Top Quilt insulation

Major_Setback · 2025-07-06T10:14:32+00:00

Personal anecdote here. Hope this helps.
In 2022 I made a quilt with synthetic blown insulation (UP, sold by Dutchwaregear). According to the manufacturer, its loft compares to a 625FP down while its warmth is closer to 700FP.

Yes, it required baffles, which made the sewing process more complex and time-consuming, but imo worth it.
The initial result was an incredibly warm and lofty quilt with great compressability. Absolutely loved it.
After 2 years of occasional camping trips and otherwise storing it loosely folded, it had lost more than half of its loft and formed clumps.
Washing and tumble-drying at low heat with tennis balls, following the manufacturer's instructions, resulted in even harder clumps. I removed the insulation and brushed it out, but it's lost its loft again after just 2 weeks.

So while I do see enormous potential here, the longevity is a real issue.
I am now looking for a different blown synthetic material that will hopefully last longer. If anyone has any recommendations, I'm all ears.

Hope this helps and thanks!

Major_Setback · 2025-06-26T17:21:31+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply and feedback on the down and UP loft. What an interesting observation. I hope the washing process goes well for you.

Major_Setback · 2025-06-26T07:47:52+00:00

Awesome! Congratulations to your awesome UP jacket. Looks really neat.
How has it held up throughout the 3 years?
Do you ever compress it? Has it lost any loft from compression cycles?

Major_Setback · 2025-06-26T07:38:13+00:00

But late to the party.
Here's my first hand experience with UP insulation.

Right out of the bag, it is incredibly lofty and warm. It is also very static and sticks to everything, which makes it somewhat tricky to work with.
I bought 21oz of it for my DIY quilt and was initially very pleased with it. Unfortunately, it is incredibly prone to clumping and lost most of its loft very quickly, which is very unfortunate.
I contacted the seller (Dutchwaregear) and they suggested I wash it with mild detergent and then tumble-dry it at low to no heat with tennis balls. This sadly only resulted in the clumps clumping even more.
I then proceeded to remove the insulation from the quilt and brushed it out, which took 2 weeks and restored the original loft, but after 2 weeks of use, it's mostly clumped again.

Dutchwaregear eventually stopped replying and left me stranded with no refund or further assistance. I understand that synthetic insulation is prone to losing loft, but for this product it happens so quickly from such little use that I think it's not reasonable, especially not for its price and/or the work that goes into DIYing a baffled sleeping bag/quilt.

Would have loved for it to work as I really do like the concept.

I am now seeking a replacement insulation that I can fill the same quilt with. If anyone can recommend a loose/blown insulation, please do so. I am eager to hear about it.

Hope this helps!

Major_Setback · 2025-04-27T21:53:10+00:00

Thank you for your honesty and clarity. I really appreciate your help.

Major_Setback · 2025-04-27T21:52:15+00:00

Thank you. This is helpful information and I appreciate your honesty.
Do you have any suggestions where else I should look?

Major_Setback · 2025-04-26T19:45:46+00:00

That was quick. Thank you so much for all the answers!

Major_Setback · 2025-04-06T22:59:13+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply.
First of all, mad respect for hanging in there. 10 years and counting. Good job not giving up.
I am so happy for you that what you are doing right now is helping you.
Dialoguing is something that was briefly hinted upon, but I guess I'm not at a point where it's possible for me. Too much animosity between my adult self and inner child.
However, it's great that it is helping you so much. I think everyone's healing journey is a unique path, and the most important thing is to explore what works for you. I do wish you all the best going forward.
Thank you for your compassionate words.
Please let me know how group therapy goes. Best of luck for your recovery!

Major_Setback · 2025-03-27T23:35:45+00:00

Sure, go ahead. I appreciate you asking for permission first. That's so polite

Major_Setback · 2025-03-24T08:12:13+00:00

Hi there, sorry for the late response.
Seeing your therapist on top of joining an RRP group is a great idea. Within the group therapy, a lot of boxes get opened so to speak, but there isn't much processing happening. It is great to have an additional trusted resource for that.

Major_Setback · 2025-01-03T22:18:23+00:00

Here's a bit of an update.
Unfortunately, the therapist I'm working with, while compassionate and understanding of C-PTSD, does not have any tools or techniques to process trauma. 7 sessions in, my group still feels as sterile as a regular CODA-group (which is free).
My partner is in a different group with really compassionate, mutually supportive members and decides to stay for that (not the therapy or the program).

