Hello and good day everyone! This is my first post on Thru-Hiker so you will have to excuse the ignorance! My question is this….I am trying to make a backcountry blanket, similar in style to Nunatuk’s BCB(TM). My wife and i have recently had a baby, so she won the argument, and i now have to make it large enough for 3 of us or no overnight hiking for us as a family. I still am going to make more of an Arc Ghost(TM) style for my solo trips. I have got the following supplies-5.5Lbs of 850FP. goose down-and on order-15 yards of momentum 90mr-15 yards of momentum 90T. now i live in Canada,(no, i don’t live anywhere near the AT…..i just really like this site for no nonsense info,and enjoy L.W. B.P.). Now, what should i be using for the baffles? Seems to me that no-nanoseeum meshes are NOT very strong as baffle material. Is there something that i am missing? Should i be looking elsewhere for materials for baffles, maybe the cloth style mesh(heavier)? I am trying to end up with a final weight of approx. 2 LBS. for a 2 person+baby quilt. Anywho, anyone that can help, please feel free to chime in,any info will help. Thank you, and happy hiking! westcoasthiker

I think that a lot of people use the mesh for baffle material. I’m not an expert but it seems the baffles are not really intended to provide structural support to begin with, so a quilt’s durability would probably be more dependent on the overall construction (ie, good sewing technique, controlling fraying, etc), and even more importantly, how careful you are when washing it. Washing it is probably the only time when the baffles could be at risk (ie, picking it up while soaking wet and letting large parts of it hang). And to a lesser degree, when you are pulling it out of a stuff sack. So as long as you are careful when washing it, the no-nanoseeum material would probably be a good choice. Using regular rip-stop for the baffles would add weight but would not really add significantly more strength in the above washing situation. That’s my 2 cents, anyway! Good luck with your project!

O.K. this is what i found out… noseeum mesh, is very common for baffle material. Just have to be careful on how you sew it. Creating a finished edge is key to strength and stability. Tim, over @ backpacking light gave me the advice( Tim- from enLIGHTened equipment). He was also suggesting to use cuben fabric….interesting, very light but also very expensive! I plan on making a quilt/blanket from momentum90, in climashield apex AND a down one aswell. Any thoughts? Do i need to “quilt” the apex? would also like some advice on purchasing a hammock. Yes, this might be the incorrect forum, but i thought i would try anyway! Anywho, thanks, and have a great day all! -westcoasthiker

That’s good info about the mesh. I haven’t worked with Cuben but I’ve heard there might be some differences in working with it vs nylon. It is pretty pricey and I’m wondering if the weight savings of using it for baffle material only would be worth the cost and potential construction hassles… I’ve only worked with Primaloft so far, but I’ve heard that Apex only needs to be edge-stabilized. No words of wisdom on working with down as I have not yet gone there, but that is an upcoming project for me!

I ordered down from a Canadian company…(where i am from) called Feather Industries out of Toronto, Ontario. It was the ‘Canadian Hutterite white goose down’ it is conservatively rated @ 800 FP. When i talked to the person (Jackie McGrath was her name) she informed me that it rates a little higher (850-and up).It is one of the best quality products available at any price. I have looked on line, and in bedding stores, and quilts with this quality of down sell upwards of $750- and up! Anyway, 7LBS. of it cost me 801.54 delivered to my door. I have thus far made(practiced) on making the wife a quilt, the baby a quilt, and duvet covers for both (needed the sewing practice). When i went to fill the quilts( 600 thread count cotton sheets, i purchased @ a home discount store), I used 2 different methods for filling….first i went into my restroom in my basement(lino floors) with all the necessary supplies…the giant bag of down (3 feet wide by 7 feet tall), the unstuffed quilt, scale- accurate to the gram, small plastic grocery bag(to measure the down), pencil and paper(to do the math), and those little metal paper spring clips(to close off each baffle as they are filled. The plastic bag method… MESSY!!!!!!! The next one i filled i used the shop vac method…Yes! this is the way to do it! Any over spill(no matter how careful you are, you are going to spill, it gets on everything!) This is where the vac method really comes into its own…you spill, you just vac it up! (Two tubes, nosseeum mesh between the two, first tube gets filled up, shut the vac off, carefully remove the first section and slide the first tube into the baffle, use a broom handle to push it into the bottom of the baffle and presto!!) Anywho, i am rambling….really want my supplies from Thru-Hiker(hint hint) to get here, so i can start my BCB. -Happy hiking, westcoasthiker

really want my supplies from Thru-Hiker(hint hint) to get here, so i can start my BCB

The shipping queue is empty except for orders that came in yesterday (Sunday) and today (Monday).  As there are no canadian orders in the shipping queue, your order must have already shipped. You should have received two emails—one from thru-hiker and one from paypal—when your order shipped.  If you did not receive a shipping notice, check your spam folder.  If you need your tracking number to be sent again, contact me directly and I’ll take care of it.

OOPS! Sorry AYCE, i checked my e-mail, and yes it was in the spam folder, my bad! It looked as if it was sent out some where around the 24th or 25th. Now is the wait for the customs people! Man am i excited about this little project!

Excellent, that’s good news.