looking for a good pattern for a diy down top quill

**balloonatic** · 02-12-2011, 17:24

howdy I am anxiously waiting for my shipment of 900 down and fabric to make my own top quill. I have found a couple on line but still am trying to figure out one that will work real well. so i thought i would come to this great source of knowlege and ask is there a pattern i should look at?
thanks for any ideas.
balloonatic

**G.L.P.** · 02-12-2011, 17:48

when i made my first one i just looked at lots of other DIY TQ ...
and figured it out from there

i know thats not a big help but it's not hard to make without a pattern
if you can do some simple math you should be good to go

most TQ are 78x48 ...when i made mine i left 4 inch on each side for my rolled hems ..i ended up cutting off some because i didn't need 4 inch but it's nice to have a buffer in case you mess up

and just figure out how many chambers you want i used 10 when making mine
so figure 10x7.8(inch)=78 inch i just did mine and even 7.5 inch so it was 75 inch long but once you add in the hems at the ends it came out to 78 inch

you don't need to do 78 inch thats just a standard to what everyone makes there's you can make it as big as you want

if your making a summer TQ you can do sewn through baffles or small baffles that are 1 inch high ...i like the 1 inch baffles

for 3 season go with 2-2.5 inch baffles... for winter go with 3+ inch
if you PM stormcrow he can sell you pre cut baffles ...this will save you the time of cutting them

now to get how much down to use i use this as my starting point

say your making a 78x48 TQ with 2inch baffles
78x48x2/900(fill power of your down) ...this give you 8.32oz needed to fill the airspace...i alway add in a few extra oz ...so say and even 10oz
then you need 1oz for each chamber...
like i said this is just a starting point for how much dow to use ...

i hope this helps you some

**Shug** · 02-12-2011, 18:19

Here are a couple........
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=4362

And.....http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=1826

Hope that helps,
Shug

**MAD777** · 02-12-2011, 18:43

What is your height & weight? And is this for backpacking or car camping?

With this information, folks can help you dial in the size of your quilt.

**balloonatic** · 02-12-2011, 18:56

Originally Posted by MAD777

What is your height & weight? And is this for backpacking or car camping?

With this information, folks can help you dial in the size of your quilt.

good question i am 6'1 and in the 250ish range this iswill be more for the colder months especially for this summer i am doing a thru hike on the a.t. starting in the end of march. any other questions please ask. thanks

**balloonatic** · 02-12-2011, 18:59

thanks shug this is a great lead.

**Running Feather** · 02-12-2011, 19:19

Here's another http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=98

**mountain_man_mike** · 02-14-2011, 15:31

Some mighty fine specimines Shug pointed out, kudos!

**balloonatic** · 02-14-2011, 16:13

Originally Posted by mountain_man_mike

Some mighty fine specimines Shug pointed out, kudos!

yes i agree i think i am going to do the first one he mentioned when my material comes wednesday or thurday. and if all goes well i hope to have it for this weekends michigan hang.