DIY UQP needs a suggestion

[Gadgetgeek]

I got some cheap "PU" coated "Nylon" ripstop from china to play with. Its not fully waterproof, but seems like its at least DWR or something. Anyway, I'm going to make myself a UQP to go with my HH exped zip.

Here's the problem. I'd like to do shock-cord tensioners on the sides for climate control, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it for the mesh side. One thought was to do a full loop, and just have the adjustment on one side, but I think that would be a bit ugly, and I like the idea of being able to fully flatten out the uqp in case I need a ground sheet. Obviously its not the ideal groundsheet as its not fully waterproof, but it would be better than nothing.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Is adjustment needed once you are in the hammock, or is a set and forget system just as feasible? Also, do I need to run shockcord the full length of the UQP, or should it start with some tension by default?

Once this one is done, I'll be making a thin UQ as well, since the trip I have planned will potentially have nighttime lows around 10*c, and worst case of 5*. I'm hoping that between my 15* top quilt, a very wind resistant UQP, and a 3/4 2.1oz climashield UQ that should be enough even if it does drop.
Any thoughts on the realism of this? Or am I guessing way out of line?

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

To make a ground cloth UQP I'd make a channel on each side and thread shock cord through. Tighten for UQP, loosen for ground cloth.

However at those temperatures be sure its very breathable or you'll get lots of condensation.

[SnrMoment]

Given your fabric description, you will get rained on from the inside. I tried some "barely breathable" dwr for a top cover sewn along the top of my bug net and the results were soggy, even in very low humidity.

[Gadgetgeek]

I'm not planning on doing a top-cover as I'm trying to strike a balance between ventilation, and warm weather wind chill. As for condensation, I'll just have to take the risk, but I'm hoping that there will be enough ventilation out the top to mitigate that. And even if the temp drops, I'll still be going to sleep with the mosquitoes flying.

What are your thoughts for using this fabric for the outside layer of the UQ? I have some other nylon for the inside. Or should I find a more breathable fabric? also I'm thinking that maybe 4oz climasheild may be a better choice. I've re-checked the weather archive where I'll be going, and it looks like cooler is possible. So maybe I should do up a 4oz TQ 4oz 3/4 UQ and then the UQP is just a wind-guard if I need.
I have months to sort it out, and hopefully months to pull this out of the budget, otherwise I'm going to have to haul a very heavy sleeping bag....

[Gadgetgeek]

So, I threw together the UQP, just measured out roughly the length of my hammock, Left the fabric full width.
Channeled each side, 3mm shock cord in each end, 2mm shock in the sides, with an opening at the half way point. Not the most elegant of solutions, but two cheap cordlocks on the sides, and it seems to work. It comes up nice and high , but I can also pin it down with the hammock tieouts, so I'm feeling like I'll have very good adaptability.
There is no way for me to really temp test it at the moment, so I'm not going to worry just yet. And as for the humidity problem, I don't really know how to test it. its a very thin coating on 40D cloth, using the water-bag test, it doesn't take much force to get water through it. So I'm hoping that it won't act like a vapor barrier.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

It sounds its a dwr or similar light coating if it takes little to push water through. This it what I used down to -20c and it worked fine.

40d is probably higher than I'd go for a quilt shell and having unknown fabrics is more of an issue with quilts than a UQP. Maybe try it with a quick and cheap wadding before using climashield (its pretty expensive in the UK, not sure how much you'll be paying)

[Gadgetgeek]

If I get the climashield, it will be from Tier at 23 something. I might go try raid some of the local thrift shops for sleeping bags to cannibalize first. although the fill in them, if I can find any is likely to be very heavy.

right now my biggest resource is time, not cash. And the pack weight for my trip is slowly climbing up and up. I wouldn't want to be the only canadian in a group of aussies and be the chilly one!

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

I'm in a similar boat with lots of time but little cash. I used old sleeping bags and fleece at first but weight was high. I eventually just started making down quilts from old blankets and from fabrics at discount stores. It took a lot of research and searching but I've got decent, fairly light kit for not much money.