Costco Down vest UQ

**rais'n hammock** · 04-01-2015, 16:33

Originally Posted by gunner76

Most excellent and way to think outside the box

Thanks! It was a fun project. Although the inspiration came from the JCP threads so I can't take all the credit.

**brianb** · 04-01-2015, 22:37

Love it, looks great. Congrats on a great project. Is that leopard skin grosgrain?

**tangara** · 04-02-2015, 08:29

Oh, love that. I'd rather DIY, and this is perfect! I'll be watching for old vests now. I have a ton around the house, but in small sizes ;(

**rais'n hammock** · 04-02-2015, 09:04

Originally Posted by brianb

Love it, looks great. Congrats on a great project. Is that leopard skin grosgrain?

My kids are split on the animal type. I am not sure what the print is. It may be a cow, a leopard, or a giraffe. Whatever it is it is not natural; bright green with black and white paint.

I would not use the printed/painted grosgrain again. The painted makes it very stiff compared to the normal stuff. It is OK on the sides but makes the ends more difficult to adjust with the shock cord.

**Hawk-eye** · 04-02-2015, 09:58

Now that was just purely clever! Most excellent ...

**michigandave** · 04-02-2015, 10:09

Nice job and the price was right! I picked up one of those last fall at my local costco and I think I paid $19.95. Makes a halfway decent pillow when put in a stuff sack.

**rais'n hammock** · 05-07-2015, 19:28

I had a chance to test out the UQ this last weekend. I had a thermometer set up to know at what point it was cold.
I could start to feel the coolness at 50deg but it was kind of windy and my tarp was high to really test the UQ.
If the tarp was lower I think this quilt could go to 45deg no problem. It was totally worth the $30 in materials and time it took to make.

**Snowball** · 05-10-2015, 06:43

Cool idea.
Could be you can get a bit more warmth if you play with the tension. I would guess the west’s are sewn flat and if you have a tight suspension you will compress the down.
Hint:
If you don’t mind the extra weight you could add nylon fabric to one side (the side against the hammock) and reduce the width by 1-2” then you won’t compress the down so much because the new fabric will take the up the forces.