My first Underquilt (and the boyfriends new set-up)

[OrionFyre]

OMG I'm in trouble now!

The weather has been getting warmer and the boyfriend has been bugging me to find him a very lighweight quilt set for his hammock I made.

As I said in another thread he was wanting a comfortable hammock to take with him when he goes on multiple-day runs. This way he doesn't have to coordinate his mileage with towns or what-not.

I've heard of people gram counting but man this boy... I saw him cut off the extra webbing on his new backpack, and remove the plastic bites and had me sew it back together. Zippers? what zippers? closes with three toggles now....

Well his hammock is 1.1 ounce bright orange ripstop. He made me swap out the 7/64th amsteel I had on there with this 2mm bright orange throw rope which I think is dynaglide. It scares the living HECK out of me to see this thing strung up on such a tiny little line and him in it. The hammack and suspension are 6.8 ounces.

hehe. "john, climb in its strong don't you trust your sewing?" He says to me...
"I trust my sewing just fine. I just don't trust that fishing line of a suspension and paperweight fabric is all!"

The tarp is blaze orange silnylon in a "kite" sort of shape with tie outs and stakes it weighs in at just over 12.5 ounces. It is by no means a "bunker down for a storm" type of tarp but rather a "hmm looks like rain, might wanna put something up." and it is sized so the tarp just folds around the hammock just enough to keep him dry.

And I just got done with his underquilt! This is the piece that's causing all the trouble! I have all these ideas now on how to make my "BFC-UQ" (butt-fricken-cold under quilt) He splurged for some momentum fabric and it has 4.5 ounces of down with a sewn through box construction for 3/4 length. I estimate its weight at 10 ounces total. That momentum has such a soft hand it's dreamy.

So I pulled it under his predetermined "my sleeping bag and bivy weigh 1.1kg and that's too heavy, can it be lighter than that? *chuckle*" weight.
29.3 ounces or as the french say sacrebleu ""
(anyone else wonder what Shug would sound like saying that? )

*MUST FIND CAMERA*

weee fun.... Now... What to do with the remaining down?!

EDIT: this is a tarp cut I came up with in my head. The beau's is modeled after this but scaled down by 10 percent about.

[sclittlefield]

EDIT: this is a tarp cut I came up with in my head. The beau's is modeled after this but scaled down by 10 percent about.

I look forward to how this tarp works out - it's very very similar to one I've been working on. Great minds think alike, eh?

Waiting expectantly for pictures! Sounds like you've got a really nice ultralight setup going there - and bright!

[goodcaver]

getting significant others involved in hammock camping has a good side... and a downside--especially when you make your own gear!

My girlfriend now has more DIY gear than I do--and stands over me asking when the next piece is going to be done!

Good luck with it let us see the tarp when you finish?

[OrionFyre]

I look forward to how this tarp works out - it's very very similar to one I've been working on. Great minds think alike, eh?

Waiting expectantly for pictures! Sounds like you've got a really nice ultralight setup going there - and bright!

Scott, I did make a version of the tarp for the beau, but about ten percent smaller that the dimensions there. My one complaint about the tarp is the two tie outs at the foot end. they need a bit more tension than I like to get a good clean pitch, it gets loose between there and hte middle tie out.

I'll be making this design of a tarp for myself, but instead of the 36/18 on the first tie out I'd probably go closer to 36/22 or 36/24

[sclittlefield]

Scott, I did make a version of the tarp for the beau, but about ten percent smaller that the dimensions there. My one complaint about the tarp is the two tie outs at the foot end. they need a bit more tension than I like to get a good clean pitch, it gets loose between there and hte middle tie out.

I'll be making this design of a tarp for myself, but instead of the 36/18 on the first tie out I'd probably go closer to 36/22 or 36/24

That makes sense... the angle and length of that long edge could cause trouble.

Here's the draw up I did quite a while back - nearly identical to yours. I've yet to try it out - your results may have me redo some things to before cutting it out.

[OrionFyre]

That makes sense... the angle and length of that long edge could cause trouble.

Here's the draw up I did quite a while back - nearly identical to yours. I've yet to try it out - your results may have me redo some things to before cutting it out.

Be AFRAID

[Rosomaha]

Thanks a lot for sharing.
Please be so kind to justify the choice of such tarp shape, far from the classics.
Thanks a lot!

[sclittlefield]

Thanks a lot for sharing.
Please be so kind to justify the choice of such tarp shape, far from the classics.
Thanks a lot!

I'm not completely sold on the idea, which is probably why I haven't built it yet.

The idea is that you're losing a lot of tarp weight by eliminating the bulk at the foot end (while still offering plenty of coverage for rain) - but keeping enough tarp at the head end to allow for cooking and other camp chores when it rains all day.

The super minimal tarps don't allow for this - you're either wet or cooped up inside your hammock to stay dry - no thanks! This design, if it works out properly, would still be very lightweight, but more useful than a super-ultra-light tarp.

That's the idea, anyway.

(Side note: The profile does look like it would work well with a Blackbird hammock... to be determined)

[Rosomaha]

Thanks for response.
I thought in the same way.

[OrionFyre]

I'm not completely sold on the idea, which is probably why I haven't built it yet.

The idea is that you're losing a lot of tarp weight by eliminating the bulk at the foot end (while still offering plenty of coverage for rain) - but keeping enough tarp at the head end to allow for cooking and other camp chores when it rains all day.

The super minimal tarps don't allow for this - you're either wet or cooped up inside your hammock to stay dry - no thanks! This design, if it works out properly, would still be very lightweight, but more useful than a super-ultra-light tarp.

That's the idea, anyway.

(Side note: The profile does look like it would work well with a Blackbird hammock... to be determined)

My thinking was a bit more different in approach but ultimately comes to the same conclusion. As I refer to in my opening post the primary singular concern for this set-up was weight. The hammock I made for him is shorter and narrower, not allowing for much of a diagonal lay and it does introduce a little more shoulder squeeze. This was weighed against the bennefits of the reduced weight which is the primary goal. But the effects are quite a bit reduced since he is so scrawny and light as a feather to begin with compared to my ... "ample-ness"

The design for the tarp was taken with the in-line lay taken into consideration allowing for a narrower width (~100" on the middle tie-out on his version). The wider shape at the head end was considered for the lower hang of the hammock on that end because of the weight differential being heavier thus hanging lower.


The final result as scott pointed out is a more minimalist tarp that does in fact give you some ground coverage without having to "squeeze" too much or worry about where you are.

Ironically for as little as the tarp weighs the beau is still not happy with it. He's ordered some more silnylon so that we can try some more designs to see if we can come up with something lighter and still has coverage.

I am working on a design that will be quite the epitome of tarp minimalism but will provide almost no ground cover as the beau thinks that is not of the most importance...