Has anyone developed a better technique for stuffing goose down into quilts/sleeping bags other than grabbing fistfuls from a plastic bag while inside of a tent? Although this method "works", it is very wasteful and is not very conducive to weighing the down as you go. Any clue how thru-hiker fills their bags of down? What about the other over-quilt and under-quilt manufacturers?
one word....ShopVac.
This is something I need to research before I start making quilts. I have a shop vac, just don't know how it's employed to stuff the quilt...Originally Posted by raiffnuke
Try looking here. I hope it helps you.
Last edited by raiffnuke; 08-29-2011 at 12:41. Reason: Fixed hyperlink
There is a good article on making a sewn through TQ (and also how to use a Shopvac for down stuffing) here.
I did something else entirely with pretty good results.
First, you would have to order from somewhere which will do the weighing and prepackaging for you (ahemm Hammockgear.com ahemm). I took each Ziplock which is now preweighed with the correct amount of down in it, and opened the top. I took the baffle and inserted the bag open side down and shoved it into the baffle. Stick your hand in there and turn the Ziplock inside out - pushing all of the down out of the bag and into the baffle. Give it a quick shake and most of the down is in that baffle now.
YMMV
Someone turned me on to the "Down Eductor" idea outlined here: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...hread_id=33573
I used this method to stuff my top quilt and it worked wonderfully.
"Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure suspense." -Mignon McLaughlin
I really like the Eductor method.... Haven't tried it out yet but will be soon... new UQ in the works....
1. Put everything in a tent - set of scales, bucket , shop vac w/ noseeum netting, quilt ready to be stuffed, and the down.
2. Weigh appropriate amount of down for one baffle into the bucket, be sure to tare (zero) the bucket out first.
3. Tape a square of noseeum over the end of shop vac hose, right where the hose connects into the shop vac. This allows you to basically suck up your weighed down without it going into the shop vac bucket. The down just stays in the hose.
4. Once the down is sucked in the hose, carefully remove the hose (with the noseeum still in place) and connect it to the blower side of the vac.
5. Insert hose end into the baffle and THEN turn on the shop vac. The down that was in the tube gets blown into the baffle.
6. Pin or tape the completed baffle shut.
Repeat for each baffle.
Now that sounds simple enough. I like that method. Thanks.
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