How snug?

[weaver2469]

I am using an AHE Jarbridge underquilt with triangle thingys on my WBBB. I am in the final stages if tweaking the fit and have a question. I have read many times to snug the quilt so that it even slightly lifts the hammock when empty. Check. The question is how tight to cinch the end shock cords that gather the end closed. It seems like if you really crank on them, it creates little gaps, especially on either side of my head. (The Uq hits right about mid skull on me when I am in the sweet spot of the hammock.) Should I loosen the cinching? I guess I am looking for discussion of how tight you all hang the UQ vs. how "cinched" the ends are, and maybe where you have the quilt resting relative to your head. Covered, at the neck, mid skull? Thanks.

[shumway]

Yes to loosening the cinch a bit. It will cut down on the gaps a bit. You won't have the same problem I had with my down UQ, but a too tight cinch was part of it. The second (yet larger) problem was my down wasn't distributed well and I was cold as a result. Correcting both of these issues made my next sleep much warmer.

[rip waverly]

if you can, have someone help tighten them until they just create a good seal.

over / under cranking em down can be detrimental to insulation values and or fit.

[pgibson]

Rip is correct, that is the best way to evaluate how to set the quilt for you. It helps if you have someone else lay in the hammock while you adjust it to see how to adjust it, but then have them help you make adjustments.

The big thing is like you brought up "SNUG" is the word to remember for all the adjustments. As you could see to tight and you get small wrinkles in the insulation that will act as air gaps allowing cold air to funnel in, fine if your two hot but bad if your trying to stay warm. Loosen it up a bit on the ends from that point so that the end channels smooth out and crate a better seal around your shoulders. You will probably also want to let the quilt slide down so that the head end channel with the shock cord is fitting more like a jacket, and hugging your shoulders. That way you have better coverage down your legs and the quilt will more easily seal around you.

For the quilt suspension you should fairly easily be able to move the quilt some, if you over tension the suspension it will pull the quilt flat against you crushing the loft and not holding heat as well. Snig again is the word to remember, the quilt should cup you and the hammock without being strained against the hammock. Again eyeball how the quilt hangs with someone laying in it. See how the quilt looks if you pull it really tight and how it looks when it's really loose.....someplace in between is where you want to be, and every person being different means you need to play a little to see where to set it best for you. Snug not tight and not loose is all you really need to know.

Written out it sounds like more work than it really is....it should be a 5-10 minute "test this and then this" session the first time or two, after you have a feel for it setting up your quilt should not take more than a few seconds to maybe a minute while on a trip to get in place on the hammock.


Not sure when I will get to it but I plan to work on a video showing how to set and adjust the quilts. At least that is my plan.