I did shake mine from the side to fluff the down. I will be going to a group hang in a couple of weeks, i'm hoping to get educated by some of the people with more experience than me.
I did shake mine from the side to fluff the down. I will be going to a group hang in a couple of weeks, i'm hoping to get educated by some of the people with more experience than me.
Maybe you started sweating and once you do that you've got to dry yourself off and start over and vent the underquilt.
"Life's short, if you don't stop and look around every once in a while you might miss it". FB
Here's some pics of inside and outside...
I tried using both suspensions primary and secondary...could that have been an issue? Do you only need to use one or the other?
It's hard to tell from photos alone, but that looks just like mine did on its first use. I cliped the main suspension on my hammock with the s-biner then just guessed on the secondary - I would say I pulled it so about 6" of shockcord was hanging thru the lineloc on each end. I stayed warm down to 26°.
I always like to reach out under the UQ after I get in to see it if feels right. I also reach in between the hammock and UQ to make sure there's not a big gap under my back and rear.
I have a 40° Incubator with the old susprension and I've stayed comfortable down to around 34°, so I'm confident the ratings are accurate. Of course, it depends on clothing, wind, and many other factors.
Too tight can also be an issue if you compress the down in one spot you will get cold there
come to think of it, to tight may have been my problem.
You can say that again, Brother!
So here we go again, X 2 (folks) in this thread! In fact, if Shug had not already said it, I would call that BB58's Law #1: It ain't always easy dialing in
Sense he has said it, I will just come up with another BB58 Law #1:
UQs can be tricky, and are tricky to more than a few.
Fit must essentially be perfect. And sometimes that ain't easy. especially if you are setting up by your self.
There needs to be a "seal" on the sides and head and ends, so that cold air has a hard time creeping past the edges and getting underneath you.
It can also be tough to get a good seal because of "creases" I suppose that is the correct term. Look at this hammock, and you can clearly see opportunities for cold air to travel in these creases using them like little highways to get right under your back and butt. Luckily for me, I always use a Pea Pod with this particular hammock, which completely surrounds all those creases making them irrelevant.
The quilt needs to be snug against you with no gaps, yet not tight enough to compress any down/loft. Hopefully dif cuts make being too tight more or less unlikely. I have often got away with good size gaps with my Pea Pod. But that is because it drapes over the sides/edges of the hammock to drape down onto me or close to it, usually with any gap ( on top ) filled with clothing or light TQs. And the ends are cinched down tight. So cold air rarely gets under me to fill any gap down below. But you won't get away with even a 1/4" gap on a normal UQ, not unless you are trying to vent because you are too hot.
Also, too tight or strange suspension angles can mess things up. But more likely ( in my experience anyway) not tight enough is the more likely problem. And at least with those perimeter suspensions, I think they can bunch up under you if you are not careful. IOW, you end up with the head edge of the UQ not as far away from the foot edge as it should be, even though the suspension is plenty tight. Which causes a cursed gap. You can help that by pulling on the top quilt edge, with your butt more or less keeping it anchored.
Any one think the head/foot end suspensions have less trouble with some of these problems than a Perimeter type? I don't think it can bunch up with a JRB type suspension, or at least not as prone. And I'm thinking that threads like this with an MW UQ are rare as hens teeth? Maybe that is because of the suspension?
You also don't see this problem when bridge hammocks are used, at least I don't remember seeing threads like this for that. But I don't think that is due to the suspension, but due to the excellent, crease and gap free fit of a JRB MW UQ to a BMBH. And probably other bridges and UQs also. Point is, you have to find a way to overcome any creases and avoid any gaps.
Having said all of that, you can work it out, because many others have! You just need to find what your problem is. First thing I would try is to tighten things up some. Ans get some one to help check fit while you are in the hammock.
EDIT: Oh I forgot: the very 1st thing that needs to be determined: Were you not warm enough on your back, while being definitely warm enough on top?
Or were is it the reverse?
Or were you just kind of cold all over? Depending on the answers, it could be a draft problem with your your back used as TQ, instead of or in addition to your UQ.
Oh, and edit #2: a lot of condensation on the UQ? We need to figure out what is going on with that. If your shell is wet and it is actually from condensation, then it is likely that the outer layers of your down is damp from that same condensation. That could make you cold by itself. But this is a breathable quilt, so we need to figure out why is this happening?
Last edited by BillyBob58; 10-22-2012 at 15:57.
Hey Billy,
This is my first year in a hammock and never hung in this kind of cold weather. It was odd that my sleeping bag which was down was covered in condensation too just as the underquilt was...it certainly didn't rain in NH last night...so not sure where all the condensation came from. It's hard to judge what is too tight.
The condensation is kind of a head scratcher all right!
I don't have an HG and folks that do will have to give you specific advice re: suspension tightness. With my full length JRB MW, I have just adjusted it so it felt snug against my back on either a WBBB or a JRB bridge hammock, and have been plenty warm as low as 10F. It has a suspension that simply attaches from the ends to the hammock. I did have to fiddle quite a bit to get the fit correct on the foot end with the WBBB, but once I got it all was fine.
But on my torso length WB Yeti, which has an encircling or perimeter suspension ( don't know if that is related ), I have to make sure that it lifts my empty hammock in the middle 2 or 3 feet to get full performance out of it. And I have to make sure the head end edge of
the quilt is right about my neck line. I can get away with a bit lower, but even an inch or two higher and it starts venting, allowing cold air to flow right down the middle. But I don't know how things work with an incubator. I'd say at the very least, make sure it is not too loose, that it is at least nice and snug against your back and butt. It sounds like you also need to work on the leg end adjustment, but I'm not sure how to do that with your full length UQ.
Did you notice any difference in top warmth vs bottom warmth?
I think the condensation was a main player in your weak results. The question is: why so much condensation?
1st, did you have a tarp and was it covered inside in condensation?
Were you in your back yard, over grass in a more or less wide open, unsheltered area, under clear skies? Under conditions like that, I often get tons of condensation, even if I am not in the hammock. I have come out to cold weather test to find my MW4 covered in a thick layer of frost, as well as any uncovered hammock and the inside of my tarp. It appears that ground moisture rises up and condenses, but I really don't know. I have never had this issue out in the woods, on an actual backpack trip. Only in my backyard.
However, I guess the good news is that this condensation seems to be pretty much outside on the shell. The other kind comes from your warm body moisture condensing not only on the shell, but in the outer layers of the insulation, even with a breathable shell. Heck, it can condense on your mossie net, which is pretty darn breathable. I know that is a problem when it is very cold, but I'm not so sure about at 39F. Anyone care to opine about that?
Then again, the one time I had bad condensation in my HH Super Shelter, it was only in the high 40s, so maybe it can be a bad problem. But that was different. It was not a matter of it condensing in my bag or quilt or the breathable shell, but of condensing on the inside of my cold outer layer water proof sil-nylon shell ( the under cover ). So, kind of different.
Last edited by BillyBob58; 10-23-2012 at 07:50.
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