Hammock Gear 40 Rated Quilts and Tarp Review:Wordy and Pic Heavy
So I am proud to say that my Hammock Gear family of quilts and a tarp is finally completed (actually it’s not cause I just ordered two more custom UQ’s from Hammock Gear) But at least for now I have a set of quilts for each season along with my cuben tarp. Thanks Adam and Jenny for filling my gear room with so much downy goodness.
What I received and got to use this past weekend at the Spring MAHA was my....
1. 40 rated 7D Burrow sewn foot box in cuben stuff sack 12.8oz.
2. 40 rated 7D Phoenix UQ weighing 10.2oz in cuben stuff sack.
3. 6.6oz Cuben Tarp, 10’ 10” RL 8.5 ft width, two panel pulls, 2inch cat cuts, and the absolutely coolest thing of all, Dutch titanium D-Rings. (weight is without lines)
So, as always the craftsmanship and quality that these three pieces of gear have is nothing short then spectacular and everything and more then what I would expect from Hammock Gear. Their all of high quality material, impeccable stitching, and made to keep me cozy warm. The dimensions of both the quilts are stock dimensions and I have always loved the way the Phoenix fits and contours my body. It’s also the perfect size for my wife to use as a full length UQ due to her being 4’11’’. I have done lots of reviews on Hammock Gear however as the quilts evolve I always notice new and improved features and really like how Adam constantly strives to produce top notch innovative gear never really settling on one design and instead constantly striving (especially the UQ’s) to make them more effective for the user. All of the Hammock Gear quilts I have used have taken me down to the rated temps and apx. 5-8 degrees lower. I used this forty set at MAHA where the second night it got down to the low thirties some even reported high 20’s but I don’t have any factual temp rating only what was speculated to me. I was wearing smart wool long johns, hiking pants, smart wool short sleeve, smart wool long sleeve and a Marmont down jacket no socks and down booties on my feet along with a torso size Z-Rest to insulate under my legs where the UQ did not cover. I was good to go all night except at about 3am I woke up with a chill which is when I added the down jacket and after I did I was toasty warm for the rest of the night and even woke up in the morning a bit to warm. So I am fully confident that these quilts will take me down to the rated temps and a bit below. For the majority of the night I had no cold drafts underneath me but as I stated around 3am ish, I got a chill but I attribute that to the temps dropping way lower than the rated temps of the quilts and a little clothing took care of that problem.
So to start off with I will talk about the Burrow. All I can say is that it is perfect in every way. It weighs 12.8 oz came in a nifty cuben stuff sack and is made from all 7D. It feels so silky smooth against the skin its just wonderful. The dimensions are the ones from the website and they have always fit me perfectly. The few noted changes to the Burrow (which are not really so new anymore) are that instead of using shock cord for the draw string pull around the shoulders Adam now replaced this with a light weight ribbon/string piece of cord. I like this much better than the elastic of the shock cord. Just my personnel preference. It has a nifty Hammock Gear log on the foot box. I find the foot box to be plenty wide and I have plenty of room in the foot box to where I do not feel confined when my feet are tucked away in it. It is a sewn foot box. I also really like the cuben stuff sack. It’s a really nice bonus to the quilt especially because I am spending that extra money on a lighter material it’s nice to get a comparable stuff sack that is also very light.
Second up is my 40 Rated Phoenix UQ weighing 10.2oz 7D inner and outer shell. Now there has been a lot of talk about Adam’s new suspension system. I have used 4 different types of suspension that Adam has come up with. With this latest style he attaches 4 line locks on each corner as well as a channel going down both sides of the UQ and two D-rings centered on the UQ. This allows you to use only the line lock suspension (pulling the UQ from the ends), the original loop suspension or both. I’ve played around with the line lock suspension a bit and can never really seem to dial it in so I just use the original looped suspension. I just find it easier. To prevent sag I just make it super taught guitar string tight. Both suspension are good and work however it really just comes down to preference. On this UQ I got draft collars because my wife will mainly be using this Phoenix however I do not personally have draft collars on my 40 rated UQ that I use and have done fine without them. When it’s 40 and above especially in the heat of the summer I often times welcome cold drafts underneath me however my wife never does. She likes to sleep snug as a bug so I got draft collars for her. Other notable features is that instead of using grosgrain Adam is now using a silk ribbon which is much lighter then grosgrain and gives the UQ a much cleaner look then grosgrain does. Out of all the suspensions that Adam came up with I believe this is the best one. It incorporates all of his ideas into one, and gives the user three ways of attaching the UQ to the hammock. Nice job Adam.
