While building an insulation system that will hopefully get me through the winter toasty warm I kept asking myself if TQ's are used because they are the coin of the realm in UL backpacking and camping. I was surprised that our super talented and creative cottage vendors didn't offer full size UQ's that are fully convertable to TQ's. The difference in weight between UQ's and TQ's seems to be less than 2 oz between 0 degree burrow 27oz and incubator 28.5oz. A lot of which appears to be suspension cables that could be removed and left at home. The incubator has tabs that allow me to tie the bottom into a foot box of sorts and a draft drawstring to close the foot box. I have lots of, since I am 1970's vintage camping dinosaur, sleeping bags I could use but what I don't have is lots of UQs. It seemed to make more sense to buy a full size UQ (incubator 0) instead of a 0 degree TQ and use it as a lighter than sleeping bag TQ when needed. It hasn't gotten cold enough to seriously test the incubator as a TQ but an early morning test leads me to believe it will be very toasty as a TQ.
If I decide I want/need both a full size TQ and UQ I am almost certain I will buy yet another UQ. This time I think I would contact Adam and Jenny at Hammock gear to see what it would cost to build a fully convertible UQ/TQ. It seems like they could come up with a very creative product in this niche.
Can anyone come up with a reason(s) my Incubator won't work as a great TQ? It seems like it will. Are other people doing something similar instead of buying TQs?
Has anyone worked on a system of multipurpose items like socks, down boots or a backpack that has insulation in the liner to create a knee high foot box to use 2/3 or 3/4 UQs as TQs?
It just seems to me that we have accepted TQ's used by ground sleepers as our standard when as hammock campers we should chose gear that is multipurpose and designed specifically for our unique needs.
Andy
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