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  1. #1

    DIY Insultex / Climashield UQ & Climashield Topquilt Review

    I tested this past weekend the following two items, made by me.

    Insultex / Climashield hybrid Underquilt.
    Three layers of Insultex, 1 Layer of Climashield Apex 5oz/sqyrd b/w two layers of the Insultex, 3/4 length.

    Climashield Topquilt
    1 Layer of Climashield Apex 5oz/sqyrd.

    Sadly my camera, along with my girlfriends rain pants and trekking poles took a trip without telling me where.

    I hiked in 7-8 miles, and setup between a Sycamore and a huge Pine tree. Arrived at the camp in the evening around 6pm. Was a clear dry night with no wind, so opted for no tarp.

    Around 10:00PM it was about 40F at about 3200Ft elevation. Expected low was about 36F. I was hydrated, fed, and sober. For the first 1-2 hours I was comfortable. Around midnight the temp was hovering at 33F, and I was cold. By 3AM it was 30F, and I was extremely uncomfortable. There was frost buildup on my topquilt in places, and I was shivering.

    I was wearing a pair of thick wool socks, some water resistant pants with marginal insulating properties, a long sleeve synthetic base layer, a GoLite insulated jacket, a thick wool/fleece hat, and a thick fleece insulating pair of gloves. I also had a thin reflectix pad under my feet.

    For my comfort rating I'll have to put this setup at 40F.

    It was a fun project to make these items, but with this past weekend as a significant field test, I'll be starting fresh and rebuilding these geared towards being comfortable at 30F.

    Will look at using two layers of 5oz/sqyrd of Climashield. I can tell this will be heavy and bulky, but Down is not an option for me.

    Any advice guys?


    K
    Last edited by KLHinNC; 10-23-2011 at 19:23. Reason: Forgot to mention the reflectix pad.

  2. #2
    Senior Member enoorange's Avatar
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    Interesting.
    I camped this weekend down to 34F, clear , no wind and did fine with Insultex 3 layers and ripstop top/bottom. My sleeping bag was 40F down and I only had some long john underwear on lower half but 3 layers on my top half (long sleeve tshirt, light down jacket, wind breaker with a buff over my head.)

    I do remember getting a bit chilled and thinking if it gets a colder this will not be enjoyable. I think if it would've hit 30F like yourself it would have been a problem.

    Anyway, my lasting thought was that on trips hitting the lower 30's I will carry one of those blue pads to sleep on in addition to the UQ.
    Thanks for your writeup.
    TRIUMPH
    Go Your Own Way

  3. #3
    Senior Member Otter1's Avatar
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    My guess is something got compressed too much, otherwise your setup should have taken you very close to the temps you experienced.

  4. #4
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    you should look into primaloft sport. pretty sure it's cheaper than climashield, and it's pretty warm. just made a primaloft UQ last week. got down to 32 friday night. my back stayed warm. i had a lousy sleeping bag for a TQ so my front and my feet froze, but once i got my UQ set right my back was fine. you can find it at therainshed.com. mine was a layer of 3oz stacked on a layer of 4oz. might be worth a look.

  5. #5
    Senior Member tight-wad's Avatar
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    IX is finicky. I just tried out my (work in progress) silk bridge with a 3 layer IX under this weekend. About 2 o'clock in the morning I decided something had to change, so I got up / out and tinkered with making the quilt tighter around the perimeter, but loose under me. Next thing I knew it was 7:30 am and one of my buddies' said that it got to 40 last night at Cheaha.

    Moral of the story, IX can get to low temps, but It has to be just right.

  6. #6
    Ordered 6yds of Climashield Apex 5oz, and 4 yrds of Momentum 90. I'm just going to make another set since this current setup works at 40F.

    This new set will have 1 layer of Momentum90, two layers of Climashield, and the final layer Insultex. This will be for the UQ and TQ. Next outing is probably going to be in November. Will of course post another review then.


    K

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by enoorange View Post
    Interesting.
    I camped this weekend down to 34F, clear , no wind and did fine with Insultex 3 layers and ripstop top/bottom. My sleeping bag was 40F down and I only had some long john underwear on lower half but 3 layers on my top half (long sleeve tshirt, light down jacket, wind breaker with a buff over my head.)

    I do remember getting a bit chilled and thinking if it gets a colder this will not be enjoyable. I think if it would've hit 30F like yourself it would have been a problem.

    Anyway, my lasting thought was that on trips hitting the lower 30's I will carry one of those blue pads to sleep on in addition to the UQ.
    Thanks for your writeup.
    I have a 3/4" pad that I will take next time just in case. Thanks for the feedback.


    K

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by futbolfreak08 View Post
    you should look into primaloft sport. pretty sure it's cheaper than climashield, and it's pretty warm. just made a primaloft UQ last week. got down to 32 friday night. my back stayed warm. i had a lousy sleeping bag for a TQ so my front and my feet froze, but once i got my UQ set right my back was fine. you can find it at therainshed.com. mine was a layer of 3oz stacked on a layer of 4oz. might be worth a look.
    What loft does your kit measure? My Climashield only lofts to about 1.5". I'm thinking doubling it to 3" would effectively lower a similar quilt to 5-10F comfort rating.

    As for Primaloft vs Climashield, I just made a decision and went with what I read more review of.

    Thanks for the feedback!


    K

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by tight-wad View Post
    IX is finicky. I just tried out my (work in progress) silk bridge with a 3 layer IX under this weekend. About 2 o'clock in the morning I decided something had to change, so I got up / out and tinkered with making the quilt tighter around the perimeter, but loose under me. Next thing I knew it was 7:30 am and one of my buddies' said that it got to 40 last night at Cheaha.

    Moral of the story, IX can get to low temps, but It has to be just right.
    I'll use Insultex as a single layer. It's warmer against the skin than the Momentum90, and it won't pill or fray like the Climashield.


    K

  10. #10
    Senior Member sclittlefield's Avatar
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    Was your back cold, or were you just plain cold? The difference between those two is pretty clear when you're experiencing it. Three layers of IX with 5oz Climashield should be good to really really low temps if the IX is built differentially.

    One thing you might consider for your topquilt - don't rebuild it - instead make a cover for it. This way, separated you have two quilts for summer, and together, one for winter.

    There can be issues with what I'm about to recommend, but it has worked extremely well for me. I have used a 3oz Climashield top quilt along with a 2-layer IX topquilt shell (IX over the Climashield) into the 20's and was plenty warm. I tend to sleep cold. The IX traps your warmth in the climashield very effectively. But there is a caveat - IX is also somewhat of a vapor barrier, so if it's not extremely cold, or you're a heavy sweater, you can end up with a bit of a soggy climashield bag in the morning. Good news is, synthetics still work when wet, though with slightly diminished effectiveness. The worst I've ever had with this setup is a tiny bit of moisture in the foot end of my climashield quilt, which dried out in 30min hanging over my hammock in the morning. Again - this involves a bit of a vapor barrier, so that must be taken into account when working out your sleep system as it could cause significant dampness for some people.
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