As for the Cuben Tarp, weighing 6.6 ounces (without lines) and the seams are taped. The panel pulls are reinforced with cuben as well as the tie out points are as well. The Dutch Ti-D rings are attached to the tarp by a piece of webbing which is very small. Well the tarp is just magnificent. I have been using a Z-Packs cuben tarp over the past year or so, so I was really excited to get this one to compare them. The Hammock Gear cuben tarp however has a very very special touch as I mentioned before. So a big oll shout out to Dutch for supplying me with those Ti-D rings. The Ti-D rings are so small and light there just absolutely awesome. What better to have Dutch bling all around your Hammock Gear Cuben tarp it just looks awesome. Thanks Dutch. So this tarp RL is apx. 10’ 10” by 8.5 width with 2 inch cat cuts as well as a very slight cat cut in the RL. The cat cuts are so small that at first I did not even notice them until Adam pointed them out to me at MAHA. It has four tie outs plus the door tie outs and two panel pulls on each wall. All of the tie outs and panel pulls are reinforced very nicely. I was able to crank down plenty hard on the tarp to get it nice and taught and had no fear of it tearing. Now the first thing I noticed when I pitched this tarp was how tight it pitched in the side walls and RL with no crinkles in the tarp and a pretty straight RL (I use a continuous RL over the tarp). No flapping (once I got my prussic wraps enough times around the RL thanks for the help in the field repair Cranky Bear) and it just pitched great. In comparison to my Z-Packs cuben with no cat cuts I certainly noticed that the Z-Packs tarp does have a little flap in the center of the tarp. The Z-Packs tarp also has 5 tie outs on each side instead of 4. The reason for the fifth tie out of the Z-Packs tarp is to secure the center to prevent any flapping however I rarely use this tie out any ways and have just dealt with the flapping due to how minimal it is. It was nice to only have to secure 4 tie outs instead of 6 and not have that little bit of flapping. Now that flapping is minimal in the Z-Packs tarp but does happen. So it’s really only a difference of a two inch cat cut in the center of the tarp. I even think that one could get away with even a 1inch or 1.5 inch cat to to achieve the same affect however a 2inch cat cut is not really that noticeable. It’s a tossup and I cant say I like one better than the other both are great tarps. However the Hammock Gear tarp is going to be my new go to tarp due to weight, amount of tie outs, tighter pitch and yes it has lots of Dutch bling.
Ok I love Hammock Gear, they make great gear, and I can’t say enough good things about them. Now the wait begins again for my next two custom UQ’s I just ordered only 3 days after receiving these 2 quilts and a tarp (yes I know I have a problem). When will the madness be over. Thanks again Adam and Jenny for the outstanding job you both do and excellent customer service you both provide.
Can’t wait to get my next two custom UQ’s!!!!!!
Stay warm and dry yall with your Hammock Gear
Peace
LRR
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Notice the Dutch D-Rings, OOHH AAAHHH :boggle:
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Lots of coverage, the doors are not staked out and I just left them flapping for the pics.
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Inside the Phoenix a look at the draft collars.
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Notice the nice clean look of the silky ribbon. A very nice touch over grosgrain.
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Burrow hanging over the hammock RL.
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The line lock along with channel suspension. Gives the user 3 ways of attaching the UQ from their hammock.
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The 40 rated Phoenix
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Left Burrow, Right Phoenix. The Phoenix can compress much smaller then the stuff sack that is provided. The Burrow is pretty well packed in their.
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Love the translucency of the cuben fiber material.
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So much coverage I just love it.
