Insultex Quilts - Top and Bottom

[Albert Skye]

Insultex Quilts

Thanks for the report!

Is that camouflage fabric still available?

[LostCause]

Nice work TeeDee. If I can score some more IX, I'll have to try one of these.

[TeeDee]

How many inches did you add per layer?
Ex 50" inner shell
52" 1st
55" 2nd
58" 3rd
60" outer shell

I kept it very simple - the 3 Insultex layers and the outer shell layer are all 60"

[TeeDee]

Great info here TeeDee. I had sort of written Insultex off until seeing your results.

Have you taken into consideration that IX doesn't really breathe? Won't there be condensation issues sleeping in a vapor barrier top and bottom?

The Insultex breathes very well. It is not a vapor barrier and it is not water proof. If you need water proof, that must be supplied by the shell fabric.

[TeeDee]

Thanks for the report!

Is that camouflage fabric still available?

That is some of the marpat I got from DIYTACTICAL. Both Grizz and I had a lot of trouble with them and I cannot recommend them. The fabric is good, $4.50/yard, but I waited 2 to 3 weeks, nothing, no replies to email, no replies to telephone calls. Filing with paypal was the only way to get them off the dime.

[MacEntyre]

The Insultex breathes very well. It is not a vapor barrier and it is not water proof.

I have found it to be essentially a vapor barrier. When I wore a loose, singe layer IX vest in the 40's, I sometimes sweated badly. How have you demonstrated that it breathes very well?

You are correct about it not being waterproof. However, when I make a little balloon of it, and fill it with water, I have to squeeze it to get the water to squirt through the micro-perforations.

I love your differential approach, and I'm glad it works well. Fit is key with IXnsultex! You can't allow it to leak cold air into the UQ.

- MacEntyre

EDIT: There are a lot of people out there who discount the insulation properties of Insultex, and consider it's utility limited because it is a vapor barrier. I've always considered it's resistance to conductive heat loss to be pretty good. I'd love to know for certain how well it breathes.

[TeeDee]

I have found it to be essentially a vapor barrier. When I wore a loose, singe layer IX vest in the 40's, I sometimes sweated badly. How have you demonstrated that it breathes very well?

You are correct about it not being waterproof. However, when I make a little balloon of it, and fill it with water, I have to squeeze it to get the water to squirt through the micro-perforations.

I love your differential approach, and I'm glad it works well. Fit is key with IXnsultex! You can't allow it to leak cold air into the UQ.

- MacEntyre

EDIT: There are a lot of people out there who discount the insulation properties of Insultex, and consider it's utility limited because it is a vapor barrier. I've always considered it's resistance to conductive heat loss to be pretty good. I'd love to know for certain how well it breathes.

Interesting - I've not had any problems with condensation, so I assumed it was not a vapor barrier for that and another reason - when I picked the roll up in Pittsburgh, the owner assured me that it is not water proof and that any waterproofness must be supplied by the shell fabric. I put the 2 together and assumed it is not a vapor barrier. I associate "vapor barrier" with stuff like plastic sheeting, or CCF, or space blankets, or ... all the stuff that is definitely water proof also. Now that I think about it, I suppose that one does not imply the other. Although I cannot immediately think of an example of a vapor barrier that not also water proof (now I Know there are going to be examples posted )

Also, if I remember correctly, the Insultex site shows that Insultex allows water vapor to pass.

[WV]

Although I cannot immediately think of an example of a vapor barrier that not also water proof (now I Know there are going to be examples posted )

A leaky vapor barrier?

[TeeDee]

....Fit is key with IXnsultex! You can't allow it to leak cold air into the UQ.

Exactly. That is one of the advantages of my under quilt design for the Bridge. The top shell fabric fits very tight to the hammock and the occupant not allowing any air infiltration.

[MacEntyre]

Tee Dee, Insultex is a plastic sheet: it appears to be polyethtylene. It is microperforated as well as perforated in the quilting process. You can prove that by squeezing water through it, which reveals both types of tiny holes. However, if you just let water sit on IX, it will not go through. I'm sure seams will leak, but the fabric will leak only very slowly.

I have never had any problems with condensation except with the IX vest. My UQs have done well, and the hammock sock has performed extremely well. The hammock sock outside the PeaPod is a killer combination! I anticipate that the sock will do well by itself in the summer, also. It doesn't leak, and it can be adjusted to fit loosely, so there is an air gap.

Breathable, or vapor barrier? Perhaps both...
Insulator, or the same as another layer of DWR? IX is definitely an insulator!

- MacEntyre