IX UQ (overhauled), Barebones IX TQ, hip belt pouches

[Gris]

Over the last week I’ve been working on a few DIY projects. My IX UQ with triangle things weighed 17 oz before I took off the sill outer shell and replaced it with 1.1 oz camo ripstop. I also reworked the suspension and got rid of a lot of shock cord. After meeting MacEntyre at last year’s fall MAHHA he gave me some pointers on adding more darts to form more of a cup or bowl shape. I added draft tubes to the head and foot ends, but I still may have to add some of the shock cord back to stop drafts. The finished weight is now 13 oz. I wanted a way to extend the range of my 55 degree sleeping bag. I saw a picture of an IX TQ MAD777 had built and thought it would work for me. IX doesn’t feel that great against the skin so I put a small piece of leftover ripstop at the head end where my face will most likely make contact with the IX. Not much to say about the hip belt pouches except I’ve wanted to make them for a long time. I’m looking forward to having an easy way to reach my camera and stuff like that. Weighing in at a .4oz I figured it was worth it.


Just tried to upload the pictures and I’m getting an error message about a missing security icon, so I will try again tomorrow.

[Born_Old]

Can't wait to see the pictures, I just de-threaded my IX UQ and want to shed some grosgrain as well. Don't know if length-wise I should use just the corners or put some in the middle in case of drafts.

[Gris]

I just tried again to upload the picture, but it still didn’t work(The joys of having an old farm house in rural Pa I’m up at 5am to stoke the wood stove on one of the coldest mornings of the year). The pictures don’t really do a good job of showing the improvements. The simple rule I’ve seen in print in the threads is, if there are no pictures it doesn’t exist (at least in the DIY threads). The only picture I thought was important was of the UQ on the scale. I’m not an ultralite fanatic but if I can take a quarter pound off a piece of gear and give myself flexibility for different temperatures it’s worth it. After talking to Mac (through PM’s) I ended up darting all four corners and added three darts to the sides and one dart in the center of the head and foot ends. The darts were 1.5 inches wide by 7 inches long. Mac didn’t tell me to add the draft collar it was something I saw that others add to their quilts on the IX UQ sticky thread. The weight they add is practically nothing so I figured it can’t hurt. And just for the record I’m not complaining about this old log cabin, I love it and am glad to have it.

[Gris]

Here are the pictures it worked this time

[wizardofhaws]

Thanks for the pictures. It helped answer a question I had regarding the DIY IX UQ. Now I can see how big it is for packing it.

[Gris]

Thanks for the pictures. It helped answer a question I had regarding the DIY IX UQ. Now I can see how big it is for packing it.

Here’s a better picture for size.

[wizardofhaws]

Looks like as long as I have the room I could use an IX UQ for a backpacking trip. Unless I can save enough for a good down TQ and UQ.