X-posted over at BushcraftUK.
Had a stroll into town yesterday as the guys over at BushcraftUK were talking about bargains being picked up at Blacks/Millets, 2 outdoor stores that have just gone into administration. Being a bit of a bargain addict, I took the day off to have a look.
Found myself a nice junior size sleeping bag for £3. ($5) Grabbed 2 and some shock cord and came right home to work on this:
Spread open it measures 150cmx 150cm. (60x60") Has a 10 to 30C rating with an extreme low temp of -7C. (50F -> 86F extreme low 19F.) Ripstop nylon shell, poly fill and poly lining.
I sewed an 1 inch length of grosgain loop in each corner for the shock cord to attach to the hammock line as I couldn't face having to sew an entire channel on BOTH sidesHooked a shock cord onto each corner.
The sleeping bag itself had a shock cord running along the top where the head would be. It wasn't adjustable. I cut a small hole in the middle of the top channel where the cord is to create a middle adjustment system for the foot of my UQ.
There was no channel of shock cord at the other end, I opted to simply sew a total of 14 loops of grosgain along the edge instead of creating my own channel since I don't own a sewing machine and would like to keep my sanity. You can see it in the first pic but it's clearer here:
I ran a 40cm length of shock cord through, tying it at the last loop on each end and cinching it from the middle. I will put in cord buttons for both ends when I get around to buying some.
Here's what it looks like in action... in my hallway.
Because the zip is cheap and apparently not YKK, you can zip the whole thing up and then split it from the bottom to make it into a tube. It can be used as a peapod this way but I sewed one of the loops on too tightly and the zip wouldn't pull through. Oops. The head of sleeping bag is being used as the foot of the UQ. I can wrap it right around my foot thanks to that velcro attachment.
It packs down nice and small:
0.6L Sigg bottle for comparison. Weighs 850g (1.8lb) in total, including stuff sack and all cordage. It could go smaller but the stuff sack is a bit rubbish.
Total cost out of pocket = £5.40 ($9) Would cost less than £8 ($13) if you didn't have shock cord, needles/thread & grosgain on hand.
Unfortunately I spent £12.99 last week on a double SB to convert into 2 UQs. They came out big, heavy and ugly. At least I didn't make the same mistakes on the new one. LOL.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by -Sasquatch-
Bookmarks