Making 2nd apex under quilt

[Mikey von]

I am getting ready to make my second apex under quilt and I am looking for advice. I made my first about a year ago and have used it probably 3 dozen nights.

It is a simple 69" x 42" quilt using apex 5.0 with primary suspension using shock cord running length wise and secondary tagged out to the corners. Both clip onto the hammocks main suspension sharing an s-hook. It also has shock cord running width wise on the ends to give me the ability to cinch it up.

I like it, but don't like it. I can never seem to get it perfect or when I think I do, it ends up shifting on me. Either my feet or one of my shoulders seem to get cold. It also seems to effect my lay sometimes, especially around the legs.

My father (70 years old) , my oldest son (14 years old), and my self (43) will be doing about 150 miles on the pct this year. My son and I will be in hammocks. I plan on giving my son my 1st uq and making another one for myself. I may take off either the primary or secondary suspension just to make it easier for my son.

I am 5'9" tall. Should I make my uq longer than 69"? How about wider? Should I be doing something different for the suspension?

[leiavoia]

You might check out Jellyfish’s box-cornered climashield quilt using a clew suspension. Very detailed instructions.

[sidneyhornblower]

A couple of years ago my wife and I made the same quilt with the RBTR kit. For the most part, yours sounds like mine. I think my width ended up at 43" and the length was about 72" but that's not far off what yours is. I'm also 5'9". Differences are that I don't have the secondary/primary shock cord, only what you'd call secondary with linelocs on the corners for suspension. My ends cinch just like you describe, though I have replaced the provided grosgrain channels with ripstop nylon instead. I found the grosgrain too stiff to cinch up well.

To keep it from shifting, I have occasionally run a piece of cord from the corners up and over the hammock ridgeline to pull upwards, similar to the way the AHE triangle thingies work.

I find that in terms of temperature, mine is trusty down to about 30 degrees F. Below that, it gets complicated and I start thinking about supplementing with a pad or something, though I have used it into the mid to low 20s when the weather changed on me. I find that wind is the biggest factor in whether the quilt performs as expected, which is why I have now made an underquilt protector that's going to come with me when I go out.

[dangerous]

I made am underquilt very similar to yours about 4-5 years ago. I sewed small loops on the edge of my quilt that lined up with the asym tie outs on my hammock. I either run the tie out through the loop or clip the loop to the tie out but either way this keeps my quilt in place over my left shoulder and right ankle. I also added draft collars after the fact that really help seal up the ends.