Loco Libre Gear Ghost Pepper - Beast 2.0, with a twist

**locknload** · 05-11-2016, 20:05

Many of you have seen my Ghost Pepper, The Beast, but I decided to upgrade and order a new Ghost Pepper with the updated "Hotbox" foot box design. I was born with icicles for feet and am not a happy hanger unless my footsies are toasty. Much of the quilt remained the same, 0 degree plus 2 extra ounces in the foot box, wide with no taper. 1.1 Intruder outer and Argon 67 Saddle Brown inner.

During my ground dwelling days, my cold feet problem was overcome by tossing a couple hand warmers down in the foot end of my sleeping bag. This works well if you're on a flat surface however, try this in a hammock and the little packets of lava slide right down to the nether regions. NOPE, don't need a fire there so... I had an idea that George and I went back and forth on to which he came up with a pretty awesome final idea, a hand warmer pocket. I pocket sewn into the inner "end cap" of the foot box that can hold chemical hand warmers. A heated foot box, kinda gives "Hot Box" a whole new meaning. George added the pocket to my quilt so I could test it before he added it as an option on his site.

Here's the end cap of the foot box turned inside out for best visibility. When Lying on your back, your feet pivot down (toes pointing away from your body) so you have the most clearance at your heels. Placing the pocket toward the bottom of the end cap gives the most amount of clearance around my feet and keeps the pocket away from my toes should they touch the end cap. The pocket is also made of Argon 67 with Grosgrain reinforcements at the points of attachment and at the snaps. You can see he also created snap pulls for easy separation. Because it's also made of Argon, I didn't really feel it. I was wearing light socks and my feet slid right over it.

With all the warm weather we've had, the day my quilts came, the temps were dropping so I decided to hang in the back yard. The hand warmer pocket can hold two, maybe three hand warmers but I just used one that night. My feet were comfortably warm all night. At one point I had to move my feet away from the end cap because the heat was pretty intense but it quickly cooled back to comfortable as I moved my feet around a bit. We had a low of 19 degrees that night and with the Beast 2.0, a 0 degree Loco Libre Gear Habanero, I slept in a t-shirt, boxers, and ankle socks; I was warm all night... unbelievable for my sissy self. Next time I'm out in the Winter, I'll toss a couple packets in the pocket an hour before bed time. It will be nice slipping my feet into a warm quilt during the Winter.

I'm extremely happy with this pocket option. I still have to order a 20 degree top quilt and will be adding the pocket to that as well.

Gratuitous quilt shots.

Big 'ole fat Hot box.

**TrailSlug** · 05-11-2016, 20:22

Sweet! I too SUFFER from constant cold feet. Even in summer my feet are cold. I know what option will be on my next top quilt.

**georgecarr** · 05-11-2016, 20:50

I've added the handwarmer option under the footbox type.I call it the LocknLoad option

**huskerherm** · 05-11-2016, 23:09

Man, that thing just looks toasty. May have to use the cold bottle trick to keep the toes form cooking.

**Tacblades** · 05-12-2016, 01:59

They make some amazing quilts

**JmBoh** · 05-12-2016, 07:52

can these type of pockets be added higher up in the torso area as well? Imagine having 3 of them. one in the center and two on the side about mid torso. That could turn a 20* quilt into an arctic tundra mega freeze quilt. You know, for when global warming and the magnetic pole shift bring the apocolytptic zombie ice age. I think i'd want one of those. or would there be a risk of tossing in the night and ripping the pockets? maybe that would still leave cooler spots and uneven temps in the torso.....?

**locknload** · 05-12-2016, 08:13

Originally Posted by JmBoh

can these type of pockets be added higher up in the torso area as well? Imagine having 3 of them. one in the center and two on the side about mid torso. That could turn a 20* quilt into an arctic tundra mega freeze quilt. You know, for when global warming and the magnetic pole shift bring the apocolytptic zombie ice age. I think i'd want one of those. or would there be a risk of tossing in the night and ripping the pockets? maybe that would still leave cooler spots and uneven temps in the torso.....?

Yeah I thought of that as well but so far, my body has stayed in the comfort zone down to 16 degrees. It's just my feet that give up. If the pocket was in the torso area, you probably wouldn't feel or snag it. Higher up mid-arm area and it may be more noticeable. it really depends how much a person flails around in their sleep. I don't think it would create cold spots so to speak; as the heat is released from the hand warmer, your body's movement will help distribute the heat around. These packets are nice for that witching hour when your body stops producing enough heat to fill the quilt.

**georgecarr** · 05-12-2016, 10:56

I had originally thought of placing these pockets in the torso area, but honestly I'm not comfortable with the pocket in the torso for the above mentioned reason of snagging and tearing. I reinforce the pocket, but it is a concern that it would over time be an issue. As far as the footbox area it appears as thought the pocket is out of the way, and I have since redesigned it so that there is no chance of catching it with your feet.