Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park weekend trip.

[BraveSaintStuart]

So, I never get to go camping, which makes me feel pretty inept when it comes to camping. But I resolved to go out this Easter weekend (I'm a youth pastor, so my weekend was Thursday to Saturday). I just bought a 3/4 20* UQ from UnderGround Quilt and a 45/50-ish* Puffer topquilt from u/bowl-maker and this was going to be a good weekend to do that. I headed out to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Central Florida, and went out to the primitive campsite.

I'm mostly posting this because I wanted to get some feedback regarding how to hang with an UQ. It just seemed like I couldn't get it snug enough. I kept getting cold spots, and I have a suspicion that it was because of drafts. The puffer jacket ended up working out great, though. I had a little CCF pad to sit on. I wound up stuffing that down in the footbox under my feet, and that kept my feet toasty all night.

Anyway, mostly it was just a fun trip, but one story in particular was kind of fun for me. The primitive campsite is only 2.1 miles from the parking lot. Even with 20 lbs on your back, you're talking about 45 minutes walking at most. Unless you have 2 coolers, 2 suitcases, a bag of charcoal, a huge frickin tent, air mattress and hand pump, along with who knows what else. On Friday night at around 9 o'clock, I saw two lights in the distance. They were moving so slowly, I wasn't sure if they were headed towards us or not. I finally went out to meet them, thinking if they were lost I could give them some direction. That's when I saw a young couple from Venezuela. They'd been walking since 6:00, dragging all their stuff. I felt awful for them, but it was kind of funny at the same time.

[FLRider]

So, I never get to go camping, which makes me feel pretty inept when it comes to camping. But I resolved to go out this Easter weekend (I'm a youth pastor, so my weekend was Thursday to Saturday). I just bought a 3/4 20* UQ from UnderGround Quilt and a 45/50-ish* Puffer topquilt from u/bowl-maker and this was going to be a good weekend to do that. I headed out to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Central Florida, and went out to the primitive campsite.

I'm mostly posting this because I wanted to get some feedback regarding how to hang with an UQ. It just seemed like I couldn't get it snug enough. I kept getting cold spots, and I have a suspicion that it was because of drafts. The puffer jacket ended up working out great, though. I had a little CCF pad to sit on. I wound up stuffing that down in the footbox under my feet, and that kept my feet toasty all night.

Anyway, mostly it was just a fun trip, but one story in particular was kind of fun for me. The primitive campsite is only 2.1 miles from the parking lot. Even with 20 lbs on your back, you're talking about 45 minutes walking at most. Unless you have 2 coolers, 2 suitcases, a bag of charcoal, a huge frickin tent, air mattress and hand pump, along with who knows what else. On Friday night at around 9 o'clock, I saw two lights in the distance. They were moving so slowly, I wasn't sure if they were headed towards us or not. I finally went out to meet them, thinking if they were lost I could give them some direction. That's when I saw a young couple from Venezuela. They'd been walking since 6:00, dragging all their stuff. I felt awful for them, but it was kind of funny at the same time.

Glad to hear you finally made it out for an overnighter, and that the state park was understanding about your hanging at the primitive site.

Yes, the cold spots were likely due to air gaps between your quilt and the hammock body. Try hanging it snug enough that it lifts the hammock body ~1" to 2" up when there's nothing inside. That should be about the right amount of tension to keep the underquilt snug against your body.

Does the quilt have adjustable ends? If so, try loosening them some; that was a problem for me with my first PLUQ. If the ends are tight enough, they cause a channel in the middle of the quilt that allows for cold air to enter.

But, honestly, the best thing you can do is to have someone else lie in the hammock while you adjust the quilt. That'll give you a good visual of how it should hang before you get into the hammock yourself.

That couple sounds a lot like a bunch of folks we ran into at the Summer's Last Gasp hang at Hidden Pond in Ocala this last year. There was a group who packed in full-size coolers and even pool floats to use in the pond. No accounting for taste, I guess.

Glad to hear your first trip went well! I hope to see many more trip reports!