Frostline Kits?

[longbow51]

Anyone ever make a down vest, jacket, or anything else from a Frostline kit? Sear the nylon edges with a candle, down in plastic tubes?

Incredibly cheap good gear.

I'm guessing no one, but hopeful.

We did their 60/40 parkas too.

It was good to be poor but energetic students; good tent (North Face) and bags (Trailwise) my wife's from the Whole Earth Provision Company in Austin, Texas. Cheap food though; Kraft Chicken Noodle dinners, cheese and crackers, sardines, one minute oatmeal, and, fresh trout. Wouldn't have missed those days for the world. If there had been Solar Showers and water filters then we would have never come home until school started.

 

[WYWINCHESTER]

Made a down coat years ago. My mom made me a sleeping bad for graduation. Still use the bag. I thought it was a great deal. Coat went as down coats do. puuufff

 

[woodswanderer]

Anyone ever make a down vest, jacket, or anything else from a Frostline kit? Sear the nylon edges with a candle, down in plastic tubes?

Incredibly cheap good gear.

I'm guessing no one, but hopeful.

We did their 60/40 parkas too.

It was good to be poor but energetic students; good tent (North Face) and bags (Trailwise) my wife's from the Whole Earth Provision Company in Austin, Texas. Cheap food though; Kraft Chicken Noodle dinners, cheese and crackers, sardines, one minute oatmeal, and, fresh trout. Wouldn't have missed those days for the world. If there had been Solar Showers and water filters then we would have never come home until school started.

I'm still using a Frostline down vest that my wife made for me right after we were married and that was 50 years ago. I use it a lot for chores around home in the winter. The snaps have worn down some but have yet to experience a tear anywhere, including pockets.

 

[Ottertail]

When we went to North Dakota to grad school in 1976, my wife and i made 3 Frostline kits, a vest, light jacket and a high down fill parka christened Big Orange. The lighter items have long gone after much good service. Big Orange remains. It is the warmest parka I've ever worn, before or since. It's too warm above about 10 degrees. It lives on with our foul weather gear but gets little use where we live now. Good stuff, those kits.

 

[Phaseolus]

I made a vest once. 50 years ago.

 

[cowboy]

All us old farts with no money 50 yrs. ago are surfacing.
Are there any similar kit type companies still out there.

 

[BrentD]

My mother made me a tent and a vest which were quite excellent. And my sister made a backpack that was also quite good. Frostline was good stuff. I doubt anyone would be interested in that kind of DIY stuff today.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I have been saving down from ducks and geese I have shot. I was hoping I could some day make a vest or a coat. So far I have been unsuccessful in finding any info on how you make a vest or jacket to hold the down.