Sleeping Bag to Over/Under Quilts

[DocBurN]

You can turn a sleeping bag into an underquilt, but just strapping it to the bottom with a bungee probably won't work so well.

Windshield reflectors work just like pads...they're vapor barriers, and pretty thin. Decent for summer but I wouldn't rely on it for winter or early spring temps.

how would you convert one if not strapping it under the hammock with shock cord ? i heard some would cut the zipper and extra fabric for weight reduction.. but beside that.. what do you suggest to fix the sleeping bag ?

[Just Jeff]

Cut it into the shape of an underquilt.

If you put a mummy bag under the hammock, the sides will sag. If you put a rectangular bag under the hammock, you'll need something to replace the drawstrings at the head and foot end. Just wadding the end up and cinching it with cord will create air gaps under the foot and head.

If you experiment enough, you might be able to set it well enough for a night...but I bet it'll take a lot of fidgeting on each setup, and much of the fidgeting will happen in the middle of the night.

BUT...if you get the right kind of of bag you might be able to pull the bag around the hammock. There's a pic of that on my page, and Tinker at WB uses this method almost all the time.

[Festus Hagen]

I have an UQ and CCF pads. The thing is, a DD underquilt (while nice to use) is heavy AND bulky, so if I'm backpacking anytime other than winter I'm using the CCF (cut in half, actually... it's just for under my torso).

My sleeping bag is synthetic and I zip up... in the morning after sleeping on the CCF pad I *always* find condensation on the pad, no matter how cold or warm it was, but the sleeping bag does a great job of wicking my sweat away and keeping it off of me. I imagine used with a TQ or sleeping bag unzipped and used as a TQ, it would be a special kind of uncomfortable! Wouldn't be my first choice if my sleeping bag was down, either...

[DocBurN]

If I understand it right, usually, an underquilt is tied only at the 4 corners and tie to the hammock suspensions.. webbing.

Lets say I have a 6 foot long sleeping bag.. I could tie maybe 6 long shockcord 1 at every foot that goes from 1 side, cover the whole sleeping bag from underneat and tie each side some way.. to eliminate sagging on the sleeping bag.

I am trying really hard to NOT-bring my ccf pad in the woods.. if i think my project will fail, i'll bring the ccf one last time and order a whatever-brand real underquilt.

[Just Jeff]

With enough fiddling, you might be able to get a "good enough" fit for this trip. Here's a link to how JRB and similar quilts are hung. But there's a reason so many people have tried this and ended up just making or buying an underquilt.

They're not hard to make...you're really just sewing a sandwich of shell-insulation-shell for a synthetic one, but it doesn't sound like you have time to do that for this upcoming trip.

You might try cutting/hemming a hold in the foot of your sleeping bag and zipping the whole thing around your hammock. Then a shockcord to hold the mummy's hood to the bottom of the hammock could give you a pretty decent night's sleep. There are pics of that on the page I linked above.

If I were trying to use a sleeping bag with minimal alterations, that's how I'd do it...rather than trying to cinch it to the bottom.

[DocBurN]

With enough fiddling, you might be able to get a "good enough" fit for this trip. Here's a link to how JRB and similar quilts are hung. But there's a reason so many people have tried this and ended up just making or buying an underquilt.

They're not hard to make...you're really just sewing a sandwich of shell-insulation-shell for a synthetic one, but it doesn't sound like you have time to do that for this upcoming trip.

You might try cutting/hemming a hold in the foot of your sleeping bag and zipping the whole thing around your hammock. Then a shockcord to hold the mummy's hood to the bottom of the hammock could give you a pretty decent night's sleep. There are pics of that on the page I linked above.

If I were trying to use a sleeping bag with minimal alterations, that's how I'd do it...rather than trying to cinch it to the bottom.

Thank you very much Just Jeff and the others for your input.. and JJ, for the links (good read) and for the informations. I have pretty much decided to drop the el cheapo UQ sleeping bag and bring the /$%? bulky ccf + the other little isolation gear I have for this trip (1 last trip for the ccf blue mat) and don't spend anymore on crappy alternative solution. I'llorder quality gear for the second trip.

Usually when I buy many DIY stuff and material or cheapo alternative, I end up buying top of the line gear anyway afterward

[thekalimist]

hey man im in the same boat on CCF, save that for yoga class.

at any rate i used a $10 walmart bag "rated" to 40F. I strung two 1/8" shockcord lines along the either edge of the zipper (unzipped it tacos around hammock) these are hung with mini biners that I just attach above the gathered ends at the suspension. I then wove shock cord through either end (head and toe) with cord locks at each center to cinch closed. i also have make shift "cord locks" at all four corners of bag made of shock cord tied tightly around the suspending shock cord and corner loops (nylon cord) which i stitched in bag. this allows me to shift the bag independently of how its hung. ive taken this setup with my UL mummy bag as a TQ down to mid 20s F pretty comfortable, albeit im a pretty warm sleeper. this was a fun easy diy, considering its all hand stiched, that probably cost me ~$15 and has required minimal tinkering outside of the preliminary R&D to get this product.
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/a...hp?albumid=335 this is it minus the center cordlocks i added later.

dont know if this helps you at all, but food for thought.

also it bears mentioning that this still works as a full functional sleeping bag for those that are scared of heights.