Climashield thickness variations

**leftheavy** · 02-02-2010, 19:49

I am making an underquilt - my first project with insulation. I chose Climashield to make the project simpler. I bought some Combat material and some 2.5 oz XP.

When I received the material and laid it out on my dark tile floor to cut it I could see the variations in thickness across the area of the material. THe thick areas zigzag across the surface like "W"s and in between I could see the dark color of my tile. The pictures below are of the combat material but the XP material looks similar.

My question is this: How can a material with such variations in thickness (at least 3x difference from thin to thick) provide adequate insulation over the area of the underquilt. Won't there be cold spots develop? Or have I missed something and this material should only be used in multiple layers to avoid these thin areas?

I am having second thoughts about the usefulness of the material. I would love to hear from people who use Climashield comment. Is this normal for Climashield and will a quilt made from a single layer still make an adequate insulating layer?

**sclittlefield** · 02-02-2010, 19:55

Just a quick note before the UQ veterans chime in -

This is the exact reason that I bought enough for 2 layers of 3oz instead of one layer of 6oz climashield for winter UQ. Doing it in two layers helps even out the differences - it's not exacting, but it's better than the single layer.

If you're only needing one layer, it's not going to be sufficient for a winter UQ (at least where I live) so the variations won't be as big a deal for three season camping.

**BillyBob58** · 02-02-2010, 20:58

Interesting. I have a quilt filled with one to four layer of CS ( combat 3.7 oz I believe).

I can't look for what you describe, as at the moment all four layers are in the quilt. I can only say that, with one layer for summer/ early fall in the south, and 2 layers for the low 40s and 3 to 4 layers for much colder, it has always been warm. I'll look next time I have some layers out, but that will be too late to help advise you.

**Take-a-knee** · 02-02-2010, 21:01

Originally Posted by BillyBob58

Interesting. I have a quilt filled with one to four layer of CS ( combat 3.7 oz I believe).

I can't look for what you describe, as at the moment all four layers are in the quilt. I can only say that, with one layer for summer/ early fall in the south, and 2 layers for the low 40s and 3 to 4 layers for much colder, it has always been warm. I'll look next time I have some layers out, but that will be too late to help advise you.

I have the same quilt with likely the same batch of 3.7oz Climashield Combat. Mine had a lot of thickness variation. I ordered some 5 oz from Thru Hiker and it seems twice as thick and vary uniform.

**jbo_c** · 02-03-2010, 06:20

I just r cd some 5oz yesterday and it has a little of the same thing going on but it doesn't seem quite as pronounced. Not sure what it is. Maybe where it was spliced to continue a roll? Doesn't have as much thickness variation as yous but I can see the pattern.

Maybe Mr Prez or Paul will chime in. They've got a good bit of experience with the stuff.

Jbo

**Mrprez** · 02-03-2010, 07:08

All I know is that which Paul (AYCE) told me about ClimaShield. He said that the variances in thickness is a normal occurrence in most types of CS. However, the 5oz CS XP is custom made for Paul with instructions to the manufacturer to reduce the thin areas making XP more uniform.

What I've done in the past is to try to shift more insulation into the thinner areas from adjacent thicker areas and secure it with some thread. Not the best solution though. When I was using CS Green, I overstuffed the quilts so that any thin areas would be mostly eliminated. When that roll was used up I switched over to XP and never tried anything else and was happy with the product I was getting from Paul.

Using 2 or more thin layers is certainly a good way to make sure that you have even distribution. Any obvious thin spots can be augmented with any scraps that you might have leftover.

**leftheavy** · 02-03-2010, 07:14

It seems to me that the bolt insulation is made by several pieces of fabric about 18 inches wide rolled in a spiral about each other and pressed flat. THe tightness of the spiral determines how much of the thin areas are on the final bolt.

It seems counterintuitive to me that a material engineered specifically as an insulation material would be fabricated with such wide variations in thickness, which would reduce its effective insulating capabilities.

**Mrprez** · 02-03-2010, 07:21

Originally Posted by leftheavy

It seems to me that the bolt insulation is made by several pieces of fabric about 18 inches wide rolled in a spiral about each other and pressed flat. THe tightness of the spiral determines how much of the thin areas are on the final bolt.

It seems counterintuitive to me that a material engineered specifically as an insulation material would be fabricated with such wide variations in thickness, which would reduce its effective insulating capabilities.

I would tend to agree with you. I was very disappointed with the state of the first bolt of CS Green that I ordered, but quickly figured out how to deal with it.

**jbo_c** · 02-03-2010, 09:24

Dang. Wish this had come up before I spent $75 on regular climashield 5oz. Now I'm thinking what I'd hoped would be a couple of three season quilts will be two seasoners. That's very disappointing.

I have since ordered enough XP from thruhiker to make one more UQ. Suppose after they're built I can compare performance and see what I see.

Jbo