Thinsulate V.S. 800 Active-Dri Down

**Vincethebutcher** · 09-13-2013, 01:01

I'm interested in making a UQ, but was pricing out everything for the Red River Gorge UQ and I am around $250 with the DriDown. I would prefer to make something cheaper. But is the Down worth it.

Also, can you save much money by making it yourself? Mabye I just am looking at expensive sites to price these things out (thru-hiker, outdoor wilderness).

Feeling a little lost, I've never done a DIY, but would like to do this unless its just not practical and id been better of buying the WB Lynx.

PLEASE HELP.....!

**nothermark** · 09-13-2013, 01:21

The cost differential between the cottage vendors and DIY is not huge. The competition between vendors is sufficient to make the overly greedy or inefficient obvious. There is a significant markup to compensate for the additional handling on small orders. The result is that the reduced labor of someone setup to small batch produce an item out of bulk buy materials makes DIY and direct purchase competitive in price for onesies and twosies. More than that and you too can start to meet minimums for better prices. That leaves DIY for the person who is outfitting a family or team or just wants to DIY to get some special feature. Sometimes with careful shopping you can make it worth it to do one. Sometimes.

**Mountnman** · 09-13-2013, 01:54

For the the money and the hassle you may find a good number of members that will direct you to go with a purchased UQ/TQ. Down is defiantly worth it especially being up north.

**craige** · 09-13-2013, 03:20

Not sure where thinsulate comes into your question here but it is not the best choice for a quilt. It doesn't compress well, which is why it is so good for gloves. If you are looking for synthetic alternatives then you would be look into climashield or primaloft.

I think a down quilt is a very big ask for a first diy project, start small... stuff sacks, then a hammock or two before you try a quilt, and like nothermark said there isn't a massive cost saving to diy.

Saying that if you decide on climashield then it is a much easier, and less expensive project than down.

Wilderness logics have good prices on down. http://www.wildernesslogics.com/DIY-MATERIALS_c28.htm

**Boston** · 09-13-2013, 05:48

How are you at $250 for your DIY uq project? I bought enough material and down for a 20F uq and a 40F tq for that. And that was buying $10/yrd Argon fabric. I estimate the uq is about $150 and tq about $100.

**rchang72** · 09-13-2013, 05:56

If you go to this spreadsheet you can figure out your real cost in materials and then approximate your cost in your time. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...5uV0E&hl=en_US

After finishing a down TQ, I figured out that I had to pay someone less than $8 an hour to get a Hammock Gear Burrow with better shell material than I used and I'm sure much better craftsmanship. I'm still happy I did one, but as has been discussed before, cost should not be your main factor. It seems historically that Black Friday is a day where you can get deep discounts from the cottage vendors here.

**Boston** · 09-13-2013, 07:43

Originally Posted by rchang72

Then approximate your cost in your time.

I've got to be honest, the whole "labor" cost thing is invalid IMO. Spare time is free. Unless I'd be making money in the time I spent making the UQ - which I wont - my time is free.

Now, from an opportunity cost standpoint, if doing some other activity is more important to me in the free time I have, and I really need an UQ right away, maybe it's worth the extra money. But I'm not on a dead line, I can make it in my free time, and I enjoy it as a hobby.

Here's another way to look at "labor" on DIY gear: it isn't a cost, it's a wage. "A penny saved is a penny earned". If I save $100 making my own quilt, then I just MADE $100. Hourly rate is determine by how much time into it I have.

**zooshooter** · 09-13-2013, 08:28

Originally Posted by Boston

I've got to be honest, the whole "labor" cost thing is invalid IMO. Spare time is free. Unless I'd be making money in the time I spent making the UQ - which I wont - my time is free.

Now, from an opportunity cost standpoint, if doing some other activity is more important to me in the free time I have, and I really need an UQ right away, maybe it's worth the extra money. But I'm not on a dead line, I can make it in my free time, and I enjoy it as a hobby.

Here's another way to look at "labor" on DIY gear: it isn't a cost, it's a wage. "A penny saved is a penny earned". If I save $100 making my own quilt, then I just MADE $100. Hourly rate is determine by how much time into it I have.

I concur. I don't get paid 24/7 by anyone that my "free time" costs me anything to indulge my hobbies. If I were going to sell the products that I make in my free time then it might come into play, but I doubt I'd do it then either.

**BillyBob58** · 09-13-2013, 10:07

I have long valued the advantages of CS etc over down if keeping dry is an issue, though many folks disagree. But I was reading a test of the new water resistant downs vs synthetic in Backpacker magazine last week on my flight to the Canadian Rockies. They seemed to think the new treated down outperformed the synthetics after soaking. Of course, cost is still an issue.

**XTrekker** · 09-13-2013, 10:57

Not sure about what others have said about cost savings. I have saved alot of money DIYing quilts. I made two 0°F Top Quilts for $216 in Down and $75 in fabric and no-see-um mesh and $4 for a spool of thread. A total of $295, shipping was free. Each quilt has 16oz of down in it. To get the equivalent from a vendor would probably be double the cost. And to be honest, they were pretty easy to make.

Nothing wrong with buying from vendors. Heck, I recommend it. The vendor quality will be far better than the average joe's/jane's sewing quality.
DIY/MYOG isnt for everybody who is just trying to save a few bucks. Its for those who really enjoy making their own gear.