Rookie mistake with KAQ Potomic

Had my first hang with a KAQ this weekend and I pulled a rookie mistake. I stuck my fleece betweek the hammock and the UQ near the foot end. I guess I was thinging of reports of HH users doing that with SS. But all I ended up doing was adding weight to the quilt so it drooped, creating extra air space instead of a snug fit. Dough! :eek:

The temp got down to 30 Friday night. I cheated and used a catalytic heater (an idea from another thread last week) that I haven't used in 8 years. I was down right toasty in my Guide Gear fleece pants and shirt and a 30 degree bag as a top quilt. When the propane ran out I got chilled so I unrolled a Ozark fleece bag that I tossed over me and I sort of rolled back and forth so that most of my body was on the bags as well. I was chilled but not terribly uncomfortable.

The next night it was 37 degrees and I corrected my mistake. I was still a little cool by morning. I think I need to play with the suspension a little to get it snugger. I was using a steep pitch on my Winter Dream tarp so the HH side pull outs where at a steep angle too instead of more horizontal as I usually do with the stock tarp. I wonder if that causes the quilt to droop at the torso, which would account for the coolness on my back. (the ends where cinched tight in winter mode). Has anyone supplimented the suspension to ull it tighter up against the body, like by adding a shock cord between the side loops to go over the top of the ridge line?

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Originally Posted by billvann

Has anyone supplimented the suspension to ull it tighter up against the body, like by adding a shock cord between the side loops to go over the top of the ridge line?

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I have on my Warbonnett Winter Yeti ....... you can see it on one of my Hammock How-To videos..... See PART 10 ..... http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=15516

Adding any thing between most any UQ and the hammock can be tricky. It can either give you a tremendous boost or cause you to be colder than before. I have no KAQ experience, but I have certainly experienced what you mentioned with a HHSS as well as other UQs of various types. I have had both great success and occasionally made things worse.

The weight of what ever you add MIGHT cause a gap and that equals being cold. But if what you add is "puffy" enough to loft up, fill the gap and contact the hammock, then you will add a lot of warmth. Or, if it is just not heavy enough to even cause a gap, then it will probably help.

It must also not be inflexible enough to cause weirdness with how the quilt fits. As might be the case with a ccf pad or thermarest.

Also, if the quilt is not a differential cut design ( don't know about your KAQ), then fitting/adjusting the quilt, at least the 1st time, can be quite tricky. If you have any gap, you won't be as warm as you should be, and enough gap and you will be outright cold. If the quilt is adjusted perfectly so that it just barely contacts your back, then you will probably be about as warm as possible with a given quilt. But, from that point on, every small amount tighter it is adjusted will start compressing the loft, steadily decreasing warmth once again. These adjustments are best made with another persons help, especially if you are not able to reach out past the hammock net and feel what is going on.

One last caution: some folks have mentioned that with some quilts, the suspension does not seem strong enough to hold tension all night. So after a few hours, things are not as snug as when you went to sleep, leading to some gap. I imagine anything added only makes this more of a possibility.

Hey billvan, Another thing that may help some when you pitch a real tight tarp set up like it sounds you did, is to not stake out the hammock at all and that will let the UQ ride up the sides some more. That will really let it hug the hammock.

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Originally Posted by billvann

Has anyone supplimented the suspension to ull it tighter up against the body, like by adding a shock cord between the side loops to go over the top of the ridge line?

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I took my Lost River out for the first time this weekend as well. Being in KY, we were probably in the same temp range. I started out wearing wool socks, nylon pants, t-shirt, fleece top and 'boggin in a 0* bag, but still felt some cooling going on around my lower back. So I took the cinch cords on both ends over the ridgeline and tied them to the opposite side. This made all the difference in the world as I slipped back into my bag and slept warm and sound in a t-shirt, boxers and my trusty 'boggin.

FWIW, I had two new hanging converts on this trip. It was my son's first night in his hammock he got for X-mas and I loaned my HH Expedition to his friend. Both boys were crowing about their great night's sleep and definitely had the other boys eyeing the rigs and thier fathers' guarding their wallets.

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Originally Posted by pgibson

Hey billvan, Another thing that may help some when you pitch a real tight tarp set up like it sounds you did, is to not stake out the hammock at all and that will let the UQ ride up the sides some more. That will really let it hug the hammock.

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Ahhhhh!!! I get it.

Yea, my first UQ is a (Original) Potomac; I set it up in my back yard ONE time, for about 15 minutes "OK, now I got it" The next weekend I went for a cold weather hang (it only got down to 30) at RRG with Coffee & a friend of his. For the first hour or so I was toasty, then I started to get colder & colder. After about 3 hrs I was Way Cold, so I felt around, there was now about a 4" gap between me & the quilt. The elastic lines had sagged as you describe, & me, having only set up one time did not have a clue as to how to adjust them in the dark. "No problem" says I, & I got out my only light source, it flashed brightly for about 0.5 second & went out forever. "AAAAARRRRRGG!" I managed to mostly adjust it by feel & grabbed my sit pad for under me & survived the night, but I was never warm. Now, even though the Potomac has been retired for about 2 years I can adjust it blindfolded, from inside my hammock.