The Warm Thing Quilt

[MacEntyre]

Consider the risk I am taking this weekend...

My 11 yr old daughter, Thing1, and her friend, Thing2, will follow me into the woods, where the forecast calls for snow, sleet and freezing rain. Thing1's mother is certain that her daughter will be sick next week, and is worried that Thing2's mother will be seriously upset if her daughter gets sick.

I told my wife not to worry, because I will make their underquilts today. What I did not tell her is that the first time anyone will use these underquilts will be when Thing1 and Thing2 hang on Friday night, in temps that are supposed to dip into the 20s!

The 3' X 5' Warm Thing Quilt consists of one yard of Wiggys Window Covering, one yard of Insultex, one yard of lightweight, red nylon fabric, and 16 feet of lightweight 2" nylon webbing. All I did was cut, layer and bind. It weighs 2.2 lbs, and has less than $20 worth of material in it. Now I will add loops at the corners.

I'm also going to make Insultex half-bags, like MrPrez described. In case the Things get cold, I have pads.

Of course, I will be sleeping in my PeaPod.

- MacEntyre

[Hawk-eye]

Looking good Mac ... did those since we had lunch? Dang that's alright.

One sniffle from one "Thing" and your sooooooo dooooommmmmmed!

[animalcontrol]

Using children (your own and others) as Insultex guinea pigs...SUPER IDEA!
glad it aint mine

[MacEntyre]

Using children (your own and others) as Insultex guinea pigs...SUPER IDEA!

Necessity is the mother of invention!

I already had one inquiry about purchasing The Warm Thing Quilt. After this weekend, when I have some idea about how well it works, I will be glad to make them for folks!

Essentially, The Warm Thing Quilt is a Insulated Insultex Extender for an existing UQ, but with loops so you can use it stand-alone. It can be extended with another one like it, or an Insultex Quilt without the Window Covering. (It's strong enough to be used as a hammock on it's own!)

I'd like to make a quilt with three layers of Insultex plus Wiggy's Window Covering, and one with three layers of Insultex without the Window Covering.

I plan to make Top Quilts, or Half Bags, with the same materials.

You could call it the Warm Thing collection, but it's also the Poor's Hanger's collection. The Warm Thing Quilt is $20-30 in materials, and one hour of labor.

I am eager to find out how well it all works!

- MacEntyre

[Mrprez]

Well, if the WTQ is half as nice as my new MMP UL12 it will be a fine piece of gear! More to follow on the MMP UL12, taking it out this weekend...

[MacEntyre]

What a nice thing to say, MrPrez! Thank you very much!

- MacEntyre, sewin' and smilin'

[animalcontrol]

I'm sorry Mac...I feel like I'm hacking on you but I really don't see what all the excitement is about. Please, make me understand (no sarcasm)

I guess if I was an enterprising individual, I could make the same sized UQ (36"x60") out of various weights of Climashield using 1.1 ripstop nylon (temp rating based on the ones I already have made and CLO ratings). You can sew all 3 layers together in one pass (shouldn't take more than an hour)

Climashield XP 2.5 oz/yd ~ Temp 45*F ~ Cost…$9.95/yd ~ Total=$22 and weight 5 oz
Climashield Combat 3.7 oz/yd ~ Temp 35*F ~ Cost…$10.95/yd ~ Total=$23 and weight 6.2 oz
Climashield XP 5.0 oz/yd ~ Temp 25*F ~ Cost…$15.95/yd ~ Total=$27 and weight 7.5oz

These are stand alone temps and weights, but they could easily be used as a UQ extender also.
Price? comparable...temperature? rating known and comparable...labor? comparable...weight? Insultex might be lighter (more after testing complete)
What am I missing? (again, no sarcasm)

[G...Hawk]

All the father+daughter camping posts are such a pleasure. Gear experiments with Dad.
Perfect characters to test with : emotional and verbal.

Eleven is a wonderful, expanding yet simple time, before hormones take over.
When Dad is the most important man in the world.

Reminders of family camping with our father ( with Dad's hammock).
Dad's engineering solutions.

It has been more than a handful of decades since I was 11; and my Dad's been gone for
for a few decades. Memories. Memories.
Been thinking of Dad a lot this week ( we lost a family member ).

Expect Thing1 will have many proud stories to tell.

[MacEntyre]

Please, make me understand...

Hmmm... not sure I'm up to that.

3D+G explained it pretty well... insulation is secondary.

Anyway, I am enthusiastic about everything I do!

- MacEntyre

[animalcontrol]

ummm...ok
I understand the excitement about camping with your daughter!