Costco Differential Cut 3/4 UQ with Faux Baffles

[knightshade]

I've tried tape and the answer is no. You are either going to have to sew it or turn to a layering approach.

Hello leiavoia! You authored one of the other Costco threads that I was reading in depth (GEMINI Underquilt)
I tend to sleep cold - so I was actually considering the potential advantages of both Faux Baffles and layering (depending on the temperature.)

If I were to make an attempt, I was thinking of trying some sort of 3M VHB Tape like this tape from Dutchgear:
https://dutchwaregear.com/cuben-fibe...l#tab-product1
If similar approachces have been tried and failed - then I will just learn that from the communal wisdom here.


I may just need to give sewing them a try once I get that far.

@GadgetUK437 - it looks like you have since harvested your down and gone in a new direction....
Is that a commentary on how well this works (or limitations of it), or just your own thirst for continuous improvements to your own gear?

[leiavoia]

It's mostly about ease of development. You can sew faux baffles on a Costco blanket, but the benefits of doing so are small in relation to the work put into it. This is something you can do if you just enjoy tinkering with stuff. If you want maximum benefit, just put the sewing effort into making your own scratch built quilt and end up with a product that far exceeds anything the Costco blanket can do.

[GadgetUK437]

it looks like you have since harvested your down and gone in a new direction....
Is that a commentary on how well this works (or limitations of it), or just your own thirst for continuous improvements to your own gear?

Last statement just about nailed it!

But to summarise...
In my opinion, the faux baffles are the best way of getting the most performance out of a single CDT, without adding down, or opening up the quilt.
What you can do with 6 - 7oz of down in a 10oz shell is always gonna be limited. The best performance with one CDT was one night at 28°F, but for that I took a 70x60" CDT, turned it sideways, used the 70" to made a 44" wide UQ, that gave me 26" to make faux baffles in the 13 walls between the 14 chambers, so quite deep (comparatively) baffles. I also shortened it from 60" to 50", which helped loft the chambers up nicely.
I was less happy with the quilt where I reduced the number of chambers from 12 to 6, they were just too wide. They needed more down to get them to loft adequately, and even then (because of the width) thin spots were often a problem. The best performance from the big quilt filled with 13oz of down was 14°F (-10°C), But it was an inefficient use of down, and if you are gonna open things up and start stuffing down, you might as well go gonzo and do the whole job!

I am always looking at the lightest way of doing things with the cheapest stuff. If you just want the best performance from two CDTs, but less faff, go with the Gemini setup. It's not light, it's (all up) more than 34oz, the two shells add up to 18oz on their own, then add the 13oz of down, but it is very easy to do, and very effective. Not sure how low it can go to, but had mine out to 23°F.

I sold the partial length, rather good, faux Baffled UQ, because it didn't do anything that my 20°F Phoenix did better, and as a partial, wasn't a perfect loaner either. The big one got cannibalised, now I am more confident wrangling duck down, to make a more efficient full length UQ. Instead of a 70" that weighed over 27oz, using 13oz down to get to 14°F I now have a, fully 3D differential cut, 78" UQ, with 14oz of down, rated to 10°F, that weighs in at 25oz.

[knightshade]

Thank you for all of the information - it is helpful in understanding what is possible/practicle.
From everything that I've read over the past few months, it is all about finding the right balancing point (time/effort/funding/skills/etc).

To provide some context, I've not hammock camped in ~25 years (I used to during the summer months with my scout troop using a string hammock with a painters tarp)
This summer, I picked up a parachute hammock - and my son and some of the other scouts asked about using it overnight.
That rekindled my interest, so I've been reading up - and seeing just how far things have changed in the arena of hammock camping in that time.

My goal was to be ready for some of the fall campouts - to give it a go in contrast to the tent camping that I've been doing.
I've gotten a tarp, parts to build an 11' hammock and and some suspensions to play with.
Where I live, nights are already dropping into the upper 40's - so some sort of insulation (pad or underquilt) seems like it will be needed (or at least recommended).
Doing something with the Costco quilts seemed like a reasonable entry point so that I can test out the gear....

We are generally close the the cars (<1/4 mile) - so weight isn't a huge concern.
A part of me had been wondering if a balance point (time/performance/weight) was:
- Take 2 quilts
- Remove the edge "string"
- Rip the short seams to create tubes instead of squares
- Migrate the down to one end, and shorten it to 45 inches (concentrating the down into a smaller area)
- Sew the two quilts together such that they create a set of offset channels
Offset-quilt.jpg
- Create a clew suspension for it

Based on some of the data earlier in the thead, that should result in a quilt that is 45"x60" and about 26 oz in weight (+suspension)
The one oddity would be that the tubes are perpendicular to the ridge line (which is uncommon for underquilts)

It sounds like the better options will be to invest in making a properly baffled underquilt -
but I imagine that I'll know my needs better after some nights in the hammock in cooler temperatures.

