Building an Arctic - Cold Weather Pack

An update -

 

Here are some photos of  improvements on the way the fabric goes behind the lift panels. I now notch the bottom hem so it lies right along the edge of the lift panel. I also cut a notch in the fabric so it easily goes around the short bungee cord behind the lift panel that attaches to the sideliner. This allows a few more inches of material to go behind the lift panels and lie cleanly in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hope this continues to help folks.

Yes, very helpful.

We were feeling behind the lift panel and contemplating what to do about the bungee cord back there.

I hadn't thought about notching the bottom edge, but it makes sense.

 

Seattle Fabrics!  Where is our shipment?

Day One into our arctic pac sewing adventure:  we've completed four of the ten panels!

Everything is templated, and all fabric has been cut.  Our Singer Ultralight, from 1946 has broken two needles and has been giving issues with twisting thread.  Neither of us is much of a tailor. 

 

Our system is similar to the 'pinners and barkers, but we are breaking each side into: front, window, middle, window, back.

Those five panels are all sewn separate, with 1" overlapping velcro to adjoin them, in addition to hanging off the 2" top velcro and bottom 1" velcro.

 

All materials are from Seattle Fabrics, thanks to research by Ski.  Our cost was ~$140 for all everything, including shipping.

Someone should (or could) make templates and instructions, etc. and offer them for sale and make a few bucks.  Alternatively, those that can sew could make some and sell them!  Seems like you could make a little bit of cash and these seem to be in high demand as the weather turns cooler. 

 

Such a great job with those artic packs!

Yes, with my skills I'd happily make someone richer. I can sew on a button but thats about it. I don't even know anyone with a sewing machine. I got some Velcro today. Its a start

This idea looks great for our 4 wheel pop up (Fleet). Can't wait to get started on it!

Edited by Liebe2reisen, 24 February 2017 - 04:56 AM.

Such a great write-up. Exactly what I need to get this project done. Thank you for taking the time to do this!!!

I've been interested in making an arctic cold weather pack too but haven't been sure what material to use that is light,flexible,and having sufficient r-value to make a difference. I recently discovered a product from Aspen Aerogel called Spaceloft. It looks very promising but isn't cheap. I'm wondering if anyone out there has any experience working with Spaceloft and what results they've had.

 

There are a few videos about the product and I've attached one that give you a pretty good idea of what it is.

 

Ronin,

 

Wow!  The R value of Spaceloft is 10.3 per inch that is better than solid foam at R 6.6 per inch and a lot better then fiberglass at 3.6 per inch.

 

It is about $7.5 a square foot so pretty expensive, probably around $500 before shipping and taxes for enough material to make a cold weather pack.  

 

Looks like good stuff.

 

I wonder how durable it is relative to folding?  I'll inquire of my NASA thermal engineer colleagues at Goddard.

 

 

Regards,

Craig

Looks like good stuff.

You do not want to use spaceloft or any of the other aerogel insulations!   They are essential a fiberglass batt, impregnated with an aerogel dust which gets everywhere and is horrible to work with, requiring gloves and dustmask.   The batts are fairly stiff and would not work well for this application.   I use this stuff for some very specific applications in a high altitude research project, and while it does work well, it is really unpleasant to be around unless it is fully encapsulated.

 

Also, consider the thermal loss out of the rest of the camper - there is no point insulating the soft sides more than the rest of the camper.  I think the walls and roof of the camper have 1" foam insulation, but you need to add the conduction path through the frame, single pane windows and roof vents to the calculation, meaning the effective insulation is probably more like R-3 or R-4, so there is not much need to go above this for the soft sides.    I have used 'warm window' insulation for a previous camper arctic pack, and it seemed to help a little, but did make the arctic pack more cumbersome:

https://www.fabricde...insulated-shade