Maybe easier to grok if you think of a traditional suspension as a "clew with two nettles".Originally Posted by PharmGeek
Look forward to seeing your project. Its good material for future generations to follow.
... but i hope you reconsider the width. 42" is just not going to satisfy. Wookie and clew suspensions seem to favor wider designs since they dont suffer from view-bocking "taco blanket" geometry.
My desire was to make two wookis but he insisted on a more standard design for his kids - I went back and forth about it a few times and he didn’t budge....these quilts will swallow up his small children - like a taco with 1 tablespoon of ground beef. This is apparently something he likes and wants for the kids...
He borrowed my greylock 3 and it swallowed up his son and he wants the same thing but longer for option for adult use more or less
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“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
Here is the end result of what will be the inner shell of the UQ - the outer shell fits sewn on to this one within in...it will be outfitted with both standard UQ shock cord suspension and I will fiddle with a clew. Should be fun.
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“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
Wasn’t it said to use 1/32 shock cord for the nettles?
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“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
For yours, i would recommend 1/16". ( Costco quilts need something lighter because they don't have differential cut box baffles. )
1/32" shock cord is what i went with for the clews on my two step sons UQ's i made for their indoor hammocks. they have issues keeping them underneath them cradling the hammock instead of being strung between the anchors above the hammock. i guess i may have made the nettles too short, but they weren't easy to tie together and my arthritis isn't ready to do the last one for the step daughter.
J-Bend HERE -> http://youtu.be/Rk-P-MVnMPk
J. Garcia
Ok yeah - that makes sense
Mine would be fine torqued down - I’ve made the differential similar to my wooki copy and it is super tight - glad too cause I have 1/16 and not 1/32
More later
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“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
Finally finished reading all 517 posts in this thread. Whew* I have three questions that don't seem to have been addressed. Each three are separate scenarios and do not relate to one another.
1. For a 70" length UQ with an 11' hammock, the nettles should be 27" (assuming equal length). If the carabiner that connects to the hammock is 3" long, do the nettles decrease to 24"?
2. I'm going to attempt to rotate the UQ into a parallelogram. Has anyone tried this? The nettle connecting to the corner of the underquilt underneath of my feet and head should be the longest, correct? As they progress toward the opposite corner, the nettles should gradually become shorter.
3. My biggest qualm with using a continuous shockcord for the nettles (weaving from the split ring to the attachment point and back) is they are not locked into place. I see many people suggest tightening up the side nettles. Are you looping the shockcord on the outside attachment points multiple times or are you tying a knot? If they are not locked in place, I imagine the shock cord will work itself back to where each nettle is the same length (from packing it down and hanging it back up). I could just be overthinking things, so let me know if my worries are for naught.
Go to Youtube and put in Gemini Underquilt. A member Boone Down South did 2 part demo video on making the Gemini. Awesome companion to Leaivoia's excellent documentation. The Nettles are Whipped tight at the end of the process. If you follow this, there is no way they can slip. The whip locks them in place. I made the 2 side nettles 3" shorter. I used extra cam snaps/loops that hold the nettles to create loops down the sides to hold 1/8 shock cord that can clip to suspension so that the UQ has additioknal support to keep it in place. This also creates great attachment points for an underquilt protector. I also made my Gemini a full 2 layer that allows the addition of a third CDQ. It can also go back to a single CDQ for summer. This all adds weight, but not my major concern.
Finally, I also made a modular top quilt using 3 CDQ's using all the same cam snap techniques. It overlaps 2 CDQ's for 10 of the 13 vertical baffles (makes the whole thing wider with a 3 baffle single layer on each side which I figure I can tuck under me. The full two layer area is plenty wide for me) I can then snap in a third CDQ to make it a full three layer. Used the cam snap loop technique to create a shock cord foot box. Used snaps up the sides to you can make it as much of a sleeping bag as you want.
The 2 layer UQ and three layer TQ each fit well in a Simply Lite Large 2 ended stuff sack. The third UQ layer I just use the CDQ bag to carry. Been sub zero here for a while. Hoping to try everything out in the next few days with temps in the 30's.
Fun project! Thanks to Leiavoia and Boon for the help and inspiration!
Hi Raven. You will want nettle length to be shorter than the overall length to allow for stretch. Tip to tip, the quilt should be something like 85% of hammock length. This also gives you room to adjust it back and forth.
I recommend you try whipping the clews around a mini caribiner as described in the Gemini Underquilt article. Using the two tail ends as a whipping holds the entire assembly fast. Using a caribiner makes the work much faster because you just clip each nettle in instead of threading a long cord through a ring.
If you want a biased lay, I recommend sewing triangles onto the edges to complete a square. Otherwise you will just end up with a skewed blanket.
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