Winter Quilt with a Custom Trapezoidal Baffled Footbox.

Winter Quilt with a Custom Trapezoidal Baffled Footbox.

Last year I got tired of sitting out the entire winter then having to struggle to get my 'trail legs' the next summer. I decided to get out and enjoy the backcountry in the winter. . . but the last time I camped in the snow I was a Boyscout and my memories include freezing all night in a canvas A-frame tent.

After hearing about the easy way to the snow via the tram to Mt. San Jacinto I was determined to get out in the winter. I figured that if I could do a few nights in the local mountains I would be ready for a real snowshoe trip in the High Sierra. I would need a much warmer quilt if I wanted to actually stay warm and enjoy the cold winter temperatures.

It was time to make a Winter Quilt with a Custom Trapezoidal Baffled Footbox. 

Lightweight Summer Quilt

This is a simple summer quilt with 1" baffles. After fooling around with a lot of different designs, dimensions and materials this final version of the summer quilt seems to be perfect (or whatever perfect is today).  

Materials: 

Momentum50 Black for the liner and Aegean Blue for the outer/shell. This is the latest and lightest breathable material from Thru-Hiker.com
30% overstuffed with 6.3 ozs 900 f/p down from Thru-Hiker.com
1" baffles spaced every 5" using 0.34 oz/sqyd cuben from Zpacks.com.
1/16" shock cord for the adjustable neck from Zpacks.com.
1/2" plastic D-Rings (questoutfitters.com)
Small metal eyelits (questoutfitters.com)

Dimensions: 

50" at the neck end tapering to 56" for the 2nd to 9th baffles, then tapering down to 40" at the foot end. The total length is 78". 

The loft seems to have come out over 1 1/2" probably due to the 30% overstuff. I think this should be good down to 40 degrees easily, and probably into the 30's with a silk base layer/puffy jacket/wind shirt/sleep socks etc.

Total weight is 12.48 ozs.

Here are a few photos: