Eventually, I'm going to make myself a KAQ style UQ with some sort of synthetic - climashield likely. When that time comes I'll evaluate the temps I'll likely use it in, and decide on the weight I need to get me there. I pretty much exclusively do car camping or short overnight hikes, so weight is not an issue per se, but cost is - my wife says I don't camp enough to spend crazy money on it (though I want to change that eventually )

For the time being, though, I want to try and perfect my DIY skills by making a couple prototypes using regular old cheapo poly batting insulation from the fabric store. That way I can tweak my design, without spending a bunch and or risk ruining $50+ of expensive insulation. Anyone have any info or experience with the insulation abilities/ratings of regular old polyester quilt batting? I'll be camping on the east coast (NJ) spring and summer, so I just need something to keep me comfy if it gets a little chilly at night. Since weight isn't a factor, and neither is packability, if I need to use 4 layers of the cheap insulation, and it weighs four times what the climashield would weigh to get me to the same ballpark insulation level, I don't much care because it'll still be a fraction of the price and give me experience designing and putting these pieces together.

Any thoughts? I've seen a few references to using something like that in a few threads, but no specific info on how much would be needed.

Thanks!