Underquilt questions

[dgmyrs]

Well, I got my 5 yards of digital camo (thanks FanaticFringer). For some reason my daughter's eyes did not light up at the sight of it. So, I am reconsidering my plan to make a few kid's hammocks with it, and instead use it to make an underquilt for my hammock.

I recently made my first piece of gear which was a top quilt made with Climashield XP .6 loft. It went well, and was thinking of doing the same for the underquilt. However, I have a few concerns:

Will it be warm enough? The lowest temps I backpack in are in the 40's at night. I have been using my top quilt with a walmart pad into the 40s and that seems to work, but I don't think I would want to go any colder. One thing I found with the .6 Climashield is that it seems to have some thin spots where the material isn't doubled up (hard to explain). Is it worth the extra weight considering I won't be going below 40?

Is it ok to use ripstop? Most of the instructions I have seen for underquilts have used either DWR or sil-nylon. Is that for moisture protection, or is that b/c they use down for insulation? I have never had the underside of my hammock get wet, so it seems to me using the synthetic with 1.1 ripstop should be fine.

Thanks.

[Dutch]

I can not speak for climashield warmth. However I can about the quilt material. I have to agree that I have never gotten the bottom of my hammock wet from rain. Sometimes dew or fog but that has been very minor. I like DWR for top quilts b/c I want to shed the body moisture so I don't feel clammy. I can see in some situations that may be helpful for a bottom. I made my 3/4 quilts out fo walmart $1 fabric and sprayed it with DWR. It works good enough to repel the amount of water that gets on it from dew and such. I think if you are getting rain on your UQ you have a tarp problem and the material of you quilt is not to blame. I would question the weight of the material because I think it is 1.9 if I remember correctly. That will make you quilt 4 to 6 ounces heavier than 1.1.

[dgmyrs]

Forgive my ignorance (or not, either way, it's still there), but how does DWR shed moisture away? My instinct would tell me breathable fabrics would be the best way to reduce moisture. What am I missing?

Also, I am pretty sure it is 1.1, assuming the weight is determined by the square yard, my math tells me it is 1.1. Again, not sure if that is how it is measured as a lot of this stuff is new to me. I have 16' 10" of it at 68" wide. Haven't measured it myself, that's just what was reported to me. And on my scale it weighs in at 10.8 ounces, which comes in at a little under 1.1, so I am assuming the measurements might be a little off, but they would have to be a lot off to get to 1.9 I would think. If it is 1.9, I could always switch gears again, and make a hammock

[Dutch]

Forgive my ignorance (or not, either way, it's still there), but how does DWR shed moisture away? My instinct would tell me breathable fabrics would be the best way to reduce moisture. What am I missing?

Also, I am pretty sure it is 1.1, assuming the weight is determined by the square yard, my math tells me it is 1.1. Again, not sure if that is how it is measured as a lot of this stuff is new to me. I have 16' 10" of it at 68" wide. Haven't measured it myself, that's just what was reported to me. And on my scale it weighs in at 10.8 ounces, which comes in at a little under 1.1, so I am assuming the measurements might be a little off, but they would have to be a lot off to get to 1.9 I would think. If it is 1.9, I could always switch gears again, and make a hammock

DWR is going to repel large droplets if water but if all the conditions are right it will help with miosture such as condensation and sweat from your back. If you don't have DWR on a bottom quilt I don't think it is any biggie. And if the climashield gets damp it is again no biggie. It could help you if you were setting up in real bad fog, in the rain or there is wet plants where you set up. One thing I learned is nothing is truely waterproof, the best you can hope for is something that dries quickly. And I think your original post was correct that the DWR is probaly more important to down quilt.

according to the measurements it is just under 1.1, perfect for a quilt.

[Coffee]

More importantly than water, DWR blocks airflow and keeps the warm air your body heats up inside your quilt. With synethic there has been talk and I think as well that an inner layer of non-DWR will heat up faster since it does not block airflow. The outter layer need to block the wind. But that is just my opinion.

[Youngblood]

More importantly than water, DWR blocks airflow and keeps the warm air your body heats up inside your quilt. With synethic there has been talk and I think as well that an inner layer of non-DWR will heat up faster since it does not block airflow. The outter layer need to block the wind. But that is just my opinion.

Durable Water Repellent (DWR) finishes and calendering greatly effect air flow and the characteristics of insulation using it. You need to be careful and 'think through' how that effects things in different situations. You have tradeoffs to consider where in one scenario you would like things to be one way while in another situation you would like them a different way.

I've stated this so many times that I know it gets old, but here it is again. Where the breathability of insulation is concerned, in general you want it more breathable when you have noticeably more insulation than than the minimum required for the conditions you are in and you want less breathability when you marginally have enough insulation for the conditions you are in. Breathability is a factor when handling sensible perspiration (sweat), insensible perspiration, wind, rain, etc.

Beyond that, when you start getting fancy or cleaver and try to make one side of the insulation more breathable than the other to protect against wind or rain or fog you need to consider moisture buildup from both sensible perspiration and insensible perspiration. If you have a quilt where the inside fabric is much more breathable than the outside fabric, it can let moisture or moist air that you generate into it easier than it can pass it through to the outside world. That is not a good situation.