The very hungry caterpillar

Wow, it's been a while since I have written anything here. Maybe because I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON SOMETHING AMAZING! What have I been doing you may ask.. Oh not much, just making a sleeping bag. Yes you read correctly I made it. In cooking terms from scratch.

A little backstory. When I was in college in Montana, my dad gave me a sleeping bag that was out of a seat ejection kit from Air Force planes that flew Arctic routes during the cold war. I used it many times winter camping and always stayed toasty warm. The down is exceptional especially for being tightly compressed for over 40 years. But it was not without it's disadvantages. Namely it was exactly my height - so floppy toes whilst sleeping was not an option. Also it was a worst case scenario sleeping bag, so it was nil on creature comforts, like a zipper. It just had a extra large opening and a drawstring. However I used it due to it's uncanny ability to keep me warm, which is no easy feat as I am a very cold sleeper.

About a year ago I started wondering about the possibility of reusing the down and putting it into a new bag. I asked and called around nobody was very interested in doing it for me. I wondered if I could do it myself. Turns out I can. Using my summer bag (never kept me warm below 60 degrees) as a guide I made a prototype out of old sheets. I also leaned heavily on the internet for other peoples successes.
The sewing for the most part was easy. It was just a ton of straight lines. The zipper was nerve wracking because I was so close to being done. Moving the down was interesting. Not nearly as messy as I thought, but way more time consuming.( If you are interested this is how I moved the down.) I think the hardest part was making the first cut in the "host" bag.
After seeing it flat for so long as I started filling it with down I was struck by how much it looked like a caterpillar.

can you read the date? 19 May 1958 (!)

Host bag, down


Down cluster and a quarter


My own very hungry caterpillar -


it's not really that shiny


The end result? Exactly what I wanted. Semi-rectangular, detachable hood, full length -2 way zipper, highly compressible, barely over 2 pounds. Even after filling my bag with about 15 ounces of down I still have 13oz of extra. . . .