Here's an example where experience outweighs thought.
I bought a No Sniveller because I liked the added function of a wearable quilt, and the price was right (bought it from another HF member). I tried it as an underquilt, and it worked fine! It performed better than some of my early attempts at DIY differential cut quilts. Some years later I won a Nest at MAHHA. I chose it partially because it fits a bottom-entry Hennessy (another often-criticized design that actually has a lot of merit). I've used it also as a supplemental UQ to turn a 3-season insulated hammock into a winter hammock. It works well, like the No Sniveller.
I think the ability of down to fill available spaces makes flat underquilts perfectly workable, but that's something I've learned accidentally, from experience. The thinker and tinkerer in me gravitates toward engineered solutions. And some of my synthetic engineered UQ solutions
gravitated toward the ground - that is, despite being somewhat shaped to fit the hammock they were too heavy to suspend easily. Note:
all underquilts are only
somewhat shaped to fit. Your butt is a moving target.
That said, would I pass up a fine contoured UQ at a MAHHA raffle? Nope.
Would I encourage a DIY newbie to make a differential underquilt? Nope.
Have I gone on long enough? Yup.
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