Karo vs. "traditional" baffles?

[Tendertoe]

This will be for a TQ build -

Thoughts on the benefits or limitations of Karo step baffling vs. the "traditional" end to end baffles (whether horizontal or vertical)?

I feel like the down would move more easily around in a Karo step quilt (which could be a bad thing if you are trying to get the down equally distributed throughout the quilt).

The end to end baffles (side to side) I am more familiar with but don't know if it is necessarily a better or worse design.

[pgibson]

The main benefit that I have seen in the couple of Karo's that we have built is that stuffing the down in is a quick simple process that eliminates weighing the down for each baffle. In theory this makes for less mess to clean up. I did not find the theory to play out into reality though I also felt that you needed more down overall to fill the Karo enough to keep the down in place and even throughout the quilt where as the baffled quilts the baffles help to keep everything much more stable and you can get away with less down to do that job.

My $0.02

[Violent Green]

For me, the pros & cons with Karo baffles stack up like so:

Pros
- Easier to stuff the down
- Can move down around if you wish
- All things being equal will be lighter than traditional baffles since less baffle material

Cons
- Sewing all those little baffles are a big headache
- down can unintentionally shift depending on your design

Going to a 10/6 baffle design and making your baffles 1/2"-3/4" inch shorter than desired loft have proven to really control the down from my experience. I noticed very little down shift on any of the 12/6 Karo's I've made though.

If you are making your own - I would do traditional. Sewing Karo baffles suuuuucks compared to traditional baffles. Much more headache than putting down into individual chambers IMO.

Ryan

[Tendertoe]

Thanks for the responses.

I've made a "traditional baffle" UQ before and while it was a pain, sounds like less of a pain than the Karo step approach.