[mathineer]

I'm getting ready to make my down top quilt, and have a couple of questions.

1. Looks like a lot of commercial TQs have crossways baffles at the foot end, and lengthways baffles at the head end. It would be easier to do one or the other. Also, a lengthways baffled quilt could be made to do double duty as an UQ with some additional features.

2. When I made my down UQ, I used Wilderness Logics 1 oz bags of down. That was very convenient as I cut the bags in half and stuffed the halves into the chambers ala Fronkey's method. Since it appears that WL is no longer in business, I'll probably buy from RSBTR or Dutch which both sell in 3 oz bags. Can these be cut in half and stuffed the same way? I'm sort of planning my baffling to use 1.5 oz of down per chamber so that I can do that.

Thoughts or suggestions?

mathineer

[Otter1]

Combination baffles can still work as an UQ, if that's the style TQ you want. Since you DIY, I say make your own dedicated UQ too.

WL is still in business but just not taking orders at present.

To my knowledge, the other vendors' bags of down aren't the non-static kind so stuffing like Fronkey does won't work. I could be wrong though. Something could've changed.

[HoosierT]

I ordered down from Dutch last year around this time and the down is loosely packed in plastic bags that are simply stapled at one end. As such, the above method definitely would not work with down from Dutch. On the quilt design, I used combination baffles on my TQ. On the one I'm about to make for my wife, I can easily say that I'll be copying the EE baffle design. Not only do I think it will be easier to sew, it will be few chamber I have to mess with filling since you basically only have to fill five chambers. Yea, it's a little more math to figure out how much down to use in each chamber with the horizontal connection chamber, but if you break it down by the amount of down needed per inch then it's super easy to calculate it out.

[OneClick]

Here's my take on the baffle part:

With vertical baffles (running head to toe) you run into a possible issue of down migrating end to end. That's a long way to go at 6'+ long. Lots of opportunity to get "off balance". Also, as hangers, we know better than anyone the inability of down to insulate once compressed. So if you have entire, long baffles on your sides or tucked in, that's getting compressed and offering little/no insulation value.

On the other hand, with horizontal baffles you have smaller (shorter) baffles only running the width. This gives the down less room to migrate, which is a good thing. And as I already mentioned, the compressed down under/sides isn't doing much anyway other than sealing drafts, so you might as well move most of it to the top of your quilt. This puts most of the down on top of your body, giving you maximum insulation where you need it. The under quilt does the rest.

When I say "move" down, it's not a real complex process. Often I'll find the top corners of my TQ thick and puffy...which is a useless place to have a lot of down. But that's just what happens after packing/repacking and shaking out. So I simply give it a light shake, or even "clap" my hands with the quilt between to move that down into a more appropriate spot in the baffle.

[mathineer]

I saw this reply to the question of why Hammock Gear has horizontal baffles at the foot end and vertical at the head end:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Beyond the fact that we like how it looks, the horizontal baffles in the footbox area create a break between the torso section to minimize down movement. Most down migration occurs, especially with quilts / bags with premium down, via gravity and tossing / turning, so our vertical baffling in the torso section helps combat that. When the chambers are all horizontal, down tended to migrate away from your torso to the sides of the quilt. Since our Burrow is tapered and the footbox area wraps around, there is far less movement possible for the down. Our underquilts are built with vertical baffling the entire length of the quilt to combat gravity as well. If you were to have horizontal baffling on an underquilt, oftentimes that down will migrate away from the sides of the quilt, leaving your sides without insulation.

This becomes less of an issue the lower the down fill power is. If a company uses 600 fill power, etc., they need a lot more down to achieve the same loft that our 800, 850, and 950 fill power down provides. More down in each chamber equals less possible movement within the quilt and a heavier bag.

I hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Harry Carlson
Customer Support
www.hammockgear.com
740-445-4327
[email protected]
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I reckon that there makes a right fair amount of sense sos I guess I'll just align my iron fillings along that magnetic field line.

I ordered my down today, and I'm working to finalize my design. I'm thinking of putting in a cinch cord channel at the foot along with a snap in, overstuffed, foot end plug. That way the quilt can be opened up flat, used as a cinch end, or as a simulated foot box. Hopefully that's clear from the way I'm 'splainin' it.

I've been tied up with a long, exhausting project at work for the last several months, and had to watch several weeks of beautiful, fall weather go by without the energy to go out and take advantage of it. Now I'm determined to knock this top quilt out and at least get some cold weather hammocking in!

mathineer

[mathineer]

Here is my planning sheet for the top quilt.

TopQuiltPlanning.jpg

[Coheeba]

Have you thought about Karo step quilt? I've built a couple and it's much easier to stuff and move down around. Since there are no closed baffles, you can just dump all the down into the quilt in one spot. WAAAAYYY easier than filling a bunch of baffles. And if your feet get cold, just squoush (technical term) some more down in the bottom of the quilt. When you tuck the sides in under you, all that down just squoushes up around you.

[mathineer]

Have you thought about Karo step quilt? I've built a couple and it's much easier to stuff and move down around. Since there are no closed baffles, you can just dump all the down into the quilt in one spot. WAAAAYYY easier than filling a bunch of baffles. And if your feet get cold, just squoush (technical term) some more down in the bottom of the quilt. When you tuck the sides in under you, all that down just squoushes up around you.

I'm familiar with the concept, and have watched videos on the construction. It appears to be significantly more difficult to sew, however. In addition, I don't want to be able to move the down around, since having that ability means that it's easier for the down to move around. I plan to overstuff the quilt, probably by 15 to 20%, to combat down movement. My goal is to get it done, get it done right, and start using it in spite of my limited thread injection capabilities. The karo step quilt design requires sewing in multiple directions, and I already had difficulties with my down underquilt when sewing the second side of the baffle. The karo design strikes me as a nightmare to sew. OTOH, I think the design on my planning sheet should not be much more difficult than the UQ if I sew the vertical baffles first, then the horizontal.

What would be most helpful is a review of my planning sheet. Does it make sense? Have I missed something? (I'm 5' 8" high, btw, so I think 76" by 50" is about right. Also, I have made and used a couple of Climashield quilts of those dimensions, and they seem to work fine for me.)

mathineer

[slugbait]

Just a small thing- you indicate using grosgrain ribbon to reinforce the foot box snaps. I have a UGO 40 top quilt(won in a raffle) which has footbox snaps. They are installed on the folded over hem (1.1 ripstop) and have never given a moment's trouble in 5 years. Also, to absolutely prevent down migration between chambers, make sure each chamber is completely sealed off from its neighbors after filling with down. Your plans look solid.

[tightwad]

Rather than a plug, which to mean means a leak at the seams, have you considered using a "tetrapack" folding method? This is used in the Costco down conversion found here http://leiavoia.net/pages/hammock/geminiquilt.html

I like the use of the snaps and the ability for the quilt to lay flat or be configured as a top quilt. If it wasn't being married to another quilt you wouldn't need so many snaps...

tetrapak-footbox.jpg