two things

**irrationalsolutions** · 04-05-2009, 01:40

first the wife would like me to thank everyone here for her. she said that all the ideas i have gotten from you guys has made her live both easier and harder. easier because it is keeping me busy and harder because i am getting more stuff. personally i like it!

the second thing is a question. i was thinking about starting a uq. reading some of the posts on the topic and scanning others i havent seen one thing addressed. i might have over looked it. i was going to use a old down bag for the project and was wondering if i should over stuff it with some of the down from the rest of the bag or is that a bad thing?

**Dutch** · 04-05-2009, 02:29

You probably can go over board with overstuffing by making it stiff and compressed. But more then likely if you have an old bag the down isn't what it use to be and there is more room in the baffles then when it was made.

I tried to do the same and I was unhappy with the results but it was very good practice for my next quilt...oh and my next one, and my next one, and...

**fin** · 04-05-2009, 06:22

I thought this thread looked familiar. You posted it twice!

Here is what I said in your dual post:

Originally Posted by FishinFinn

I'm in the same boat - I have so much extra gear now because of this site. And no, I'm not selling it.

I have recycled down from an old SB, and it is a PITA. I know there is a thread somewhere with the trials and tribulations of converting a SB to a UQ, and recycling down from an old bag is chronicled here in a couple of threads.

Basically, if you do it outside, your neighbors will think you had a Chicken Armegeddon, as there will be feathers everywhere. It will look like it snowed, even with a shop-vac running the entire time. Down is an elusive beast, and once it is freed, it will try to get away.

Did it work? Absolutely. Would I do it again? I would think long and hard about it. Probably, because it was really cheap to do, and so what if the neighbors think you are sacrificing chickens. Be careful overstuffing, as it is easy to over-overstuff.

If you are thinking of doing it in your house, DON'T! 'nuff said.

**attroll** · 04-05-2009, 07:44

I deleted the duplicate thread.

**lori** · 04-05-2009, 09:12

Jeremy Pagett's instructions at thru hiker include using a tent for down containment - a use for the old tent you don't use anymore!

**Dutch** · 04-05-2009, 09:35

When I did my first sleeping bag salvage i just shook the down to one side and sewn a seam tothe size I wanted. The next one i took a 55 gallon plastic drum and emptied it into there. The first way was cleaner by far.

**fin** · 04-05-2009, 13:29

Originally Posted by lori

Jeremy Pagett's instructions at thru hiker include using a tent for down containment - a use for the old tent you don't use anymore!

That may be the one thing a tent is really useful for, for me these days.

**irrationalsolutions** · 04-05-2009, 19:23

sorry about the double post. my computer froze up so i hit refresh i guess it sent it twice. the tent idea isnt bad i will have to think about that. i have a few tents one of them i wouldnt even inflict upon my worst enemy so it might be good for something after all.

**TinaLouise** · 04-06-2009, 08:37

I saw that idea of getting inside a tent to stuff your quilt AFTER I'd already finished the stuffed of my two quilts in the bedroom!!! I finished my 2 quilts over a year ago and I've still got down floating around that bedroom. After I finished my quilts I took them both out the front door to shake them. The air around me looked like snow falling. And for my first few camping trips with them, down was still detaching itself from the outside of the quilts and floating around. I think it's due to the ripstop and static causeing the down to attach. I even tried dusting baby powder on the quilt to get rid of the static. The "tent" method I think would have been a lot more confined and easier to keep the down in one area.
TinaLouise