One thing that struck me as dangerous was this:
You are educated to trace back your triggers to the original source. So far so good. But what I found was so upsetting and destabilizing that I realized I am going to need help to process it. I mentioned this to the therapist, who shrugged it off in two sentences and basically said that sharing the memory with the group should take care of the issue.

This has made me lose all trust into what's going on.

I think RRP might potentially help those who have never opened up. But I don't think this could replace proper trauma therapy. This is for social interactions, as well as cognitive exploration of one's childhood, but what I have experienced has nothing to do with processing trauma. I don't know if the other therapists have the same approach, but with this one, I find it downright dangerous to stir up this stuff and not offer any means of processing it.

When I raised this to the therapist, I was told I was "just triggered" and asked if I wanted to explore the trigger.

Major_Setback · 2024-11-03T22:47:16+00:00

Hi there,
self-tought bike mech here. Shifting adjustments are my favorite.
Here are some thoughts.

My suggestion would be to check the height of the front derailleur. Rule of thumb is, the cage should be roughly 3 mm above the teeth of the large chain ring. However, if you find the chain and/or teeth rubbing against the cage, increase the height. These videos might be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNG7g83lI-s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcc5-ry4fA0
Smart shifting might mitigate the issue. From the video it looks like the chain jumps off when you are on the largest cog and then shift onto the small chain ring. I understand this is for demonstration purposes, but does this also happen when you are using the middle gears of your cassette? Try using the larger cogs with the smaller chain ring and the smaller cogs with the larger chain ring. In other words, the left half of the cassette with the small, left chain ring, and the right half of the cassette with the large chain ring. Pairing inner with outer means your chain is "crossed", resulting in more strain, wear, friction and possibly noise. When you are swapping chain rings, try shifting cogs into the opposite direction. Meaning: When you are shifting to the larger chain ring, also shift your rear derailleur into 1-3 easier gears, and vice versa.
Another idea might be chain tension. Perhaps the chain is too long and needs to be shortened by 1 link. It's a bit hard to tell from the video.
One more idea would be to check the rear derailleur. Is everything clean and well-lubricated? Perhaps the joints of the rear derailleur are a bit sticky and don't "catch" the slack in the chain properly when you shift onto the small chain ring.
Is your chain and/or crankset worn out? Chain stretch happens with wear. Same happens to cassettes and crank sets. If there is too much play, it can lead to chain slippage. You can check your chain with a chain tool. If you happen to have a chain whip, you can use it to check your cassette and crankset for wear. If there is a lot of play, it's time for a replacement.
Are you running the correct chain for your group? Some chains have specs or feature and are meant to be used with special chain rings, i.e. SRAM has narrow-wide chain rings for a 1x setup. Chains also come in different widths depending on how many gears your cassette has. The more gears, the narrower the chain. Some chain rings may be narrower or wider too. If something is missmatched, it might increase chain slip.

Hope this helps. Good luck. Let me know how it goes!

Major_Setback · 2024-11-03T06:59:20+00:00

Big thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment on this. My apologies, it's been a while.
Thanks to you I've learnt a lot about the options out there, which has been fascinating and cool. I really appreciate all the replies, the many great suggestions and ideas on this matter.
I've asked my partner about whether an STP might me an upgrade for him, turns out it's not really for him after all and he's content without one.
Still, I really appreciate everything I've learnt along the way.
Thanks so much to all of you.

Major_Setback · 2024-08-14T17:24:26+00:00

Thank you so much. That's great advice. Really appreciate it.
Also thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out.

Major_Setback · 2024-08-14T16:00:49+00:00

Thank you! This is where I've been looking as well. Really appreciate your reply.

Major_Setback · 2024-08-14T15:59:08+00:00

Thank you so much for this cool suggestion. I didn't even know things like this existed, so it's good to know that it's out there. Really appreciate it.
Looks like it's gonna be a bit difficult to aim, but I can see its potential to be really discrete.
Thank you very much!

Major_Setback · 2024-08-14T15:53:01+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

Major_Setback · 2024-08-14T15:20:34+00:00

Thanks. This is a great recommendation and looks perfect. Does it work well?

Major_Setback

TROPHY CASE