Cheap Underquilt?

[Red Wing]

"They come in pints?! I'm gettin' one..."

GREAT find, even if I don't convert, I can't see a downside to this buy. Bigger is better in my book, I'd rather have and not need than need and not have. Now the REAL question is, which pattern?

[packeagle]

I think I may ask for the MARPAT looking one for my birthday! Great find.

[mcgyver]

I feel the need to update on my original idea.
After receiving the "military style quilt" I must say that I'm not considering it for an underquilt.
While there is a nice warm fill (of what I'm not sure), and it is kind of tacti-cool, it is more of a kid's blanket, than a quality insulation.
Now it may make a nice blanket, the insulation seems to be in strips in the quilting rather than a quilted sheet.
There seems to be NO insulation at the seams of the quilting.
I'm not sure I'd take a chance on the cold spots.

Sorry for jumping the gun.

[JohnSawyer]

Many of us DIY'ers have had failures. Not a big deal.

Just share your successes and failures, and we'll all figure out what works and what doesn't!

For $30-ish you can DIY a Poncho Liner Underquilt. They're good to 45-50 degrees or so. If you want something warmer, consider Insultex, or find some Polyethelyne foam sheet (used for shipping and protecting electronics and other stuff.) My daughter's casio Keyboard came with it. I added it to my Poncho Liner UQ and it made it warmer.

People have converted Sleeping bags with mixed success (down ones seem to do better) I have a cheapo sleeping bag convert that I never really liked if anybody wants it. (pay shipping and it's yours)... It's pretty rough: It's hard to sew through 2 layers of sleeping bag so this thing is pretty ugly, but all there...

Back on topic: For $80 you can buy a quilt kit from AHE, there's enough material to make 2 3/4 UQ's. A few have successfully gotten down out of comforters, but all the ones I have are more feather than down.

If you let us know what your requirements are, people here could help: Expected temps, full size or 3/4 UQ, etc....

Best of luck!

John

[Red Wing]

Thanks John! I didn't know aboutthese UQ kits, I'm not a DIYer at all but for that price it's WELL worth it for me! I was gonna try to get a New River anyhow so an AHE DIY is perfect.

On the subject of the milquilt, it's nowhere near what I thought it'd be. It's pretty rough feeling... it'd be a good pet bed for camping or home.. maybe a picnic blanket?? I don't see myself getting it back in the stuffsack. The roll has to be pretty tight and the fabric is pretty abrasive against itself. Not as small or compact as I thought it'd be either. All in all I consider it a fail, could've got a Bahco Folding Saw for what I paid for this which Ithink I'm going to turn over to the cats :\

[RustyNails]

how cold could you go with the poly fill?

[Red Wing]

definitely a summertype if anything. Idon't think it'd do too well blocking wind either. You'd be MUCH better off getting a poncho liner for $30, the quality difference is HUGE.


Sorry, to answer more directly I don't think the filling is really worth the purchase. It's VERY thin and doesn't feel very dense. Not even worth keeping in my truck for emergencies. Might consider using it as a heat block to try to trap heat in a tarp. Thats actually a prety good use for it if you can rig it right, so you don't lose heat on top of your tarp to convection, at least help stop it. Might give that a try I think.

[JohnSawyer]

I love my poncho liner... I wish I had another. If you're willing to mend one, you can typically find used ones for $20. Just be ready to dig through the pile looking for a decent one...

[Red Wing]

I think I'm going to give that a shot first but I'm still gonna get a DIY AHE, but it'd def be nice to use a liner, it's so light. Is it a good windblock?

[JohnSawyer]

The poncho liner is a later of batting quilted between 2 layers of light ripstop. it's not ultra-light (12oz?)

It's more of a blanket than a windblock.

here's a thread:

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...highlight=PLUQ

and a pic of one in action: (note, it's on a KID sized hammock)