DIY underquilt help needed (for Boy Scout troop)

**potsticker** · 06-25-2017, 10:41

TL/DR: I need help to figure out how to modify/improve some DIY underquilts to be used by Boy Scouts this summer.

Some background: Long-time lurker here. Scoutmaster for New England Boy Scout troop and decided for our week-long backpacking trip this summer in the White Mtns we should all be in hammocks. ~20 scouts plus some adults (we will hike in smaller groups) so tried to keep it simple and cheap. So here's what we've done already:

Bought single-layer 1.9oz hammocks from Jared at Simply Light Designs - fantastic!
Sewed DIY fronkey-style bugnets - fantastic!
Bought tarps from here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and replaced with lighter/better guylines- fantastic!
Sewed DIY Costco throw underquilts - great unless it gets cold...this is the problem I'm trying to fix. This weekend one night the low was 56 (50% of boys were cold) and the other night it was 65 (everyone slept great)

In addition to sewing and gear-making we've done several sessions of Hammocking how-to and this weekend took our first 2-night backpacking trip with our gear which was very wet but otherwise great. Everything worked perfect except our underquilts...I worry on a cold night they will not be enough.

Here's where I have to confess I probably screwed up by trying to be too cheap and simple. Our UQs are too narrow. They are made from a Costco down throw that is folded in half on the long side so dimension ends up 60" by 35" (I also issued everyone a square of reflectix for footpad if needed...some scouts are not that tall anyway!). My thinking at the time was that it would be cheap and simple to sew, that seam-ripping with that many people was not tenable and by folding it in half maybe it would compensate for the sewn-through squares of the throw. All true, but the 35" width makes it very hard to keep it beneath you as you sleep (which yes I should have known).

Potential solutions I'm considering:

Create some sort of additional suspension on the corners of the quilt which can affix straight up to the ridge line or to the hammock body to keep it in place. We could even attach (sew, snap, ?) some ripstop nylon along the sides to make this easier
Attach (sew, snap, ?) to another down throw that is not folded in half (60" wide), and have that one attach to the ridge line somehow. This would obviously be heavier + more expense and would need to be simple (these are teenage boys not expert sewers!), but may get us enough insulation (3x in the middle) to handle wider temperature ranges
Have them bring thin pads to use as backup if it is cold. I've never tried a pad in a hammock so no idea how this might work.
Other creative ideas that the incredible community of HF can help me come up with!

Help me HammockForums, you're my only hope!

**Shug** · 06-25-2017, 10:50

Pads are easy in a hammock and those fellers will never know the difference. Bet they already have pads too.
Shug

**kitsapcowboy** · 06-25-2017, 11:49

THE SHORT VERSION

Reverse engineer the AHE KAQ Jarbidge River underquilt.

THE LONG VERSION

You will need:

* 55 yards of inexpensive 1.1 oz ripstop nylon
* 25 yards of Climashield Apex 2.5 oz synthetic insulation
* 120 yards of 1/8" shock cord
* 80 LineLoc 3 tensioners
* 120 double-hole cord locks
* 40 micro-biners
* 20 yards 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
* Mara 70 thread

These materials should not cost you more than $600 before shipping.

1) Cut two full-width (60") pieces of nylon 45" wide.

2) Cut two additional 42" x 4.5" strips of nylon.

3) Cut a full width (60") piece of Climashield 40" wide.

4) Roll-hem the short edges of a nylon strip, and then fold it in half lengthwise with the hems to the inside; sew down the long raw edge with a 1/4" allowance to make a folded tube about 40" long by 2.25" wide. Repeat this step for the other strip to make a second folded tube; these are the quilt end channels.

5) Mark 15" in from the corners on on short edge of one piece of nylon. Pin both pieces of nylon together in a congruent stack. Centered on each short edge, sandwich an end channel tube, fold inboard, and bracket each end with a folded 9" piece of grosgrain with a LineLoc mounted (again, fold (and hardware) inboard), to make 4.5" loops with tensioners in each corner. Starting at one of the marks on the short edge of the nylon, sew the quilt shell together around the perimeter with a1/4" allowance, capturing the end channels and then grosgrain loops in position between the pieces of nylon, leaving a 15" wide gap on one short edge to invert the quilt later.

6) Stack the Climashield on top of the sewn quilt shell, and pin it carefully into place every 3" to 4", avoiding puckers. (You may choose to pin a strip of tissue paper on top of the perimeter to make sewing over the insulation easier.) Again, starting from one end of the open gap in the short edge, sew around the entire perimeter of the inside-out quilt, leaving the 15" gap on the foot end open. Remove the pins (and tissue) and invert the quilt through the gap so it is right side out. Pin the gap with the raw edge tucked inside and sew the quilt closed. The insulated quilt shell is complete with a LineLoc on a grosgrain loop extending from each corner and end channels on each short edge.

7) Cut 6 yards of shock cord into two 48" pieces and two 60" pieces. Mount a cord lock in the middle of each of the long pieces of shock cord and theead the ends through the LineLocs on each end Of the quilt, clipping in the micro-biners as suspension. Thread Te two short pieces of shock cord through the end channels and add cord locks on the ends to allow for cinching.

8) The finished 58" x 43" 50-degree underquilt is now complete and ready to hang. Repeat the above steps for the remaining quilts. Cost should be about $30 per scout or less, and the quilts will be 8" wider and lightweight to stay in position better. (Reflectix pads can be used in the footbox of top insulation to insulate the feet and lower legs.)

HTH...

**Trail Troll** · 06-25-2017, 12:01

I agree with Shug, pad sounds like the way to go, they're not terrible to sleep on. I used one up to a few months ago, with very little problems, even with my learning curve (that Shug helped me through). Like Shug said, they probably already have pads, and its not difficult to utilize them.

Good luck.

**muddycreek** · 08-27-2017, 09:28

If I had that many to try and get right at once... I might take two of your mini quilts, overlap them in the middle for a 45ish inch wide single quilt. Give those to the boys that had the least problems working with underquilts. For the rest, cut $7 Walmart foam pad to the shape of their current bags and put them inside the bags. Bonus points if somebody wants to make a sleeve or cover, purely for comfort.