New down sleeping bag

charley · 11-29-2011, 02:52 PM

I just got a new kelty cosmic down sleeping bag. It is 550 fp down and rated to 20*. I bought the short cause it was on sale and was lighter than the regular @ 2lb. 3 oz. It is also womens but I will use it as a quilt in my hammock. I checked it for fit in the hammock today and it fit fine. It just fits my wife for a bag and she is 5'5". It is so light and soft. I can not wait to get outside and test it in lower temps. I now have to redo the underquilt for my hammock now. I have 2 Eddie Bauer down throws I had made into a top quilt and underquilt and now I can combine them into an underquilt which should be much warmer. It is my Christmas present from my wife but I had to make sure it fit. Maybe she will let me try it out before the 25th if it gets cold at night.

IndianaHiker · 11-30-2011, 12:03 AM

Love to see some pics of that under quilt set up. How bulky is it for backpacking. Been trying to figure out how to use my hammock this winter.

Pathfinder1 · 11-30-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charley

I just got a new kelty cosmic down sleeping bag. It is 550 fp down and rated to 20*. I bought the short cause it was on sale and was lighter than the regular @ 2lb. 3 oz. It is also womens but I will use it as a quilt in my hammock. I checked it for fit in the hammock today and it fit fine. It just fits my wife for a bag and she is 5'5". It is so light and soft. I can not wait to get outside and test it in lower temps. I now have to redo the underquilt for my hammock now. I have 2 Eddie Bauer down throws I had made into a top quilt and underquilt and now I can combine them into an underquilt which should be much warmer. It is my Christmas present from my wife but I had to make sure it fit. Maybe she will let me try it out before the 25th if it gets cold at night.

Hi...

It seems that you have good improvisional skills...!! Let us know how it works out.

charley · 12-01-2011, 12:32 PM

I hung the hammock in the yard and with the two down throws on the bottom and the sleeping bag on top I was toasty warm. Maybe too warm but that could be from the work hanging it. It is sposed to get to 27 tonight, I hope that is comfy. The down quilts are 50" x 60" so they are wider than most underquilts but that's not a bad thing since I am also wide. I put shock cord through a channel on each end. Tied to a loop on one end and looped through a loop with a cord lock on the other end so you can tighten it up on the ends to keep out the cold winds. I tighten it down to about 38 inches. I have cord in channels on the sides to keep them tight so they don't sag. I think I need shockcord here too instead of just regular cord. I have a grossgrain loop sewn on each corner to attach these cords to. I also attach about a foot of shock cord to each loop with a hook on the end. The hook is attached to a prussik loop on each end of my ridgeline. If you have a gathered end hammock you can just have a 2' length that goes from one corner to the other on each end and just loop them over the end of the hammock to hang the underquilt. I will try to get some pictures up later. Going back out hunting soon.
Oh, the underquilts are 18 oz. finished weight each so 2 lb. 4 oz. for the 2. I think that would be about 8 oz of fill each for a total of 16 oz of 650 fill for the pair. The 650 should pack down even better than the 550 in the sleeping bag. It will not be as compact as 800 but it is less than half the price. The bag came with a 8x13 stuff sack and it could stuff a bit smaller,I think and the underquilt should stuff a bit smaller yet.

charley · 12-01-2011, 06:46 PM

I have never posted pictures here so here goes.

Judy Ann · 12-01-2011, 06:55 PM

Looks pretty warm Charley. Cool setup. What kind of tarp are you using? Does Mrs. Charley know that you are playing with your Christmas present 25 days early? ;-)

charley · 12-01-2011, 07:02 PM

This was the 1st pic the red x. Diy tarp with doors. the 1st pic you can see in previous post is the hammock inside the tarp. you can see how the end of the underquilt is cinched up to keep out the cold. Next see how the shockcord is tied to the loops and goes up to the loop on the ridgeline. Ok pink loop instead of grossgrain loop, you can see the shockcord and cordlock. Next see the 2 underquilts and how the cord keeps the edge straight. In this last one see, from the right underquilt, underquilt, hammock, and new down bag.

IndianaHiker · 12-01-2011, 07:39 PM

Nice Setup.

charley · 12-01-2011, 08:47 PM

Thanks Indiana Hiker and Judy Ann.

Judy Ann · 12-01-2011, 09:11 PM

Do you use webbed straps around the trees to protect the bark?
Have you figured out how to pull a tarp back over you after looking at the stars?
How do you tie your hammock to keep the rain from running down the ropes and soaking everything?

You are doing a nice job of figuring all that out. Have you tried it out on the trails yet?