Thanks again for the shared knowledge!

[GadgetUK437]

Transverse chambers on UQs are not that uncommon. As long as they are not understuffed, you don't get a problem with Down settling.

Clew suspension could be a bit weird on a partial length quilt, I think it has been discussed somewhere.
Just had an idea pop in my head. To avoid your legs snagging on the nettles of the clew, you could make your partial length quilt impersonate a full length quilt. By adding a length of lightweight material to the foot end, to which you attach the clew (add 10 - 15" of ripstop to your 60" quilt). But some might say (especially short people) a 60" quilt isn't really partial length!

--
Gadget

[sqidmark]

I made a 3/4 clews CDT and to sum it up, i would not recommend it. Overall it works well, but is a bit of effort to keep from slipping off shoulders/feet. Often the whole thing just flips entirely off to one side. I'm currently laying in my Chameleon clone with the 3/4. I reversed the pack hooks so that they'd hold the 1/32 nettles better. The thin cords slip off the official Duthware hook orientation. That worked well as the quilt did not shift on me all night, and that's a first.

As i recall, mine is 45" long and is about the minimum length i would use for myself. I'm 5'4". For taller folks I'd suggest closer to 50".

I suspect a lot of folks may not care for the feel of the nettles in the lower leg/foot area. l I made mine with 16, 1/32 nettles so individually each has little tension. I can only imagine that fewer heavier cords would be even more unpleasant. That said, I've used virtually every night this summer.

[knightshade]

I fear that we are deviating from the thread at hand, but I had been reading a number of threads about the clew underquilt suspension.
A few posts mentioned the Snugfit underquilt, where instead of shock-cord/nettles a 4-way stretch material is used.
May be interesting to consider that - especially with the feedback.
Goes to show that there is a lot for me to learn still :-)

[bmorri3]

Last statement just about nailed it!

But to summarise...
In my opinion, the faux baffles are the best way of getting the most performance out of a single CDT, without adding down, or opening up the quilt.
What you can do with 6 - 7oz of down in a 10oz shell is always gonna be limited. The best performance with one CDT was one night at 28°F, but for that I took a 70x60" CDT, turned it sideways, used the 70" to made a 44" wide UQ, that gave me 26" to make faux baffles in the 13 walls between the 14 chambers, so quite deep (comparatively) baffles. I also shortened it from 60" to 50", which helped loft the chambers up nicely.
I was less happy with the quilt where I reduced the number of chambers from 12 to 6, they were just too wide. They needed more down to get them to loft adequately, and even then (because of the width) thin spots were often a problem. The best performance from the big quilt filled with 13oz of down was 14°F (-10°C), But it was an inefficient use of down, and if you are gonna open things up and start stuffing down, you might as well go gonzo and do the whole job!

I am always looking at the lightest way of doing things with the cheapest stuff. If you just want the best performance from two CDTs, but less faff, go with the Gemini setup. It's not light, it's (all up) more than 34oz, the two shells add up to 18oz on their own, then add the 13oz of down, but it is very easy to do, and very effective. Not sure how low it can go to, but had mine out to 23°F.

I sold the partial length, rather good, faux Baffled UQ, because it didn't do anything that my 20°F Phoenix did better, and as a partial, wasn't a perfect loaner either. The big one got cannibalised, now I am more confident wrangling duck down, to make a more efficient full length UQ. Instead of a 70" that weighed over 27oz, using 13oz down to get to 14°F I now have a, fully 3D differential cut, 78" UQ, with 14oz of down, rated to 10°F, that weighs in at 25oz.

So, what was the final verdict? I have a UQ that works into the 50s already. I want to buy two (or 4) of these and make one that works to 30. If I go colder than that, I can use my pad as well. It looks like tearing the seams going short ways, doubling with down from a 2nd throw, and making deep faux baffles is the most efficient way to max out it's R. Does this sound right? Would you rate it to 30? Any other easy (cheap) improvements you would suggest?

[GadgetUK437]

So, what was the final verdict?

Err... I think you just quoted my final verdict!!

If you want the best insulation for the least weight, then it's worth doing the work. But if you are less concerned about weight saving, then stacking unmodded (or simple seam ripped) throws is more time efficient.
The five inch chambers are more efficient than the ten inch ones (they need a LOT of filling).




--
Gadget

[bmorri3]

Err... I think you just quoted my final verdict!!

If you want the best insulation for the least weight, then it's worth doing the work. But if you are less concerned about weight saving, then stacking unmodded (or simple seam ripped) throws is more time efficient.
The five inch chambers are more efficient than the ten inch ones (they need a LOT of filling).




--
Gadget

Thanks! I asked about the final verdict because I didn't know if you had any non-posted ideas in the last year. As for the weight, it's for backpacking, so I think I'll go the time-consuming route. I'm excited about this! Do y'all know of similar threads for a top quilt or what the final verdict there is?

Ben