This is my DIY Land's End Primaloft vest underquilt

**climbing.kevin** · 02-05-2014, 10:53

used two of these http://www.landsend.com/products/men...vest/id_246233 size XL

The two bottoms were sewn together and shockcord loops were sewn on with cord locks added to both collars as well as the suspension line. Then metal hammer on snaps were added to two of the arm holes (I only had 4 sets of snaps and I plan on carrying my primaloft full zip jacket which zips into the other vest without the snaps attached, thus covering up the arm holes there)

What's awesome is I can wear this 3/4 underquilt as a vest, "dress", or big diaper (if I put my legs through the bottom vest arm holes). I can also "zip in" extra insulation where I need it since I am always carrying my patagonia nanopuff primaloft jacket, and this jacket has compatible zippers with this underquilt, just flip the jacket inside out and then zip it to the UQ between the UQ and the hammock. Its also really easy to store. You just hang it on a hanger in vest mode in your closet and that's it, no need for a mesh sack or anything. When you are ready to pack it up for a trip, the whole product stuffs into its own built in pocket stuff sacks (two of them, one for each vest)

With this setup you can make yourself a 3 season uq for $60 + tax (shipping is free for orders over $50

) or a 4 season uq for $120 + tax (just zip in 2 of the vest on top.

**climbing.kevin** · 02-05-2014, 10:57

More pictures for it

**ADKrella** · 02-05-2014, 11:06

Wow man thats pretty creative.
And an underquilt for 50 bucks isn't to shabby.
I wish I was more DIY inclined.
I got the jacket on sale and it's pretty sweet.
Almost identical to the patagucci.

WV · 02-05-2014, 11:50

Great work, Kevin! I've been working on something similar myself, based on a cheap down jacket that I turned into a vest by removing the sleeves. I put zippers in the arm holes, but I like your solution with snaps, too. I've been planning a double vest version similar to yours either made-from scratch or using my Primaloft Minima Vest from Thru-hiker as one half.

Do you find that the way the shoulder width makes the armhole closure fold over when wrapped around your hammock affects the way it lies against the hammock body? In my down version that's the case, so I'm planning a narrower shoulder for my primaloft model. It will reduce the warmth of the vest on my shoulder, but I may employ a set of separate down sleeves (like those from Jacks-r-Better) to take care of that. Sleeves are already multi-purpose items. They deserve more attention.

Another detail: it looks like the bottom edge of the Landsend vests is straight. Both my down vest and the Minima vest have a longer tail. When vests this shape are sewn together they form a curved surface, very much the way side darts in an underquilt do. I hope to fine-tune that effect to make the uq fit the hammock as closely as possible without having to tighten the suspension so much that the primaloft is compressed. The armhole mod I mentioned should help with that, too.

When you fold the two vests together to wear it, do you use anything to attach them to each other? I figure only one half of my DIY version will need a zipper (or snaps) as a front closure, but I'm not sure if I'll need snaps near the neck to hold it together while I put it on. If you decide to put snaps on the other set of armholes (I would), you could make them match up with the ones you're using now.

Wow! I love it when people have ideas similar to mine and the gumption to go ahead and try them. We learn from each other. I was excited when I saw your earlier thread, and delighted that you followed through on it.

David

**climbing.kevin** · 02-05-2014, 12:23

WV,
Thanks, I saw your earlier posts about it and decided to try my hand (and my mother's) at designing and making this. She was the one who did the sewing of the 2 vest together, as well as all the shock cord loops

. I designed it and did the rest.

I have yet to lay in it with the snaps installed, as I did those last night and havent had a chance to get in it. However I did lay in it a couple days ago with the jacket zipped in with the sleeves going through the vest holes and had no problems with fit. I plan on using my jacket + vest for my shoulder and the snap closure vest side for my lower torso. I figure my feet are in a synthetic 0 deg mummy bag footbox so it should be fine if there is a small opening from the UQ.

Another nice thing about the UQ vest is now i get more pockets to put stuff while I'm in my hammock.

Also the bottom of the vest include a shock cord cinche system included, so i can tighten the mid section of my UQ to hug me closer.

I dont attach them to each other when i wear it. I first wear the top one inside out, and then fold the UQ in half along where the two vests are sewn together, and wear the bottom vest normally on the outside (its super warm 200 gram primaloft vest now!). My arms fit through both of the vest arm holes which keep it together and i can zip up the outer vest (using the already attached front zippers) to for added warmth or to keep it together even more.

I love the idea of having a multipurpose wearable UQ which I can zip on layers of extra insulation where i need it. Im surprised no one has patented this, or maybe someone has?

**climbing.kevin** · 02-05-2014, 12:26

Originally Posted by adkrella

Wow man thats pretty creative.
And an underquilt for 50 bucks isn't to shabby.
I wish I was more DIY inclined.
I got the jacket on sale and it's pretty sweet.
Almost identical to the patagucci.

except these vest have 100 grams of primaloft vs the patagonia nanopuff which has 60 or 70 grams.

**ADKrella** · 02-05-2014, 12:34

Originally Posted by climbing.kevin

except these vest have 100 grams of primaloft vs the patagonia nanopuff which has 60 or 70 grams.

haha didn't even notice that really.....I was to fixated on the 200 vs 50 dollars for my jacket I guess

...

even better !

**climbing.kevin** · 02-05-2014, 12:56

Originally Posted by adkrella

haha didn't even notice that really.....I was to fixated on the 200 vs 50 dollars for my jacket I guess

...

even better !

..... and people say pick one: quality or price

**Ratdog** · 02-05-2014, 17:12

This effort deserves a video. Really fine stuff.

You mentioned you didn't mind a little opening/gap because you have a down footbox w/ the sleeping bag, I thought that too until camping in high winds when the heat thief that is the wind robbed me of some warmth. Only one way to tell for sure.

Enjoy the testing phase.

**miyanc** · 02-05-2014, 17:47

Can you show close ups of the tabs you used for the channel? And how you sewed the 2 together?I have 2 lands end down vests. One 2xl the other is xl. I had thought about making a quilt.