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  1. #1
    New Member
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    Happy holidays! First post- Outdoor Vitals quilt issues

    Hello all, hope you're having a relaxaed + safe holiday experience. I am going to make a separate introduction post to rave about my appreciation for my new Chameleon and Thunderfly setup as well as all the knowledge I've gained this year from this community.
    ~~~
    However- I'm currently pretty frustrated about my insulation situation. I asked my mom to get me an underquilt and/or topquilt for Christmas, and she got me both from Outdoor Vitals after I saw them recommended by Derek Hanson and they were the only company I saw that looked good quality and didn't have a long shipping delay. I pulled them out of their sacks, shook them a bit and hung them up to loft. While I am an amateur at both camping and hammocks, even I can tell the results after an hour are...not great. There are several patches of the quilts that are so thin the light shines through them, and the thickest areas are still only like an inch tall. They are both supposed to be a 15-degree rating. I am really bummed out because I was excited to use the whole setup soon. And now that I'm reading reviews on that company on this forum, I feel like an idiot for asking my mother to invest in this sub-par product. Trying to focus on enjoying family time right now and not cry. Those things were seriously expensive.
    ~~~
    My question is this: When I contact Outdoor Vitals about the quality of quilts, should I request to fix/replace the quilts or just refund completely and buy from one of the reputable vendors like HG/similar? Either way it seems like I've been screwed out of camping for at least a couple months, especially if they drag their feet on refunding me. Please let me know what you think if you have any input- like I said I'm new to this so anything helps. Thank you!!!
    ~~~

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    I don’t know much about O.V but my limited experience with 800 fill quilts is that it takes longer initially for them to puff up. Keep shaking them once in a while, it may take several hours the first time. After that mine, from another company was fine. I don’t know what fill power your O.V quilts are but give them a little more time.

  3. #3
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Put them in the dryer if you have one on fluff or very low heat for a short while. It will possibly help fluff.
    Then make sure to migrate the down.
    Good luck.
    Shug

    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  4. #4
    Phantom Grappler's Avatar
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    Phantom guess #7129
    If they won’t fluff up
    Would it be possible for you or a homegrown cottage vendor to add an ounce of 800 or 800+ down to EACH baffle? I guess a lot, maybe this or a variation will work.

    There is always the Wim Hof breathing and mind-body control method. I’d use it myself, but there is not enough mind and body left in my frozen carcass

    If I got paid to tell lies...
    It just wouldn’t be as much fun...

  5. #5
    New Member
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    Wow I actually got a reply from Shug, that's a nice Christmas gift. Thanks for the encouragement guys and Phantom - that might be a good solution to save time if Outdoor Vitals refuses to do so. I'm hoping not but reviews of their customer service on here and reddit are worrying me. I definitely wouldn't want to mess with any sewing myself, not that crafty yet but maybe one day!

    I'm about to run the quilts over to my parents house to put them into their front loading dryer then I'll whack the down per that video and see how it looks. Just wanted to post a couple pics of how it looks now for yalls expert opinions. Thank you!!

  6. #6
    New Member
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    Ok I didn't post them right the first time so... second try
    Attached Images Attached Images

  7. #7

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    Good luck. Let us know how it turns out! I'm not sure but I think most cottage vendors say a 20 degree quilt should have around 2.5 inches of loft so I imagine you would be looking at around 3 inches of loft for a 15 degree.

  8. #8
    New Member
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    Well it's currently looking to be about 1.5" thick max... New issue- Tried attaching it and had to stretch it to maximum length to attach to other end. It is so tight that it pulls the hammock up to be straight across. I guess I could buy longer cord to string thrugh but seems kinda unreasonable? This is on a regular length chameleon and I can't think of any other way you could attach this thing.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #9
    Senior Member DocWatson's Avatar
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    I have an older Aeries 20* 5 in 1 from Outdoor Vitals that I am very happy with. Was thinking about getting a warmer UQ from them and using the Aeries as a top quilt. However, pictures on their website of the Loftek underquilts showed what looked like gaps/settling in the photos. I also notice all the colors had the exact same pattern in the filling so I assume that the colors was the exact same under quilt with the color photo edited. Because of this photo, I went with someone else.

    The above being said, OV seems to be doing a lot of youtube videos recently and have included a well known youtuber or two with thier trips and sent product to multiple youtubers. So they seem to be trying to reach out to the consumers. Contact them and see what they have to say. You might be pleasantly surprised.

    - Clyde

    EDIT: Here's the photo of the Loftek UQ that I was talking about.
    OV_loftek.jpg
    Last edited by DocWatson; 12-25-2020 at 19:36. Reason: Forgot to add photo of the loftek UQ

  10. #10
    New Member
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    That's good to hear. I have definitely seen several good reviews so I'm hoping you're right. Definitely not trying to bash the company, especially without giving them a chance first.

    Quote Originally Posted by DocWatson View Post
    I have an older Aeries 20* 5 in 1 from Outdoor Vitals that I am very happy with. Was thinking about getting a warmer UQ from them and using the Aeries as a top quilt. However, pictures on their website of the Loftek underquilts showed what looked like gaps/settling in the photos. I also notice all the colors had the exact same pattern in the filling so I assume that the colors was the exact same under quilt with the color photo edited. Because of this photo, I went with someone else.

    The above being said, OV seems to be doing a lot of youtube videos recently and have included a well known youtuber or two with thier trips and sent product to multiple youtubers. So they seem to be trying to reach out to the consumers. Contact them and see what they have to say. You might be pleasantly surprised.

    - Clyde

    EDIT: Here's the photo of the Loftek UQ that I was talking about.
    OV_loftek.jpg

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