Hammock Gear Summer Quilts

**TZBrown** · 07-16-2012, 09:05

At Trail Days in June I talked with Adam and Jenny of Hammock Gear on making a set of summer quilts for me.

My Question to Adam was... "How light can you make a set?"

We talked about materials and such and came up with a plan

Description of each quilt:
Phoenix 40°-Custom dimensions (45"W x 46"L), 7D material for both shells,
3.5 ounces of 900 goose down, no hardware. no draft collars,
Primary suspension only, no tabs on sides.

Burrow 50°-Custom fabric. 50" tapering down to 40", 7D material,
3.5 ounces of 900 goose down.
7D fabric upgrade-Fabric upgrade for both quilts (8 yards)

As I was leaving the day I got the quilts I had no chance to even pull them out of the sacks, I just weighed each, packed them and hit the road.

The top quilt, which was a sewn through, weighed 9.1 oz.
The bottom quilt, which was baffled, weighed 8.7

WOW

being a gram weenie this was great, but would they do the job?

The first time I put the UQ on the hammock was at about 9Pm on the first night out. Simple suspension and even near dark, no problem.
As with all underquilts you need to know how to tension the suspension for a no draft fit.

The top Quilt was a snap and drawcord footbox and wide enough for a good tuck.

During the daylight, a close inspection of both quilts found them to be true works of perfection. Straight sewing, and attention to detail in every area.

Amazing loft for only 3.5 oz of down.

DWR of both top and bottom quilt was great and fog mist and moisture shook right off.

Temps dipped into the 45 degree range more than one night, but with only a light jacket and my long pants I was very comfortable.

After a real good test, about 20 days of use, in every weather, from pouring rain, fog, to pretty darned hot, I can say with a very positive answer.

YES they work, and do it very well.

These were a key part of the reason I only carried about 15 lbs, with 2 days food included, for the 30 days I was on the trail this year.

Thanks Hammock Gear for making great custom gear.

If anyone wants to read the day by day, here is a link to the
Trail Journal

**Fish<><** · 07-16-2012, 09:26

Nice review, your summer set uq and tq weighs less than my uq alone. Might look into getting one or making one someday. Thanks for the review.

**Cranky Bear** · 07-16-2012, 09:47

Wonderful review, I am not too surprised that Adam was able to deliver a set like that as he too is a gram weenie, which IMO makes his understanding and ability to accomplish tasks like you asked of him much easier (aside from the fact that he is a thread injector wizard).

**lazy river road** · 07-16-2012, 10:09

Nice review TZ. I have the same set of quilts and love um. So out of curiosity how much lower do u think you could of taken these quilts.

**Hawk-eye** · 07-16-2012, 10:13

That's amazing TZ ... and a big old thumbs up to Adam and Jenny for outfitting you up with some amazing weights and comfort ranges! Glad your back safe and sound TZ ... we surely did enjoy reading of your trek north.

**TZBrown** · 07-16-2012, 11:54

Originally Posted by lazy river road

Nice review TZ. I have the same set of quilts and love um. So out of curiosity how much lower do u think you could of taken these quilts.

With just a bit more clothing, possibly my rain gear on, I am sure I could have went to the low 40 or maybe the high 30 degree range.

Setup is key, air leaks on the non foot side of the hammock are the only concern.

When nature calls in the middle of the night I usually spent just a minute getting the UQ back into correct position warm and toasty again

**pig.slayer** · 07-16-2012, 16:37

Nice review

Stormcrow is a wizard with this hammock quilting stuff for sure.

Nice to see you can ge comfortable with such a small set of quilts.
That UQ sounds sweet and the TQ is tiny, wow, 3.5oz fill in the TQ. What's the loft like.

Gotta love that 7D, it's whispy stuff for sure.

I think you made a good call on this summer set for baffles on the UQ, sewn through on the TQ. It's that bottom insulation that makes the difference if temps drop. As you found out a jacket makes a big difference to the TQ warmth but makes 0 difference to the UQ as it's squished the minute you lay on it.

**TZBrown** · 07-18-2012, 08:34

Originally Posted by pig.slayer

Nice review

Stormcrow is a wizard with this hammock quilting stuff for sure.

Nice to see you can ge comfortable with such a small set of quilts.
That UQ sounds sweet and the TQ is tiny, wow, 3.5oz fill in the TQ. What's the loft like.
Gotta love that 7D, it's whispy stuff for sure.

I think you made a good call on this summer set for baffles on the UQ, sewn through on the TQ. It's that bottom insulation that makes the difference if temps drop. As you found out a jacket makes a big difference to the TQ warmth but makes 0 difference to the UQ as it's squished the minute you lay on it.

Loft is about an inch in the TQ. More than enough for summer