Winter Hammock

[brambor]

Pardon me if this has been covered. I'm relatively new to winter hammock camping but in my few overnighters I found that the shifting of an underquilt could be quite annoying.

Judging from the various threads it appears that hammockforums members have at least 2 hammocks or more (on average).

So here goes my question:

Wouldn't it be better to design a 'winter hammock' ? For example, let's pick the all popular Blackbird Warbonnet. Take the model of the blackbird, sew a full length winter quilt to the underside and you'll resolve underquilt shifting and draft entering from gathered ends as well as you'll have a new 'model' to sell.

[pgibson]

Except that "winter" to you in Main would be different than it would be to winter for someone in Texas, and different than someone in Alaska and different than someone in Finland. Currently the modular ability of the quilts to any hammock allows for customization to the system from one trip to the next.
While the BB is a popular hammock and there are popular quilts not everyone likes anyone or every one possible combination. As well with different body chemistry each person can have different cold tolerances. A quilt rated to 20 can work for some into single digest while others would be cold in the thirties. Simply hundreds of variables lumped into thousands of hammockers.

Getting your quilt to fit properly comes with experience along with some trial and error. But once you get it dialed in you should not be getting drafts and cold spots.

[sargevining]

I use a winter hammock. Its an HH Expedition that has no net. If I want to loan it out as a summer hammock, I give the person I'm loaning it to a buginator.

I use an AHE Potomac as a UQ to use with the Expedition. if I want to loan out a hammock for winter camping, I give them my summer Hammock (HHDJ XL) and a DIY UQ I got from a member here.

If I winter camp further north where its colder (say, Oklahoma or Arkansas) I can use both UQs on my winter hammock if the temps dip lower than what I'm accustomed to here in coastal Texas. If I go camping back home in NH, I'm covered as well with the UQ's and the summer hammock (the net will help to keep warmth in) no matter what season it is when I go.

So, due to the modularity mentioned above, I have options and opportunities to mix and match to conform to almost any camping conditions I can expect to encounter. A "winter only" hammock just wouldn't do that for me.

[ahhhgladius]

i like the idea. but as paul said. the modular nature of hammocks is what makes it so great. because everyone IS different.

[SwinginIt]

http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearDownHammock.html

JustJeff made a couple versions. Seems there were a few issues with each version.

[DuctTape]

And risk had the warmhammock.

[Syb]

Search for HF member WV on here and his insulated hammock.

[SnrMoment]

There was some conversation on this.

Nice, but expensive.

[SilvrSurfr]

I find the design of all multifunction devices lacking - they typically add complexity, inflexibility, and reliability issues. Name me a good multifunction computer device; I dare you. The engineering gets complicated and is inherently weaker than the engineering of a single device for a single purpose. I've never had luck with multifunction printer/fax/scanner/copier units, and I don't much like multifunction hammocks (aka Swiss Army hammocks).

I think the same applies to hammock weather/sleep systems. Keeping things modular means each device can be designed to do what it does best: hammock, bugnet, TQ/UQ, and tarp. Sure, you can integrate any of these units together, but there's always a penalty for doing so.

Many hammocks on the market have integrated bugnets, but the penalty is that you have to carry a bugnet when there are no bugs. Personally, I'd prefer to leave that 7 to 10 oz. of bugnet at home when it's not necessary.

Sewing an underquilt to a hammock reduces the functionality of both. My hammock and tarp are now restrained to the temp limits of the UQ.

There are hammock systems with bugnet, tarp and hammock integrated, so why not add an UQ to the mix? Heck, integrate the TQ too. After a storm just wrap it all up in a soggy mess.

[brambor]

Well, nothing is clear cut. I could come up with a few examples in your favor but also the opposite could work. I don't even have to try hard. Let's stick with the BlackBird.

Combination of bugnet on the blackbird makes for a much better hammock IMHO than using a separate bugnet.

I find the design of all multifunction devices lacking - they typically add complexity, inflexibility, and reliability issues. Name me a good multifunction computer device; I dare you. The engineering gets complicated and is inherently weaker than the engineering of a single device for a single purpose. I've never had luck with multifunction printer/fax/scanner/copier units, and I don't much like multifunction hammocks (aka Swiss Army hammocks).

I think the same applies to hammock weather/sleep systems. Keeping things modular means each device can be designed to do what it does best: hammock, bugnet, TQ/UQ, and tarp. Sure, you can integrate any of these units together, but there's always a penalty for doing so.

Many hammocks on the market have integrated bugnets, but the penalty is that you have to carry a bugnet when there are no bugs. Personally, I'd prefer to leave that 7 to 10 oz. of bugnet at home when it's not necessary.

Sewing an underquilt to a hammock reduces the functionality of both. My hammock and tarp are now restrained to the temp limits of the UQ.

There are hammock systems with bugnet, tarp and hammock integrated, so why not add an UQ to the mix? Heck, integrate the TQ too. After a storm just wrap it all up in a soggy mess.