Question about working with Climashield

[Tucson Tom]

Well my package from Dutch arrived with 7 yards of 3.6 Climashield and 14 yards of Argon 90. The trick now is to turn this into a TQ and an UQ. I have read about setting up a stack of layers like so:

climashield
ripstop
ripstop

Then sew around the edges, leaving maybe a foot of one side unsewn, then turn the whole thing inside out and finish off that final foot.

One thing I am still unsure of is how far from the edge to sew the stack. Any advice on this critical dimension?

I still have some deep thinking to do about how to rig up the underquilt suspension.

The top quilt seems very easy. It is just a big rectangle, perhaps with an adjustable bit of shock cord in a channel at the head end (or not),
and with some kind of scheme to arrange a foot box. I am probably just goin to imitate what was done with my JRB down topquilt.
It has 22 inches of velcro strap sewn along the side edges (I may use some of the unsexed universal velcro) along with a drawstring to close
the foot end. I could also add a little shoestring like affair where the velcro ends to allow that end to be tied together.

I worry a bit about the velcro chewing on the Argon 90, but there haven't been any problems of that sort with my JRB quilt.
I have seen people advocate snaps, but don't really know the pros and cons of snaps versus velcro.

[boulderv7]

If it were me (and I have little experience with synthetic insulation except a king size comforter I made for my wife) I would use a 1/2" seam allowance. I also like snaps vs Velcro, but that just my opinion. You could also sew the footbox permanently.

[Tucson Tom]

My head is an animal

My birds think so!

I thought about doing something along the lines of a differential cut like you say. I was telling myself to (keep it simple), but it would be easy enough to do that. However then the inner layer would be the one holding all of my weight. But that is OK given peoples comments about single layer hammocks with 1.1 or 1.2 weight fabrics. hmm. Maybe fudge the outer layer just 1/4 or 3/8 of an inch (0.250 to 0.375 inches). Just guessing, but I can play with the material and decide on this just before cutting the fabric.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

Don't worry about the differential on the TQ as the differential is different at the feet and shoulders anyway (a tighter loop at foot end) I'd definitely suggest one on the UQ though

Velcro is messy in the woods and pretty difficult to get right. I'd personally go for snaps or sewn

How far from the edge to sew is actually a pretty tricky bit as any excess climashield makes for a double thick portion right along the edge. I use a serger as it removes this (mostly).

[irhirh]

+1 for not using Velcro but I also find snaps pop open too easily

My latest slightly bonkers idea is to use small magnets such as these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-small-N...item20e7a36eca

They actually seem to work quite well and weigh less than a gram

I'm also looking at some small ring magnets that are easy to sew into a seam

--Ian

[Tucson Tom]

It is interesting that you guys are all down on the velcro.

I ought to just sew the foot box and be done with it. On my JRB down top quilt, the foot box is done with 3 different "things" playing a part.

1) 20 inches of velcro to join the two sides.
2) Some "string" where the velcro ends that you can tie in a knot to keep the velcro from unzipping endlessly.
3) A drawstring to close up the bottom.

It all works like a champ. Honestly I pretty much leave the foot box set up all the time, which is why I think I should just sew mine and be done
with it. Since I am an ultralight fanatic (or claim to be sometimes), this would be the lightest solution for sure. I just hesitate to commit myself to
a permanent footbox. As soon as I sew it, I am going to be wishing I could lay it out flat.

What about a series of button holes and then lace it up along the side? And keep the drawstring to do the bottom?
It doesn't have to hold any real load, just keep things in place.

[mountain_man_mike]

I took inspiration from Ray Jardine's website and took it from there. The footbox is stitched in and helps cover the stitching/flip maneuver needed. Climashield has been a great thing for our troop and I love it.

[irhirh]

Button holes got me thinking.

What about some of those very small eyelets about 1/4" in diameter?

Easy to insert and can then be laced up...

[MattK]

Forgot where I heard this tip, but I sewed my quilt with the climashield down. I pinned the shell and liner to the climashield, and cut the insulation a bit wide. Then I sewed the perimeter and trimmed the climashield down to size. Worked great. No problems with the climashield in the feed dogs or anything. This is also how I made my serape/under quilt.

For seam allowance, I just set my needle in the middle position and lined up the outside of my presser foot with the edge of the ripstop, which is about 1/4".

If you do go with velcro, you will want to add a snap or buckle of some sort at the top of the closure to keep the velcro from peeling apart.

I used a separating zipper in my TQ, which is basically a mimic of the EE Prodigy design. I have had very good results with the snaps I used on that project. I have one set on each end of the zipper (to relieve stress on the zipper itself) and one at the head end to cinch the neck. If I was going to make another one, I would use a zipper again, with complimentary snaps. That being said, I think as far as ease of installation, effectiveness, and cost, going with snaps would work great. Very little fuss.

For the foot cinch, I remember seeing a post by Tom from EE saying that he had the best results with using shock cord in a channel with a cord lock on both ends. This is how I set things up on my quilt and it has been great. Don't use grosgrain to create the foot end channel though. It doesn't bunch very well and leaves a large hole in the footbox. Ask me how I know . Make the foot end channel out of ripstop. I do recommend the neck/head end cinch too. In my experience, this extends the comfort range of my TQ by several degrees.

I am currently using a very simple UQ suspension. I have 1/8" shock cord run through the full length side channels of the serape/UQ. On one end is a mitten hook, on the other there is a mitten hook and then a cord lock on top. Just clip to your suspension via mitten hooks and snug things up with the cord lock. Pretty simple.

Check out DIY Gear Supply for some really good information on how to start. I used their guides and then tweaked the dimensions and added "features" to fit my uses.