I quite fancy making a quilt for camping. Does anyone know of a UK supplier of Primaloft silver or gold or similar?
Matt,
You are a little taller than me, and broader, so this exact thing won't work for you, but consider the size of the insulation, it is 60" wide. When I made my underquilt, which I have used as a top quilt in some conditions, I bought 2 yards of material and cut it diagonally so as to have a tapered trapezoid. If I had used a thicker material, I could have had two small under quilts from that one 60"x72" piece.
A simple rectangular top quilt isn't hard to sew, but you are going to put quite a few hours in. I made quilts for my mum and dad, just to use in the house during the winter. The time taken is going to be similar whatever the material. I knew if I bought cheaper materials, then spent 6 hours or more sewing (and unpicking because I goofed), I would forever wish for better materials. A heavy, possibly bulky and cold quilt isn't going to make you happy, even at half the price.
Regarding bulk. It is going to be bulkier than your PHD down. Most things will be! My underquilt fits into about the same size stuff sack as my Mountain Equipment down bag, and there is a lot more of the down bag!
Yes.Is Climashield the stuff BigMonster uses for his EasyHammocks under insulation?
Yeah I did think that with the Silnylon have looked at all sorts so far. the Skylon or similar is looking most favourable at the moment unless I can find someone selling Pertex but that's unlikely.
With regards to the weight it was more to do with if you had a couple of materials with similar properties, the one that can be compressed the most would win.
Did you use two layers of Climashield rather than one to try and increase the air trapped or was there a price implication at the time??
Yes.
When Matt was starting his business we had a long chat at the Moot about hammocks. I wasn't really on the same page with Matt at that time since I wanted my gear as light and portable as possible and he was aiming his hammocks at events like the Moot, car and short carry. I was all for his using Climashield, while he was very happy with the polyester wadding he had sourced in the UK. The wadding required baffles and was bulkier and heavier, but Matt had spent a lot of time and effort sourcing the best UK material he could, and was happy that his intended market didn't need a lighter and more compressible insulation (that would be more expensive). Fast forward a year, back at the Moot, and Matt's business is doing well, and he is happily telling folk about the high performance Climashield insulation he uses.
It doesn't really matter why he changed, whether it was ease of sewing, supply problems with the UK sourced material, or the lighter weight and better performance of the Climashield. That was several years ago, and EasyHammock is still using Climashield Apex.