Another IX UQ... or is it?

[rjcress]

A frustration that I have with my UQs is that my head, shoulders and feet are rarely all on the UQ at any given time.
On my KAQ shaped fleece UQ, if I get my feet in the right place, then my head and one shoulder hang off. Or maybe I can get it all aligned perfectly, but then when I move around in my sleep the UQ moves around and I wake up with cold feet, head, or both.

To solve this I decided to GO LARGE!
I had been avoiding a HUGE UQ due to weight considerations, until now.
Been making lots of IX stuff lately, so that was the obvious choice for this project... or so you would think.

Any guesses what I made this out of?

I started two rectangles 60" wide and 94" long.
Yeah, I said 94" inches long.
I ran three 1/4" tall longitudinal pleats the full length of one layer. That will be the top layer of the UQ, and is now 1.5" narrower than the bottom layer, to give differential and spacing for the very small air gap needed between layers.

I cut a 15" x 57" triangle off of diagonally opposed corners.
Then I cut a dart 7" wide and 9" deep on each side just beyond the triangle that was removed.

So far, this is the same as the KAQ pattern... only 4" longer.
(I attached a scan of the KAQ pattern, with my chicken scratch on it. It is not a great quality scan, but you should be able to get the idea from it)

The next step for the KAQ is to cut a 18" x 30" triangle off of the diagonally opposed corners that were not cut already. I skipped this step, as I found it makes the head and foot end too narrow for me.

Then I darted each corner. The top layer darts are 1" narrower and shorter than the bottom layer darts... or is it the other way around? I don't remember at the moment. (BTW, there are two layers of the mystery insulating stuff)

Next I attached 1.1oz rs to one side and folded it over the edge to make an inch or two of channel along all 4 sides for the suspension.

Honestly. I did this last week and it looked like I had screwed up the width on the ripstop cover, so I hadn't even attempted to attach it to a hammock.
I was up early this morning and had a few minutes to kill before work, so I strung it up to my FrankenBird ... and what do you know?!
It fits fine and I'm thinking it is going to be a success.
Even though it is HUGE, it is super light. My scale has shipped, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I haven't weighed it. However, it feels lighter than my 48"x60" 3 layer IX UQ.

Anyone figured out what the insulating material is yet?
Lighter than IX, white, did I mention light?
Oh, and it insulates very well.

By the way, ignore the temporary yellow mason line UQ suspension. I have run out of shock cord... again.
If I can scrounge up enough shock cord to make it work, I may field test it tonight... although it is only supposed to get down to 53*F tonight.
ahhhh, but it will get down to 36*F the following night. So this could be interesting. If it does OK at 53 tonight, then I can see if it will hold up close to freezing the following night. (fingers crossed)

[injun51]

I have no idea, but sure would like to know the results of your cold night hang. So, what is it or are you going to leave us "HANGING". *PUN* LOL

[Bomber]

Is it thin PE?(the thin stuff you wrap tv's in).

[rjcress]

I have no idea, but sure would like to know the results of your cold night hang. So, what is it or are you going to leave us "HANGING". *PUN* LOL

Yep
Gonna leave you hangin' for a while.
I want to see what creative responses folks throw out before spilling the beans.

[Syb]

Alex, I'll take "Insulation" for $400 please. What is Climashield?

[Joey]

cuben fiber? I'm not familiar with climashield, but the translucent appearance looks like a layer of cuben fiber to me.

[Syb]

My first look was on my iPhone and couldn't make out the pics clearly enough. now on my pc, I'll vote for IX.

[Maleko]

I'd also say PE Foam, maybe 3/32". Looks pretty good. If it is, do you feel the stitches are holding the foam well without the scrim?

[rjcress]

And the winner is...
Bomber and Maleko

As discussed in this thread:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...=21798&page=12

1/32 PE foam is sold as packing padding.
MacEntyre bought a rather large roll and I helped him assemble a calendar stack to perforate it. He was kind enough to share some of the foam and this was my first test with PE foam.

Observations so far (pre-field test):
-Wow this stuff tears easily! I was unrolling my bundle of foam and stumbled a bit. My foot brushed the foam and made a tear about 16" long. I also had a couple of small tears while sewing.
-Wow this stuff is light! The foam is a bit thicker than the foam in IX, but without the scrim it is SUPER light.
-Wow the extra thickness makes it harder to pack down. I got better at packing IX with practice. Maybe I'll get better with PE also. Was going to do a hammock sock with PE lining all but the a stripe at the top (for ventilation)... not sure if that will pack down enough to be a worthwhile project. Then again, if it lets me leave the UQ or TQ at home, then it could work. Still undecided on if I'll try the PE insulated sock.

To repair the tears I used clear tape... nothing special... the kind you would use on paper.
I also used clear tape on a couple of the dart seams to hold it together while I sewed. That seemed to work really well.
I was concerned about the thread pulling right through the PE and turning a line of stitches into perforated line by which the whole sheet would tear. That has not been an issue. However, I felt better about the darts that I taped because the tape should help prevent the thread pulling through as well.

Was hoping to test last night, but I was still in my office adding new tie out points to the my extra-large Asym tarp when the sky opened up last night. Holy Cow the rain was coming down! So I stayed in the house last night. Maybe tonight I'll make it out to test.
Forecast is now calling for 37*F tonight, so should be a good first test for 2 layers of 1/32" PE.

[Bomber]

Yee haa i won! - what did i win?.... wait a minute, it wasn't a competition.... dang it....