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  1. #1
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Field Report: No-Sew PLUQ

    Where: My front yard.
    When: Last night.
    What: Field test of the poncho liner underquilt, following directions found here.

    Conditions: Low of fifty-nine degrees F. Humidity of 63% and a breeze out of the northeast at eight miles per hour.

    Issues Found: The PLUQ doesn't want to stay up at the head end, leading to cold shoulder syndrome at the edges. It wants to bunch up at the bottom of the hammock, leaving the majority of my back exposed to the breeze. I believe this is due to two issues: a use of cuff elastic instead of shock cord and suspension points that are being drawn together too tightly when the PLUQ is snugged against the bottom of the hammock.

    Probable solutions: Getting shock cord and attaching the suspension differently.

    Even with cold shoulder syndrome, it was a wonderful night for a hang. With no mosquitoes (well, I got a single bite on one shoulder, but I'll live with that), I was able to sleep with the netting pulled back and an unobstructed view of the sky. Wonderful ending to a busy day at work.

    Real coffee (I normally only get instant trail "coffee" that isn't terrible, but also isn't coffee) and HF from the hammock this morning are just great. Going to go on down to Joanne's today to pick up some shock cord and adjust how I hang the suspension tonight. The weather forecast is calling for a low of forty-nine tonight!

  2. #2
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    Interesting, please keep us posted. 2 PL's on the shelf awaiting attention. ;-)

  3. #3
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    After looking at my suspension, it seems that I screwed up on one end. Instead of running the elastic through the loops separately, I ran it through in a continuous loop that on one side is pulling the opposing hems together. This is causing it to bunch up really terribly at that end.

    That, plus the cuff elastic being too thin for the cordlocks to keep in place is what I think is doing it. My solution(s): replace all of the cuff elastic with proper shock cord, move the suspension points from s-biners at the hammock suspension foot and head to Prusik loops on the SRL, and make sure that there isn't a side where the suspension makes a continuous loop pulling the PLUQ sides together.

    I'll have a field report tomorrow morning, hopefully.

  4. #4
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Pre-Work Update: After swapping out the cuff elastic for proper shock cord and looking over Shug's underquilt videos again, I was able to figure out where I went wrong. Instead of running a continuous suspension line through both tie-outs on one end, run individual suspensions to each tie-out and then clip both into an s-biner at the hammock suspension. Thus far, field testing during the afternoon bears out that the PLUQ will hug the hammock body like this with no serious gaps (it has some, but that's due to the no-sew construction rather than an issue with the suspension).

    Will update in the morning.

  5. #5
    Senior Member natureboy68's Avatar
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    How about some pictures to clarify?

  6. #6
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Post-Sleep Update

    Where: My front yard.

    Top Insulation: Poncho liner with foot ties made into a footbox.

    Supplementary Insulation: Lightweight cotton t-shirt, cotton cargo shorts, cotton boxers, poly/cotton baseball cap, knee pillow stolen from living room couch.

    Conditions: Overnight low of forty-six degrees F, variable breeze ranging from dead air to about ten miles per hour, 74% humidity.

    Results: Perfect. No serious air gaps, no cold shoulder syndrome, no cold backside syndrome. My fingers got a little cold at the start of the night, so I pulled them back under the topquilt. A couple of times when I shifted position in the hammock overnight, the footbox area of my topquilt vented and I had to wake enough to tuck the edges back under. A two-second fix and my sleep wasn't disturbed enough to bother me at all.

    Conclusion: The PLUQ should be good for me down into the low forties or even the high thirties without supplemental insulation. With long underwear, a foot pad, and maybe a space blanket, I should be good down to freezing. I'm impressed by this piece of gear, especially at its price point.

  7. #7
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by natureboy68 View Post
    How about some pictures to clarify?
    Will do, just as soon as I've finished my coffee this morning.

  8. #8
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Suspension Details

    Here's a short video I did on the suspension of the PLUQ. Let me know if you have any further questions.


  9. #9
    Senior Member zukiguy's Avatar
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    Inspiration

    Looks good. You've inspired me to tear into an old Wiggys poncho liner I've had laying around for quite a while. I hear these are warmer than the issue ones but I have a hard time with that. They sure look thin....

    Well, the design will have to be modified just a bit because I'm short on materials. I'll be using some small green accessory cord to cinch up the ends of the hammock rather than shock cord. I figure this will be OK because once you have that set it doesn't really need to flex as much as the quilt suspension.

    Rather than run a loop of shock cord for each corner of the suspension I'll just use a straight piece. The shock cord I have is a bit bigger (maybe 3/16") so I think it will be strong enough to use just one strand.

    This will be a trial run and hopefully done kind of on the cheap. This will be my loaner or car camping UQ. I'll keep the downy goodness of my Te-wa for the trail. If it goes well I might just sew the edges together most of the way around but leave an opening to add a foam pad or other insulation later.

    Since I'm sourcing a bunch of random junk I have laying around for the cordage and hardware I think the total cost of this project will be around $30 (what I paid for the liner about 5 years ago).

  10. #10
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zukiguy View Post
    Looks good. You've inspired me to tear into an old Wiggys poncho liner I've had laying around for quite a while. I hear these are warmer than the issue ones but I have a hard time with that. They sure look thin....
    Don't have any experience with the Wiggys version, but you'd be shocked at how warm an issue one is compared to its loft. I've used them down into the forties on the ground with no issue, and into the high forties with the hammock. Warmer than I'd expected, for certain.

    Well, the design will have to be modified just a bit because I'm short on materials. I'll be using some small green accessory cord to cinch up the ends of the hammock rather than shock cord. I figure this will be OK because once you have that set it doesn't really need to flex as much as the quilt suspension.
    That might work. I would be reluctant to try it, mostly because I've got fairly broad shoulders and don't really enjoy shoulder squeeze. Let us know how it works out!

    Rather than run a loop of shock cord for each corner of the suspension I'll just use a straight piece. The shock cord I have is a bit bigger (maybe 3/16") so I think it will be strong enough to use just one strand.
    Are you talking about replacing the two strands of shock cord at each end with just one? Or just not doubling the cord over on itself? I highly recommend against the former, as that's what I did wrong the first time. If it's the latter, it should work out okay, provided the shock cord is heavy enough for the load.

    This will be a trial run and hopefully done kind of on the cheap. This will be my loaner or car camping UQ. I'll keep the downy goodness of my Te-wa for the trail. If it goes well I might just sew the edges together most of the way around but leave an opening to add a foam pad or other insulation later.

    Since I'm sourcing a bunch of random junk I have laying around for the cordage and hardware I think the total cost of this project will be around $30 (what I paid for the liner about 5 years ago).
    I completely agree that a commercially-made under quilt will be superior in just about every way. This was made because my sewing skills are less than stellar, and my budget is fairly tight right now.

    Let us know how everything goes for you!

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