[pct-l] Make Your Own Gear

[Scott Williams]

You can find basic directions for making backpacking quilts in Ray Jardine's
books.  I used the instructions in the now out of print, "Pacific Crest
Trail Hiker's Handbook", but I think I saw the same basic pattern in his
later books which are in print.  I've sewn two over the years from his
patterns, and I'm not a very talented stitcher.  It took a day, but the
quilts I built over 10 years ago still work fine and I still really like
them.  I didn't use them on my thru hike, as they were built for ocean
kayaking and the relatively warmer temps on the coast of BC, but with a bit
more thickness they would have been fine for the PCT.  As it was, I'm so
used to the open feel of a quilt, that I almost never zipped up the Western
Mountaineering 20 deg. bag that I did bring.  It's a great bag, but I ended
up using it like a quilt, and over much of Northern Calif. and Oregon,
wished I'd swapped the bag for my old quilt, which is a full pound lighter.

Shroomer