REI Quarter Dome Air Hammock?

**Slack Packhiker** · 03-16-2018, 14:54

Good mine yesterday, just spent $28.45 to return the hammock and UQ.

Biggest problem is non-breathable fabric. Next problem was the inability to get comfortable. The detail ‘bracing’ over joined fabric is bumpy. There’s shoulder squeeze, although mild when positioned correctly. Side sleeping? No way. The hammock body is too narrow...for me.

*old man* has a good review, including an evaluation after 6 months, and it’s positive. So what I found might not be a problem for you.

**thunder3** · 03-17-2018, 21:18

Thoughts and Customization...

I have been wanting a bridge hammock for a while but never felt like I NEEDED to have one. In the meantime, I was shopping for a lightweight tarp to use with my gathered end. I saw somewhere that the weight of the included tarp was 10 ounces or so. Then the Quarter Dome Air went on sale and then an extra 25% off. Plus I had some REI dividend money to use. Now I was intrigued. Get a super light tarp with a bridge hammock for ~$100! I had to order one.

Overall, very impressed with the quality of materials and construction. Very nice, flat lay. A little shoulder squeeze, but I am on the narrow side so YMMV. Easy to side sleep, stomach too. I added an air pad and it lifted me up a bit and no squeeze at all. Absolute heaven. Be sure if you are using a pad that it is 24 inches wide. Mine is 20" so not quite wide enough but still useable. I was able to hook up my underquilt no problem and it worked just fine.

Tarp is a nice 11' x 6' hex. Very light 15D silnylon. Has cords with line locs at each tie out point. Ridge cords have an aluminum hook to attach around the tree, similar to a Dutch hook. Will definitely be using this tarp for my GE hammock.

I like the 4 loops on the inside peak of the bug net - easy to add a ridgeline to hang your do-dads. The bug net sits high and give plenty of headroom. It has lines with mitten hooks that attach to loops on the suspension or loops at the end of the tarp.

Now on to the customization. I gave up on woopies in favor of straps with Dutch's titanium Cinch Bugs ages ago. Same goes for this rig. I cut off the anchor lines to the hammock body and replaced with (2) 36" dogbones per end. On the scale, the REI suspension from tree to hammock weighs in at 10.64 ounces. Dogbones + 12' straps + Cinch Bugs comes to 5.5 ounces, a differenc of 5.14 ounces. The hammock body has a webbing loop just behind the spreader bars. I larksheaded the dogbones to the loops and fed them through the holes on the end of the bars and then connected each to the hooks on the Cinch Bug. Switching to dogbones also allows you to remove the spreader bars to pack separately. I also added a small loop of zing-it to the hole in the Cinch Bug to clip the bug net line to. Using the straps and Cinch Bugs greatly reduces the minumum tree distance. I was able to set it up with trees 12 1/2 feet apart.

Here is the weight breakdown for my modified kit (ounces):

10.58 11' tarp with lines
11.92 spreader bars
1.58 (4) DAC aluminum stakes 6.25"
17.00 hammock body with bugnet
5.50 12' Harbor Freight straps, Cinch Bugs, 4 dogbones
----
46.58 total

Ditched items:
1.23 stuff sack with instructions
10.64 stock suspension - woopies, biners, straps

I see lots of complaints about the tarp being small. I agree, it is on the small side but I haven't had it in the rain yet. I am thinking that this hammock was designed to use a pad rather than underquilt and hence the waterproof fabric. So the tarp might be ok in that situation. Otherwise, look for a bigger tarp. I will probably use my HouseFly.

Is this an ultralight rig? No. Will I take it backpacking? Probably not, maybe. Car camping, Scout trips, picnics, day hikes, state parks? Absolutely.

Overall, I like this hammock. Definitely a keeper for me.

**Obiecamper** · 03-18-2018, 21:20

Thanks for posting the mods. I am new to this hobby. In another hobby of mine the first thing I do is look in the forums for the mods and I found I'm doing the same with this hobby.

However, I am not familiar with all the hammock academic language. Curious. Did you take any pics of your mods. Maybe some pics will help me understand.

**thunder3** · 03-18-2018, 22:04

Here is the dog bone larksheaded to the hammock body and through the spreader bar:

Here are the other ends of the dog bones hooked on the Cinch Bug attached to the webbing. The small yellow zing-it loop clips to the bug net line mitten hook:

To take the hammock down, you simply unhook the dog bones from the Cinch Bug and then pull them back through the ends of the spreader bar and you're good to go. The bar slides out of the sleeve and you can pack them anywhere you want. I leave the dog bones attached to the body.

You can get dog bones at places like DutchWare or make your own for cheap with 7/64 amsteel. Plenty of instructional vids on Youtube.