Question on Measuring for a Top Quilt

[Alaskan Hanger]

Hello All,
Well my birthday is coming up and decided to get myself a birthday present, a top quilt. I have looked at all the "sizing recommendations on most of the vendors web sites. But as I am away from the wife It is rather difficult to measure yourself while laying on the floor.

the measurement I got was 47" if you add the 4"-6" as recommended, that would bring it to 53" at the most. That doesn't allow much wiggle room for tucking in and such. I am 6"5" 265lbs and wear a 2XL-3XL shirt. This seems a little small to me (my sports coat is a 57" chest). Not to mention I am a side sleeper and I toss and turn in my sleep.

Is there any other way to measure for a top quilt. I read here about a wrist to wrist measurement, what is that about?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Alaskan Hanger

[TroyMatik]

Hey There Alaskan Hanger. I noticed nobody responded to your post as of yet.
In my personal opinion your "Chest Size" is a good place to start thinking of a proper measurement.
If you think about it, the widest your TQ needs to be is the distance tucked between your shoulder blades, wrapped around your body. The easiest way to measure by yourself is to tape one end of a cloth measuring tape to the center of your chest (shirt) and just reach your arm out and measure around your other arm to your shoulder blade (about as far as you can reach, ie as far as you would ever tuck your TQ in) and multipy that number by 2. That measurement would be the widest your TQ would need to be. Now if your preference is to have your quilt baggier then by all means add a little extra...
I'm 5'9" tall and weigh about 185. The farthest I can reach with my right hand across the left side of my back from the center of my chest is about 24". If I double that I get 48", I opted to add about 4" to that # for some wiggle room. In an ideal world, laying in my hammock, I don't move around a lot, shift to my side occasionally and kind curl up into a ball (like a 5 year old). I know from tons of experience using a cheap fleece throw that's around 40'' wide that, that width was about a foot shy of my ideal width... I'm going with a top width of 52".
From my online digging experience, most top quilt manufacturers produce their quilts as standard width around that size, between 48-56" and have the option to add extra width for a small price.
My apologies for the rant for such a simply reply/answer!
Hope this information is useful.
~Matik

[kitsapcowboy]

TroyMatik gave you good advice. I would add simply, in the spirit of "Hang your own hang," that a lot of your decision will be personal preference. While I have fairly broad shoulders for my build, I wear a 42L sport coat but I still prefer a wide quilt for a number of reasons. FWIW all of the top quilts that I have ordered or made myself (DIY) have finished out between 57" and 59", approaching the full width of a roll of standard Climashield synthetic insulation. When I am contemplating a quilt built, I grab a sleeping bag, blanket, or bedsheet and use it to prototype the length and width, fitting with pins, tape, or clamps as necessary; to find the final dimensions that will suit me. In a TQ, I typically value comfort and freedom of motion over an extra ounce or two of pack weight. However, if you're trying to determine the minimum amount of quilt that will do the job in order to save weight, a mock-up method like that might help. Good luck...

[Alaskan Hanger]

Hello TroyMatik,
Thanks for the advice. Since I was getting no replys on this thread. I just ordered a 20 degree top quilt the same width as my sleeping bag from when i was a ground dweller. It will be a little large, but thats good in colder weather. I will use your method when it comes time to order my summer quilts though.
Thanks again for the reply.

Alaskan Hanger