Help a newb keep her butt warm in a KAQ....

**RadicalHope** · 10-12-2013, 08:47

Hi all,

I am the recent proud owner of a truly kick *** New River UQ. I love it! I slept last night in my garage with it, and it far exceeds any setup I've had before in terms of ease of set-up and warmth. That said, I think I still could use a bit of dialing in. I did end up with a slight cold sensation near my bum and shoulders come the wee early hours of the morning (bum was colder). Nothing too uncomfortable, but temps were only in the low to mid 40s last night and I was sheltered by the walls of a garage. I'd like to really fine tune this thing so I won't be cold come mid November out in the woods. :-)

The hubby reported some cold spots as well and had some gapping issues.

Ironically, I actually woke up hot at one point and had too vent nearly half of my body to cool down but by morning was wrapping my bag around my shoulders, LOL.

Below are some pics of me and my setup, if you wouldn't mind taking a look and seeing if you have any pointers or tips.

Some details: I'm using a generic 20* mummy bag as a top quilt and I was wearing a pair of fleece pants and a cotton-poly blend long sleeve top.

My setup last night:

The foot end:

The head end:

Edit to add: I should mention that in the pics, I'm actually hanging in the hammock to demonstrate how the UQ is positioned while I am in it.

Thanks in advance!!!!

**Red Cinema** · 10-12-2013, 10:07

I am not the most knowledgeable on this issue, having just received my own UQ last week. . .

The head end looks like a good fit between UQ and Hammock.

The foot end looks a little gappy. Hard to see.

Have you slid the UQ footwards at all? I assume you are tightening the foot end; perhaps if there is plenty of quilt at the head end, changing the dynamic on the foot end will allow that tightening to seal up better.

Is there a baffle at each end and if so is it in the right spot, not flattened the wrong way or heck if I know. Seems unlikely.

More knowledgeable folks will weigh in before long, I'm sure.

RC

**Mrprez** · 10-12-2013, 10:12

Looks pretty tight on the foot end. Is somebody or thing in the hammock? You should be able to reach out and slide the quilt around a little bit while you are in the hammock. I t shouldn't be so tight that the quilt is supporting your weight and not the hammock.

**BillyBob58** · 10-12-2013, 10:18

Yep, just once again proving that it doesn't matter: whether HH Super Shelter or down or synthetic UQs, there can be a learning curve and some fiddle factor. The good news is that most people seem to get this worked out, and for sure the vast majority end up warm to 30 or well below with this brand of UQ, so hang in there!

OK, the first thing that occurs to me when looking at your pics on the foot end is a pretty good sized gap that was allowing plenty of cold air to rush in. EDIT: On looking again, I'm not certain if there is or is not, but just make sure there is no gap at all.

Here is a set up video for the AHE Jarbidge.
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ad.php?t=79686

It is not as long of a quilt as yours is, so there may be slightly different tricks used. Still, I think some general principles still apply. Bottom line, you must get rid of any gaps like that while at the same time not going the other way and getting it too tight. I'm surprised you were not much colder with the venting you had going on.

That's all I can think of right now, just work on the fit/adjustment for no gaps but not too tight. Good luck!

P.S.
It seems to help a lot of folks if 2 people do the adjustment, one in the hammock, the other outside snugging things up just right for no gaps, but not going overboard with tightening. Then once the right fit is found, you have a good idea of where it should be from then on. Or even just leave it on the hammock, stuffing hammock and quilt into one stuff sack or into the pack. And here is another helpful video by Shug:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9N3...layer_embedded

**Phiche** · 10-12-2013, 10:21

I have a New River with Triangle Thingies over my ridgeline.
The ridgeline allows a lot of adjustment w/shock cords.
I haven't tried quilt clips, but it's an option to try.
Good luck

**Rolloff** · 10-12-2013, 10:59

It could also be, scrunching down from the resulting accordion effect.

Starts warm and toasty CB and Shoulder syndrome in early hours of the AM, after moving and wiggling around for a few hours. I can also see the outline of shoulders and feet, which indicates compression points.

I like the Dutchware Quilt Hook solution in combination with the HG style dual suspension. Lots of adjustment possibilities, then you nail it in place with a few Dutch hooks, to keep things from slipping around on you.

A second set of hands does work wonders, and it's usually best, if you can find someone to load the hammock, while you make the adjustments, unless that person has ample hang exp.

Finding a group hang you can attend can be a great opportunity to get hands on help and advise on dialing in your kit.

Good luck!
Rolloff

**nothermark** · 10-12-2013, 13:31

FWIW - also lose the cotton blend. It holds moisture and will always be cold. You want silk or a good poly base layer. Same thing for socks.

**2ply** · 10-12-2013, 14:01

I use the side loops on my New River to snug up the middle of the UQ to reduce cold spots. I use the tarp ridge line ( you could use the hammock ridge line but I don't use one) to hold the sides up loosely, not too much pressure, but enough to keep the UQ against the bottom of the hammock. I do this with shock cord and a cord lock on one loop to adjust the pressure and a mini biner on the other end to connect to the other loop. You can adjust it easily from in the hammock for the amount of tightness (warmth) you want.

**RadicalHope** · 10-12-2013, 16:15

Thanks everyone for all the great tips! Hubby and I did some tinkering this afternoon and are hoping to retest again tonight. Among other issues, I think we had it a bit too tight on the head end and not enough on the foot end. Thanks for the Jarbridge video, BillyBob, that was helpful!

I experimented with bringing the top edges of the foot end together, as 2ply suggested, and that seemed to really solve the gap issues down there around the narrow end of the hammock. My shoulders do a fairly good job of spreading out the hammock on the top end,thus allowing the UQ to spread out nicely underneath, but the way I sleep with one knee bent and only one leg straight out, leaves the hammock very narrow at the foot end (plus I'm only 5'6") and that makes the UQ gap. Thanks 2ply for the suggestion to gather the top loops up a bit!

I need to look into those dutchware quilt thingies I keep hearing about...

As for the triangle things, do people use/need those on WBBBs as well? Hubby and I hope to upgrade soon so we don't want to invest too much in our current system, unless it will also transfer over to our hopeful WBBB setup.

As for hubby's issues, we solved the gapping at the shoulders by loosening it up a bit, but we still can't manage to solve the gap at the feet. He is so heavy and tall that a huge ridge is created at the foot end and the UQ just can't bridge the uneven thing that happens down there. I will try and take some pictures of this tonight.

I will report back after tonight's retest. Thanks all!!!!