Top Quilt Width for going to ground

**wwk10** · 10-23-2011, 10:42

I am thinking about making a TQ. I have no intention of sleeping on the ground again, but I would like my quilt wide enuf that I could if i had to.

I have seen several comments on HF that hammock TQs can be more narrow than ground TQs because the UQ covers some of your sides from underneath. I also slept under a 50" wide towel (we are such geeks on this forum). It was fine on my back, but took a lot of fiddling to cover me when I laid on my side.

I tried to google non-hammock, backpacking top quilts. The two I found were 51" wide. This seems to be about the same size as a hammock TQ.

I think my TQ will taper to 40" at the foot. How wide do you sugggest a TQ be at the top to be functional on the ground?

**hangnout** · 10-23-2011, 10:44

I would stay in the 50" range but put some non-insulated wings on to help keep it tucked in.

**kayak karl** · 10-23-2011, 10:44

ive taken all JRB wearable quilts to the ground with no problem

**olzeke** · 10-23-2011, 10:46

I would say 55

**wwk10** · 10-23-2011, 12:05

You are confirming what I have found on line ----- 50 -55 " should be fine for hammoc and the occassional ground sleep. It just seems narrow when I test it with a blanket in bed.

Thanks

**Dblcorona** · 10-23-2011, 12:42

I had my Hammock Gear made to 56" and works good. My summer quilt I made was 58".

**packeagle** · 10-23-2011, 12:57

I had my hammock gear quilt made to 55". Have used it on ground quite a few times. I haven't had a problem keeping the sides tucked. I attribute this to a combination of how far up the foot box snaps and the snap and draw cord on the head end.

**BigTurtle** · 10-23-2011, 14:04

Originally Posted by wwk10

I am thinking about making a TQ. I have no intention of sleeping on the ground again, but I would like my quilt wide enuf that I could if i had to.

I have seen several comments on HF that hammock TQs can be more narrow than ground TQs because the UQ covers some of your sides from underneath. I also slept under a 50" wide towel (we are such geeks on this forum). It was fine on my back, but took a lot of fiddling to cover me when I laid on my side.

I tried to google non-hammock, backpacking top quilts. The two I found were 51" wide. This seems to be about the same size as a hammock TQ.

I think my TQ will taper to 40" at the foot. How wide do you sugggest a TQ be at the top to be functional on the ground?

not sure about the other manufactures but i make a 78x60 rectangular TQ that sinches down at the bottom to make the footbox and i run velcrow"the good stuff" up about 3ft on each side to lengten the footbox up but if you ever had to go to ground you just loosen up the bottom and it turns into about the size of a common throw blanket "only about 10in longer so you can tuck your feet in this works great for me

**ringtail-THFKAfood** · 10-23-2011, 14:05

My JRB Stealth is good at 48" on the ground, but that is a summer quilt.

My Nunatak Arc Alpinist is 55" and that is about right for a 3 season.

I use a JRB Biker Quilt over the ARC Alpinist in the winter and it is 60" wide, I think.

48" is just barely wide enough for me. Every inch of loft increases the radius roughly pie (3.14....). Thus 2 inches of loft needs to be about seven inches wider.

Use the towel method to measure your personal requirement, then adjust the width by loft times pie.