$100 Pertex 800 fill top quilt

**oldmanron** · 10-11-2011, 08:02

Just ordered one of these after much waffling. This is my first season in a hammock, and I have camped in my WBBB DB 1.0 for 15 nights using an older 25 degree Sierra designs synthetic bag and a therma-rest pad (hard to stay on top of) or (more recently) a home made reflectix pad. I live in Michigan, and have slept a little cold using that set-up on some nights when the temps were around the freezing point, even when wearing long underwear and a fleece jacket. I hoping that getting this and making it into quilt will give me a lightweight, compact warmer weather options, and that I can use it in conjunction with a 40 degree bag to cover the colder weather. need t do some about bottom insulation. Reluctant abandon the pad in case I have to go to ground, but I dislike the bulk and if I get cold, it always seems to be from the bottom.

**L.D. Cakes** · 10-11-2011, 08:25

Originally Posted by oldmanron

Reluctant abandon the pad in case I have to go to ground, but I dislike the bulk and if I get cold, it always seems to be from the bottom.

I used almost the same set up last year and after I finally got a down underquilt I've been as snug as a bug. I still use a 20* down bag for top insulation and am considering this alternative although I've had my heart set on a HG Burrow.

The only pad I have now is my sit pad that will fit in my foot box. And depending on which pack I'm carrying I have a removable pad that could take care of my torso in a pinch. In my head...going to ground is not an option, I'm determined to always to find a way to hang!

**Tendertoe** · 10-11-2011, 08:43

I ordered mine last week.

I was very pleased with the construction of the quilt.

Very lightweight. It looks and feels very similar to the cottage quilts that I already own.

Prior to ordering, I was nervous about the width - not so much at the top of the quilt - but the tapered width.

My concerns were validated when the quilt arrived.

Just above the footbox behind my calves, as another member expressed earlier in this thread; the down did not cover far enough on the sides.

My solution -

I cut down the center of the single-layer, non-insulated back at the red marks in the above picture. I folded the fabric over and sewed at the blue marks and stuffed with down from an old jacket I took the hood off for another project and have slowly been cannibalizing down from it for other projects.

I also threw a set of grosgrain loops attached with a loop of shockcord a couple of inches above the footbox to extend the footbox a bit higher and keep things tucked behind my knees, which was the area of concern. I put another set of grosgrain loops attached with a loop of shockcord at the top to make a head hole. The shiny sides are the draft tubes I added.

Lastly, I put a channel of grosgrain at the top of the quilt and put some shockcord in it to cinch down to keep drafts out of the neck area.

Final weight - 19.9 oz

I'm very satisfied with this quilt now. For $103, I feel like I have a very nice 3 season quilt.

**AaronAlso** · 10-11-2011, 11:08

Tendertoe,

That is a excellent modification. Much simpler than what I had in mind. Of course I'm going for the UQ option too but this is a wonderful visualization. Thank You.

**begleysm** · 10-11-2011, 12:20

Awesome job Tendertoe. I have one of these bags (cut down the back) and you are inspiring me to add some draft baffles!

Thanks for the good pics.

Sean

**Tendertoe** · 10-11-2011, 12:26

Originally Posted by AaronAlso

Tendertoe,

That is a excellent modification. Much simpler than what I had in mind. Of course I'm going for the UQ option too but this is a wonderful visualization. Thank You.

Thanks, can't wait to see how your UQ/TQ comes out.

Originally Posted by begleysm

Awesome job Tendertoe. I have one of these bags (cut down the back) and you are inspiring me to add some draft baffles!

Thanks for the good pics.

Sean

Thanks,

Yeah, for me, the baffles had to be done or the backs of my knees would have been exposed.

It was an easy project. In hindsight, I would have turned the bag inside out and folded the fabric in and sewn instead of out so it would have looked nicer (not shiny side out); but that is just cosmetic, won't affect the function.

Good luck!

**Boulderman** · 10-11-2011, 20:08

Tendertoe - how much down do you think you used to fill those tubes? I might do something like that...

Originally Posted by Tendertoe

Thanks, can't wait to see how your UQ/TQ comes out.

Thanks,

Yeah, for me, the baffles had to be done or the backs of my knees would have been exposed.

It was an easy project. In hindsight, I would have turned the bag inside out and folded the fabric in and sewn instead of out so it would have looked nicer (not shiny side out); but that is just cosmetic, won't affect the function.

Good luck!

**Tendertoe** · 10-11-2011, 21:15

Originally Posted by Boulderman

Tendertoe - how much down do you think you used to fill those tubes? I might do something like that...

Well, three issues with trying to answer that -

1 - I unfortunately didn't weigh the quilt before I started modding so I have no starting point. I also removed things like the stock shock cord, stock channel, etc. So I don't really know how I would factor that in to a calculation if someone would be able to give a stock weight.

2 - I used down that is probably somewhere between 500-700 fp (from an old down jacket) so if I added 4 oz of 500 fp that would equate to 1 - 2 oz of 900 down etc. Granted, the stuff I used is insulating just as well as a higher fill power down, but if you were to buy higher fill power down, you would use substantially less down to accomplish the same effect.

3 - I feel I overstuffed my baffles a bit.

So, two approaches -

The whole quilt has about 7 oz of 850 fp down in the entire thing. Figure out the rough length and width of the quilt and divide by 7. Now figure out the length and width of the baffles and you can now figure out how much down is needed per baffle.

IMHO, the easier way would be to just order 4 oz of down from one of the cottage companies here. The going rate is $7 or so an ounce so it probably won't break the bank to get a couple extra oz.

Fill each baffle till they match the loft of the rest of the quilt.

Sorry I couldn't be more of a help.

**Boulderman** · 10-12-2011, 00:33

That is helpful, thanks. I think I might buy a few oz of down when I get some more funds, and put my sewing skills to the test!

Originally Posted by Tendertoe

Well, three issues with trying to answer that -

1 - I unfortunately didn't weigh the quilt before I started modding so I have no starting point. I also removed things like the stock shock cord, stock channel, etc. So I don't really know how I would factor that in to a calculation if someone would be able to give a stock weight.

2 - I used down that is probably somewhere between 500-700 fp (from an old down jacket) so if I added 4 oz of 500 fp that would equate to 1 - 2 oz of 900 down etc. Granted, the stuff I used is insulating just as well as a higher fill power down, but if you were to buy higher fill power down, you would use substantially less down to accomplish the same effect.

3 - I feel I overstuffed my baffles a bit.

So, two approaches -

The whole quilt has about 7 oz of 850 fp down in the entire thing. Figure out the rough length and width of the quilt and divide by 7. Now figure out the length and width of the baffles and you can now figure out how much down is needed per baffle.

IMHO, the easier way would be to just order 4 oz of down from one of the cottage companies here. The going rate is $7 or so an ounce so it probably won't break the bank to get a couple extra oz.

Fill each baffle till they match the loft of the rest of the quilt.

Sorry I couldn't be more of a help.