Building a sleeping bag: Step 1...

Today I received a shipment of material from Quest Outfitters, basically a few yards of nylon and some shock cord. I've also sent away for some Climashield XP from Thru-Hiker, but it has yet to arrive.

A note on these retailers: Quest Outfitters is ridiculously fast with their orders. I ordered the stuff early Friday morning and received it today (monday). Quest is my place for all the generic fabrics (1.1 oz nylon) and all the little accessories (primalocks, etc.), and I really like that they reduce my total charge depending on how much my order actually costs to ship. Thru-Hiker tends to be more niche, and has a lot of high-quality fabrics and insulations. Unfortunately, their prices can be higher for things like accessories, and their shipping seems way overpriced -- but I have heard great things about their product quality.

Anyways, I will be sewing my own ultralight sleeping bag, and hopefully doing some small other projects with the material scraps. I will do my best to keep this site updated with my progress, and in the end I will supply step-by-step instructions on how to make your own ultralight sleeping bag.

Step 1: Buy material.

-3 yards Climashield XP 5.0 oz (or 3 yards of any insulation. More on why I chose XP later)
-3 yards Climashield XP 2.4 oz (as the second layer, for a warmer sleeping bag)
-7 yards Uncoated 1.1 oz Ripstop Nylon (or Momentum 0.9 oz Ultralite ripstop)
-3 yards 1/8" Shock cord
-1 primalock toggle

The Nunatak Raku

The Nunatak Raku is one of those ultralighters concepts that just hasn't caught on yet. But if you think about it, why do you carry a insulating jacket, and then a separate sleeping bag? Well, personally, I wear my jacket in my sleeping most of the time, but it would make sense to just have one insulating piece of gear, for reduction of bulk and weight. The concept doesn't come cheap though, starting at $574, weighing in at 2lbs 1oz. Steve over at Suluk had one custom built to keep him warm down to 0 degrees.

Mark Henley's 1 oz Pack

Gossamer Gear listed a new myog backpack made by Mark Henley-- a 1 oz, 2000 cubic inch pack. Perfect for you SULers with sub 5 pound packs and tiny pack sizes. Download the pdf by clicking here.

Inspiring Pic of the Day

Jen and Sara of "We are (having) so much fun" wake up in the Warner Mountain Lookout cabin in Oregon.